New Delhi, Oct 27 (UNI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said that the effective use of made-in-India equipment by the armed forces during Operation Sindoor bolstered India’s reputation both regionally and internationally.
The Defence Minister urged the domestic industry, especially the private sector, to further accelerate the pursuit of self-reliance by focusing on innovation and R&D; technology-based manufacturing, production of individual subsystems and components and dominating the supply and maintenance chains.
He was addressing the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) Annual Session, organised on the theme ‘Defence Self-Reliance: Strengthening National Security through Indigenous Industry’, here.
Rajnath Singh asserted that the world witnessed the power of Akash missile system, BrahMos, AkashTeer Air Defence Control System and other indigenous equipment and platforms during Operation Sindoor, and the credit of the operation’s success goes to the brave armed forces as well as “industry warriors” who worked on the front lines of innovation, design and manufacturing.
He described the Indian industry as one of the most important pillars of defence alongside the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
“Although we gave a firm response with a firm resolve and our forces are fully prepared to defend the country’s borders, we must continue to introspect. Operation Sindoor should serve as a case study from which we can learn and chart our future course. This incident has once again shown us that anything can happen at our borders, anywhere, at any time. We need to be ready for a war-like situation, and our preparedness must be based on our own foundation,” said Singh.
The Defence Minister emphasised that the present-day global uncertainties call for an in-depth assessment of every domain, with indigenisation being the only way to deal with the challenges emanating from the constantly-evolving defence sector and the nature of warfare.
“The established world order is weakening, and conflict zones are increasing in many regions. It has, therefore, become necessary for India to redefine its security and strategy,” he said.
He pointed out that the government is creating a level-playing field to enhance defence manufacturing and strengthen the domestic ecosystem and the industry must make full use of this opportunity.
Highlighting the progress achieved due to the government’s self-reliance efforts, the Minister stated that, before 2014, India was completely dependent on imports for its security needs, but today it is manufacturing the defence equipment on its own soil.
To further increase indigenisation, Rajnath Singh urged the industry to strive towards dominating supply chains and maintenance chains while focusing on indigenous manufacturing of individual subsystems and components and not just complete platforms.
The Defence Minister added that the objective should not be merely to assemble in India, but rather develop technology-based manufacturing within the country. “We must ensure that any technology transfer is effective and also serves as a means of empowering our indigenous industries,” he said.
Stating that no country can progress without innovation and R&D, Rajnath Singh exhorted the industry to develop large-scale, end-to-end technological products as SIDM completes a decade next year.
