New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS): Top officials of the Defence Ministry will meet as many as 40 foreign ambassadors on November 4 seeking their countries' participation in DefExpo 2020 and to explore avenues of strategic partnerships and exports, sources said here on Wednesday.

The meeting with the ambassadors has been planned also to seek participation of private firms from their respective countries in DefExpo 2020.

The tenth edition of DefExpo, a common platform for interaction of defence firms, decision-makers and policy makers, is scheduled to be held from 5 to 8 February next year in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

"During the meeting, delegations will be invited from various countries, through their ambassadors in India, to showcase their defence products. The ministry will invite participation of companies from various countries in the exhibition. We will also seek to explore strategic partnerships and exports from various countries," a senior official told IANS.

The previous edition of the DefExpo was the stage for over 50 bilateral government-to-government meetings, signing of 40 MoUs and also witnessed participation from over 700 exhibitors. The tenth edition, focusing on "Digital Transformation", is expected to witness higher participation of defence manufacturers from public and private sectors, including original equipment manufacturers and MSMEs.