India has also postponed the ‘Vayu Shakti’ exercise after the Defense Expo. Government sources gave this information on Friday. News agency ANI quoted government sources as saying that the Indian Air Force (IAF) postponed its exercise ‘Vayu Shakti 2022’ to be held in Jaisalmer on March 7. Sources said the new dates for the ‘Vayu Shakti’ exercise would be announced later. 148 aircraft including Rafale aircraft were to participate in this exercise. Not only this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was going to be present in this program as the chief guest.
This is the second big news related to the Defense Department in a day. Earlier, the International Defense Expo, to be organized by the Central and Gujarat Government from March 9 to 14 in Ahmedabad, was also postponed.
Defense Expo 2022 to be held in Gujarat has been postponed. The Ministry of Defense gave this information on Friday. “Due to logistical problems being experienced by the participants, Defense Expo 2022 to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from March 10 to March 14 has been postponed. New dates will be intimated in due course,” the spokesperson said. ”
While the government has cited logistical problems behind postponing the Defense Expo 2022, the reason behind postponing the ‘Vayu Shakti’ exercise is not yet known.
Although the Defense Ministry has made no mention of the Russo-Ukraine war in its official announcement, defense experts are seeing it as a link between the conflict. If reports are to be believed, a panel discussion was scheduled on the first day of the Defense Expo event i.e. March 10, 2022 in which the keynote speaker was from Russia.
A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted that the main reason for postponing the event was the ongoing war, the Financial Express reported. “Many participants from around the world were not able to participate because of the ongoing war in their territory,” the report said.
The Indian Defense Ministry showcases the country’s military strength system at the Defense Expo. Other countries and companies making defense goods also participate in this. The Defense Ministry organizes Defense Expo every two years. The last time Defense Expo was organized in Lucknow on 5-9 February, 2020, in which many countries participated and more than 12 lakh people came to see it.
The Indian Air Force conducts maneuvers called ‘Vayushakti’ at the Pokaran range every three years to demonstrate its preparedness. The last time this exercise was done was in the year 2019. The official said that for the first time, 109 fighter aircraft, including Rafale, were among the 148 aircraft that were to take part in this year’s exercise.
