“India's defence apparatus is today stronger than ever as the Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is focusing on bolstering it with the sentiment of Indianness,” said Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh at a Defence Summit organised by a private media organisation in New Delhi on March 07, 2024.
He termed ‘perspective’ as the major difference between the current and the previous dispensations, stating that the present government ardently believes in the capabilities of the people of India, while those in power earlier were somewhat skeptical about their potential.
Singh described promoting ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence manufacturing as the biggest change brought about by the Government, which is giving a new shape to India’s defence sector.
He enumerated the reformative steps taken by the Ministry of Defence to achieve self-reliance, including setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh & Tamil Nadu; notification of positive indigenisation lists; reserving 75% of capital procurement budget for domestic industry; corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board; and schemes/initiatives such as Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), iDEX Prime, Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI) & Technology Development Fund (TDF).
Highlighting the positive impact on the defence sector due to these decisions, Singh said: “The annual defence production, which was around Rs 40,000 crore in 2014, has now crossed a record Rs 1.10 lakh crore. The defence exports today have touched Rs 16,000 crore from a meagre Rs 1,000 crore nine-ten years ago. We have set a target to achieve Rs 50,000 crore of exports by 2028-29,” he said.
He added that the Government has provided an ideal environment to the private sector while trusting the youth and promoting their innovation. “If our young ignited minds take one step forward, we will help them by taking 100 steps. If they take 100 steps, we will take 1,000 steps forward,” he said.
The Minister of Defence asserted that when it comes to technology, developing countries have two options – ‘innovation’ & ‘imitation’ – and the Government is laying special emphasis on making the country technology creator rather than a follower.
He termed it as the duty of the Government, media as well as intelligentsia to guide the nation out of the mindset of slavery. He listed out the steps taken by the Government to shed the colonial mindset, including the introduction of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in place of the Indian Penal Code.
Highlighting the harmony between military power and spirituality prevalent in the Indian culture since centuries, he also emphasised that the Government has been consistently working for the betterment of the serving & retired personnel as well as those who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation, along with their families.
“The Armed Forces are being modernised with latest state-of-the-art weapons/platforms. We established the National War Memorial in New Delhi to honour the sacrifices of the bravehearts. In addition, we implemented the One Rank One Pension scheme, a long-pending demand of the ex-servicemen,” he said.
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