New Delhi: Noting that Indian national security challenges increased and became “complex” given the global geopolitical situation, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday was very pitched for the strong, capable and fully ‘independent’ industrial industry in the country.
Singh’s comments came amid fears that developed in India and elsewhere on the Taliban swept Afghanistan this month, seizing Afghan control after the collapse of the US-supported government.
“Today, security scenarios around the world change very quickly.
Therefore, the challenges of our national security increase and become complex.
There are constant changes in global geopolitical situations,” Singh said, without making certain references.
He spoke after launching ‘Defense India Startup Challenge 5.0’, an initiative under innovation for Excellence (IDX) defense which acted as an umbrella organization to promote technology development for the defense sector.
Singh said that remembering the challenges of security that changed rapidly, India had to focus on the strong, capable and independent defense industry to meet the needs of the armed forces.
“It is necessary that we not only create strong, modern, and well-equipped strength, but also develop our defense industry, which is equally strong, capable, and most importantly, fully ‘independent’,” Minister of Defense said.
Defense Minister summoned the private sector to contribute to strengthening the defense manufacturing sector.
“While making sure all the possibilities of cooperation from the government, I call the private sector to advance and contribute to building a strong and independent defense sector,” he said.
“There is no shortage of talent in our country, there is also no shortage of demand for talent.
But in the absence of the same platform, both cannot match.
The ‘IDX’ platform has succeeded in bridging this gap,” he said.
In recent years, the government has launched a series of reform steps and initiatives to make India Hub manufacturing defense.
Last August, Singh announced that India would stop the imports of 101 weapons and military platforms such as aircraft transportation, helicopters of light battle, conventional submarines, cruise missiles, and sonar systems in 2024.
The second negative list, places import restrictions on 108 weapons and systems such as The next generation Corvettes, early warning systems in the air, tank machines and radar, were released recently.
In May last year, the government announced increasing the FDI limit from 49 percent to 74 percent below the automatic route in the defense sector.
The government has focused on reducing dependence on the imported military platform and has decided to support the making of domestic defense.
The Ministry of Defense has determined the objectives of the turnover of $ 25 billion (Rs 1.75 Lakh Crore) in making defense in 2025 which included the export target of $ 5 billion (RS 35,000 Crore) military hardware.