Karachi: President Arif Alvi on Tuesday addressed the opening ceremony of the tenth International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS 2018) and said that Pakistan’s weapons are for peaceful intent.
President Dr Arif Alvi was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the four-day international defence exhibition which is being attended by 262 high-level delegations from 51 different countries.
Addressing the opening ceremony at Expo Centre in Karachi, the president asserted, “Pakistan is a peaceful country and we look forward to resolution of all issues in a peaceful manner.”
“War is no option,” he asserted. The president added, “Our weapons are for peaceful intent and will be used for defence, never for offence”.
President Alvi assured, “We will take every step possible for the country’s defence.”
“We have handled our borders strongly and sent a strong message to our neighbours,” President Alvi said. “We have handled terrorism.”
The president stressed that “instability in regions is not the only paradigm we should be looking at”.
Appreciating the sacrifices of Pakistan Army in the fight against terrorism, the president said, “Pakistan Army has an important role in the elimination of terrorism and is a strong wall against terrorists.”
“Pakistan Army is one of the most experienced forces in the world in the war against terror and we are proud of our martyrs,” he added
The president regretted that terrorists caused huge losses to Pakistan’s economy. “3.2 million people who had been affected by the Afghan war were given refuge in Pakistan,” he said and added that the government is trying its best to improve the economic situation.
“In Pakistan, the Constitution provides all forms of security to all citizens. The well-being of the nation is the government’s responsibility and the government is on the path to Naya Pakistan,” he said.
Organised under the aegis of Defence Export Promotion Organisation (DEPO), the IDEAS 2018 brings together defence industry players from different parts of the world.
“There will be 522 exhibitors from 50 countries this year,” the media director of DEPO, Commodore Tariq Javed said in a media briefing.
Besides, Pakistan itself other major exporters of defence technology including China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, USA will have their exclusive country pavilions.
The guest countries are expected to showcase their latest technological innovations while a large number of senior civil and military delegations and trade visitors from across the globe will attend the event.
The event will encompass series of activities ranging from world’s advance defence technology demonstrations, an international seminar, three conferences by the Pakistan armed forces, the IDEAS Karachi Show to a counter-terrorism demonstration.
Networking and business expansions through business to business (B2B) and business to government (B2G) engagements and the signing of MoUs are said to be additional features of the exhibition.
Two Russian naval ships will also be visiting Pakistan for port call during IDEAS 2018.
New inventions of Pakistan defence industry including those from Global Industrial Solutions, Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Military Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Shibli Electronics,Universal Smart Military Systems and Daudson Armoury will also be inaugurated and showcased during the exhibition.
The first two days of the exhibition have been earmarked for delegations, trade visitors and networking activities. Commodore Tariq Javed said this will be followed by an international seminar on emerging global and regional environment and the role of grey hybrid warfare therein from Pakistan’s perspective. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat would be the keynote speaker at the seminar with national and international subject matter experts to present their scholarly papers on the topic, he said.
Exclusive land, maritime and aviation conferences by Pakistan Army, Navy and the Air Force respectively was said to be another significant component of IDEAS 2018.
An air show by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is also scheduled at Nishan-i-Pakistan, Sea View, on November 29.
The fourth day of the exhibition will be open for public. “It will, however, be only for those who may have already registered themselves online to visit the exhibition,” said Commodore Tariq Javed mentioning that security of the participants, national and international visitors besides public in general will not be compromised in any manner.
