In keeping with the new proposals of the Gandhinagar Declaration, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the ‘India-Africa Security Fellowship Programme’ at the DefExpo 2022, said the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday.
During the IADD, the Indian Defense Minister also released a brochure by handing it over to the Director General, of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA).
The India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) was held on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The programme was launched on October 18, 2022.
The Gandhinagar Declaration, adopted as the outcome document of the second edition of the IADD, charted out new areas for enhancing the India-Africa defence and security partnership.
MP-IDSA, the knowledge partner for the IADD, will host the Fellowship Programme.
“The fellowship will give an opportunity to African scholars to pursue research on defence and security issues in India. The fellows would be attached with the MP-IDSA for a period of 1-3 months. A stipend would also be provided to the scholar,” read an official statement.
With an aim to give impetus to the defence sector, India’s “biggest ever” defence exhibition – DefExpo 2022 began in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on October 18.
This is the 12th edition of the event organised on the theme ‘Path to Pride’.
Addressing the curtain raiser press conference in Gandhinagar on Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, that the DefExpo 2022 will showcase the growing prowess of the domestic defence industry, calling it one of the major drivers of the nation’s resolve to achieve ‘Make in India, Make for the World’.
“The biennial exhibition has been organised to support, showcase and forge partnerships for the Indian aerospace and defence manufacturing sectors with Indian as well as global customers to achieve the overall objective of catering to domestic requirements while fulfilling the needs of friendly foreign countries,” Singh said.
The Defence Minister termed DefExpo 2022, exclusively for Indian companies, as a humble tribute of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ to Mahatma Gandhi who he called the “pillar of the Swadeshi movement”. (ANI)
