India on Wednesday invited Germany for joint collaborations in aeronautical engineering and space exploration.
“The time has come for joint ventures between India and Germany in the fields of aeronautical engineering, space exploration mission and developing hypersonic reusable vehicles,” chief of the BrahMos project Sivathanu Pillai said at a seminar here. Dr. Pillai said that in the years to come, India, with a growing economy, would be among a few countries with ambitious space programmes and Europe had the opportunity to be part of it. He pointed to the success story of the BrahMos cruise missile project between India and Russia.
Core competence
Both India and Germany had core competence in the areas and it was time they worked together and overtook other leaders in the field, he said.
Dr. Pillai was here as part of a private sector initiative and the seminar was to be attended by a senior official from the Defence Ministry. The Ministry had hired a chalet at the site of the air show here but there was no presence except some chairs and tables ostensibly for meetings during the exhibition.
India was a partner country at the 2008 Berlin air show, but this time the Defence Exhibition Organisation, responsible for India's participation in such events, said the expensive chalet was hired to facilitate meetings of Indian officials and public sector companies.
An official of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited said the organisation preferred to mark its presence at the Farnborough air show in the United Kingdom later this month than spending its resources here.
