“East Tech 2022”, the first edition of the Defence Exhibition at Kolkata was successfully concluded with the closing address by Lt Gen Kamal Kumar Repswal, SM, VSM, COS, HQ Eastern Command, where he appreciated the efforts of all agencies and the state government for successful conduct of the event. The event witnessed a huge participation by the industries in the Defence sector from all over the country. It also marked the beginning of a new era in the field of Indigenous Defence technology which provided a platform by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army in the first of its kind taking place in the City of Joy.
Outside the Expo venue we met a young combat officer of Indian Army and he shared his thoughts with us.
When asked if we have really become self reliant on development technology he replied-
“As you know in both our Northern and Eastern Borders we are having quite good capabilities. When you are in war you have to be self sufficient. As our PM says Atmanirbharata is the key for our future, and for the first time this kind of expo is being organised in eastern India where more than 200 companies have come together under one roof to showcase their technological advancements in Defence sector. It’s really a great achievemet for all of them and this is one place where buyers and sellers have come together.So it’s a unique event from all angles.”
During any emergency we have to depend on foreign equipments but if we build our own capability under make in India ,all Indigenous, will that really strengthen our country ?This young gun smiled and answered very confidently-
“In any strategical game an Indigenous capability is very much important.Suppose you have allies and they supply something , you can obviously pressurise them for not supplying those logistics which you are already having but if you are getting all these from your home production it’s always helpful and if all these are not produced in your country, it is really difficult to fight a war”.
When roaming around every stalls we saw lots of modern weapons and equipments.When we wanted to know whether besides Indian army the para military forces also get equal support from the defence sector , the Officer said-
“It’s not only In defence sector .For every PSU, Police, Paramilitary forces ,NDRF or CISF, these equipments are for every one . Always you will see the equipments and weapons only wherever you go but this time you have seen out of 200, 40-50 companies have come even with Drones .”
Born to fight, trained to kill, prepared to die, but never will. We know that warriors are not born ,they are made in the Indian Army.When we talked to this young officer we saw a sparkling and a never ending fighting spirit in his eyes !
However, a large number of Indian manufacturers including MSMEs, DRDO, DPSUs from all over the country had showcased their latest and the most advanced weapons and equipments under one roof promoting the Make In India and the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign.
The event created an awareness of contemporary technologies and hardware solutions available with Indian Defence Manufacturers under “Raksha Atmanirbharta”, to meet ever evolving operational dynamics in Eastern Command with indigenous, innovative and future technologies.
(The author is a renowned journalist of eastern India who covers military affairs for the last 15 years.)
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