The World Defense Show 2024, organized by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, showcases global defense advancements and provides a platform for networking, partnering, and sharing knowledge. It features women officers, promoting gender diversity and representation in the defense industry. Women officers will showcase Nari Shakti, promoting gender diversity and representation in defense, attended by top military leaders, government officials, and industry captains.
The event is set to be held from 4 to 8 February 2024. The three services will be represented by the Indian women officers taking part in the show. First is a fighter pilot, second is a combat engineer, and the third is a warship officer. The first three women to be commissioned as fighter pilots in 2016 was Indian Air Force squadron leader Bhawana Kanth, who flies a Sukhoi-30 fighter plane. In the Demchok region of Ladakh, Colonel Ponung Doming of the Indian Army and her team are creating a high-altitude road that will connect them to one of the military's most remote outposts in the sensitive area. On board, the Indian Navy's front-line destroyer INS Kochi is Lieutenant Commander Annu Prakash.
Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth is going to take part in a panel discussion titled "Investing in an Inclusive Future" on February 7. Air Marshal ME Sampson (UK Royal Air Force) and Major General Adel Al-Balawi (Saudi Ministry of Defense) are among the other speakers. Reema Bandar Al Saud, the ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the US, will lead the "International Women in Defense" program during the event.
Women in uniform are now given equal roles in various roles, including flying, serving on warships, commanding, and training at the National Defence Academy. They also participated in 80 per cent of Republic Day 2024 parade activities, including parade marching by 112 women and music and cultural extravaganzas with 1,500 women. The national flag was unfurled by a female officer during President Droupadi Murmu's arrival.
