BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of National Defence and Security Prince Sicalo has managed to water two plants with one hose.
In spite of being attendance at the 12th Edition of the DefExpo in India, Prince Sicalo has also been able to strengthen ties with the country (India) by holding successful bilateral meetings.
Yesterday, the Prince held a meeting with India’s Minister of State in Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Tourism in Second Modi Ministry Ajay Bhatt and this was shared by the India Minister on Twitter.
When sought for comment, Prince Sicalo said they had been well received by the Republic of India and had very successful bilateral meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Defence in the country.
“As the Ministry of National Defence and Security, we look forward to continuing in growing the relations between the two states on Defence Corporations as India has opened its hands to welcome the African countries to share its advanced technologies manufactured in various sectors of its Defence Industries.
“We are very pleased to see that there are 1 300 local companies that the Government of Eswatini is working with on the manufacturing of military hardware and softer capabilities. We are also encouraged to hear of how the youth has taken part in these companies,” said Lizinyane Prince Sicalo.
He also said the sharing of ideas was very key in seeing how the Kingdom of Eswatini would also progress in the Defence industries.
“Such programs help in the long run as you find that the spending of Defence budget abroad reduces significantly and local empowerment is achieved. In that way, local companies local companies are supported and become in partnership with the country Defence system,” said the Prince.
In the meantime, The Lizinyane’s meet with India Minister came just a few hours after His Majesty King Mswati III met Abu Dabi’s Minister of Home Affairs and International Cooperation to strengthen ties.
This was at the 12th edition of the DefExpo2022 in India.
In his official Twitter page, Bhatt said he had an honour to interact with Prince Sicalo, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of National Defence and Security of Eswatini, on the side-lines of DefExpo2022 in Gandhinagar.
“We discussed defence cooperation issues in various sectors and other issues of mutual benefits (verbatim),” said the India Minister of State who is leading the DefExpo.
The 12th edition of the DefExpo 2022 on land, naval and homeland security systems exhibition started yesterday and will be on-going until October 22, 2022. It is being held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in India. The exhibition is held at Helipad Exhibition Centre (HEC) and the inaugural/official functions and seminars will be held at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre (MMCEC).
