#BEmissionIND 🇧🇪 🇮🇳 - DAY 3: Tuesday 4 March - The third day began at the Travancore Palace with a roundtable on the Defence Sector, attended by several representatives from the Indian Ministry of Defence and where HE Theo Francken, Minister of Defence, addressed the public while Colonel KV Kuber, Director Aerospace and Defence, EY, took the role of Master of Ceremony.
Directly after the meeting with the Indian Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, HRH Princess Astrid and the Ministers met with Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. The meeting with HRH Princess Astrid and our Ministers took much longer than expected as Premier Modi listened carefully to explanations on the various sectors our country has to offer.
Later, the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) hosted 70 distinguished guests at the Belgian Residence for the traditional Power Lunch.
After lunch, the traditional Signing Ceremony took place in the garden. Indeed, the audience witnessed the exchange of 24 signed agreements, the first fruits harvested during this mission. At the end of this ceremony, all the signing parties were invited for a group photo with HRH Princess Astrid and the Belgian ministers.
In the afternoon, the delegation went to the Prime Minister’s Museum & Library to celebrate the successful collaboration with India in Astronomy and Astrophysics.Â
At their arrival, HRH Princess Astrid and HE Maxime Prévot, were traditionally welcomed by the Director and received a silk stole. Renowned Belgian professors in astrophysics and astronomy presented the different Belgian telescopes installed in the Indian mountains and the audience could witness a real-life liquid mirror telescope experiment. In the evening, the delegation took a flight to Mumbai, the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial capital of the country. It is the most populous city of India with an estimated population of 12.5 million. At their arrival at the hotel, participants were welcomed with the traditional tika and garland.
Â