India willing to partner in aerospace field: Antony

Bangalore, Feb 5: Defence Minister A K Antony today expressed India's willingness to collaborate with international players in operationalisation of aerospace weapons and platforms to develop cost effective solutions.

Inaugurating an international seminar on aerospace technologies as part of the Aero India 2007 he said the Indo-US Nuclear deal and the Russian tie up for nagivation signals for the aviation sector underscored India's willingness to partner global leaders in the aerospace field in its efforts to optimise the advantages of aerospace power.

He said, ''However any such partnership should share the gains, risks as well as the work structure''. ''We are willing to collaborate with international players to operationalise aerospace weapons and platforms, ranging from combat aircraft to early warning sytems and unmanned aerial vehicles, tactical missiles and military propulsions'' he added referring to the government's resolve to introduce fairness and transparency in its defence dealings. He said,''the offset policy of our government seeks to provide avenues for the growth of medium and small scale entrepreneurs''. It would also help smaller players in upgrading their engineering and manufacturing skills to compete with the best in the world.

The defence minister said the government was alive to further strengthen the capabilities of the armed forces and added that investment in scientific research and development activities in aerospace sector would lead to an improvement in infrastructure and also strengthen both the industry as well as the armed forces.

Referring to scientific advisor to Raksha Mantri's plea for higher allocation to defence research, he said he also agreed with the view, but at the same time even the private sector should plough in greater funds in R and D endeavour.

UNI