Raksha Rajya Mantri (RRM) Sanjay Seth led a high-level Indian delegation to Saudi Arabia to participate in the third World Defence Show in Riyadh on February 8 and 9. The delegation included senior officers from the Department of Defence Production and the armed forces.
Seth inaugurated the first-ever India pavilion at the show, covering 400 square meters. The pavilion highlighted India’s growing indigenous capabilities in defence manufacturing and technology, featuring nearly 25 defence enterprises, including Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Munitions India Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, India Optel Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited, and Yantra India Limited. Exhibits included tanks, artillery gun systems, missiles, ammunition, and radar systems.
On the sidelines of the event, Seth held a bilateral meeting with Saudi Assistant Minister of Defence Khaled bin Hussein Al-Biyari, focusing on deepening India-Saudi defence cooperation and enhancing engagement across services. He also met Ahmad bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali, Governor of the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries, to discuss defence manufacturing, industrial collaboration, and opportunities to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
The minister visited Indian defence industry stalls and engaged with industry leaders and participants, highlighting India’s expanding defence and aerospace ecosystem, driven by innovation, indigenisation, and global partnerships, reinforcing the vision of “Make in India, Make for the World.” Seth also toured the Saudi pavilion and met senior officials from the Saudi Ministry of Defence, Saudi Arabian Military Industries, and the General Authority for Military Industries to discuss capabilities, programmes, and future initiatives of the Saudi armed forces.
The World Defence Show is a biennial international defence exhibition hosted by Saudi Arabia. It serves as a vital platform for India to showcase indigenisation initiatives, advanced technologies, and manufacturing capabilities while fostering international partnerships in the global defence ecosystem.
India-Saudi defence cooperation has strengthened significantly in recent years. A new ministerial committee on defence cooperation under the India-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council was announced in April 2025. This visit marks the second ministerial-level defence engagement in recent years, following Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt’s visit to Riyadh for the second World Defence Show in February 2024, where an agreement was signed for defence ammunition exports from India to Saudi Arabia worth 225 million US dollars.
