Minister Lubomír Metnar visited India to attend the largest defence exhibition in the world

Author: By Alžběta Cimová

After Abu Dhabi, the business trip of Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar led to India to one of the biggest defence exhibitions in the world Aero India, which was officially launched with an airshow. Eleven Czech companies exhibited their products and services at the expo and the Minister sat down to a range of meetings to support the Czech defence industry.

The launch of the exhibition was marked by a tragic event. Less than a week after a terrorist attack that left more than forty fatalities in Kashmir, an Indian pilot died in a crash rehearsing the opening airshow. Minister Metnar expressed his condolences in connection with the tragedy.

Meeting with the Minister of Defence of India

The Minister met with his Indian counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman. Metnar emphasised that the Czech Republic cares about a transparent, friendly, long-term and solid partnership built on cooperative projects: Apart from defence industry, the two countries should continue to jointly support also other areas of potential cooperation.

“The meeting was very friendly and constructive. In addition to strengthening military cooperation, Madam Minister promised her assistance with some pending business cases Czech companies are involved in. This will allow for a significant development of our cooperation with Indian companies not only here, but also in third markets,” Metnar commented.

Strengthening cooperation

Minister Metnar discussed specific opportunities for cooperation strengthening also in many meetings with leading representatives of the Indian Defence Ministry and the Armed Forces.

During the opening ceremony of the joint stand of Czech firms, Minister Metnar appreciated their efforts to strike success in the Indian market and the quality of Czech products: “I am pleased that our companies enjoy a high attention and incite the interest of the second most populous country in the world. Wherever I came, top officials of the Indian government reminded me that for decades, they have regarded our production as a symbol of quality – including in connection to the historical presence and good reputation of Bata shoes in India,” Metnar noted.