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India’s makes its presence felt at ILA 2008
A FORCE Report
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Schönefeld, Berlin: The prevailing heat conditions in north of Africa brought warmth to the otherwise wet and cold Berlin. The grey clouds which threatened to mar the air display on the opening day of ILA 2008 at the Schönefeld airfield south of Berlin, lifted considerably by noon, just in time for Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel to declare the 99th edition of the world’s oldest air show open. Just as well, the presence of the sun was welcome not only to offset the cold breeze from the north, but also to fully appreciate the extensive range and variety of the nearly 325 aircraft on display.
Standing below the gigantic Airbus A-380, Chancellor Merkel, accompanied by the Indian defence minister A.K. Antony, inaugurated the show by emphasising the significance of ILA 2008, which marked the 60th anniversary of the famous Berlin airlift of 1948, following the blockade by the Soviet Union. Parked a little distance away was the American behemoth C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft, which was dedicated as the ‘Spirit of Berlin’ on 14 May 1998 by the US President Bill Clinton in the presence of the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Globemaster’s precursor, C-54 Skymaster played the key role in defeating the Soviet imposed blockade on Berlin. It was among the other British and American aircraft that flew over 200,000 sorties between 26 June 1948 and 12 May 1949 to bring vital supplies to the western sectors of Berlin, all road and rail links to which were closed by the Soviets.
With so much of historical pride and nostalgia in the air, it was only to be expected that the Indian defence minister, A.K. Antony reiterate the historical relationship between the two countries which now boast of bilateral trade worth Euro 4.94 billion, with Germany being India’s fourth largest trading partner, after the US, UK and Japan. As the official partner for ILA, India’s presence was larger than life. The Indian tri-colour flew alongside the German flag and the Indian pavilion was the largest among all foreign participants. In his address, Antony said that the decision to partner with Germany for ILA was taken during Merkel’s first visit to India in 2007, when the two countries signed a number of agreements including one on sharing defence technology and arms procurement.
To ensure that the atmospherics were right during Merkel’s visit to India, Antony’s predecessor, Pranab Mukherjee had signed India’s first-ever joint defence cooperation agreement with his German counterpart Franz-Josef Jung in September 2006 to uplift the current defence relationship from that of buyer-seller to the level of co-production, joint development and transfer of technology. The agreement also underlined the need for broader interaction between the two armed forces. So, at ILA, which also called itself the Berlin Air Show, to mark the ‘Spirit of Berlin,’ both the Indians and the Germans were upbeat about the possibilities that this cooperation would throw up.
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