India's defence forces are committed to hand-hold the domestic industry to develop next-generation military equipment and platform to realise the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence manufacturing, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday.
In a seminar address on promoting the domestic defence industry, Gen. Rawat said nothing would bring greater satisfaction to the armed forces than fighting and emerging victorious in wars with home-grown technology and equipment. General Rawat said, "The Armed Forces are committed to supporting the Atmanirbhar Bharat. Nothing will give us greater satisfaction than fighting and coming out victorious in wars with indigenous developed technologies and equipment."
Atmanirbhar Bharat in Defence
The seminar was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and others. General Rawat further asserted that armed forces do not have any bias towards imported equipment. India has faced numerous security threats and challenges, which will intensify in the future, Gen Rawat said, adding the country has the capacity to manage them. The government has already envisaged its broad roadmap to make India a hub of manufacturing with a special focus on the domestic defence industry. Modi government has already taken a series of measures in this direction.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared on August 9 that India would halt imports by 2024 of 101 weapons and military platforms such as transport aircraft, light fighting helicopters, nuclear submarines, cruise missiles, and sonar systems. Further, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has identified 108 military systems and subsystems like navigation radars, tank transporters and missile canisters for the domestic industry to design, develop and manufacture.
Policy intervention
Recently, the Ministry of Defence has also issued multiple policy drafts for transforming India into 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' in defence manufacturing. In July the Ministry of Defence issued the second draft of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) which had a series of proposals. At the beginning of this month, the ministry has finalised the Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020. Among the most common features of both these drafts and also the central idea is the push to achieve self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector. India for a long time has been heavily dependent on the import from foreign countries to fulfil its defence needs.
