Armed forces ready to tackle any aggression: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 7

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said the armed forces were equipped, capable and ready to give a befitting reply to anyone “who casts an evil eye on India”. He said in the sphere of defence equipment manufacturing, the aim was to export equipment worth Rs 50,000 crore in five years from now.

He said the defence personnel had a strong willpower due to a powerful leadership at the Centre. “We are working towards keeping the morale of the soldiers high,” he said. “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,” he said.

Rajnath was speaking at an event. He termed “perspective” as the major difference between the current and the previous dispensations, stating that the present government ardently believed in the capabilities of the people, while those in power earlier were somewhat sceptical about their potential.

Highlighting the positive impact on the defence sector due to these decisions, Rajnath said: “The annual defence production, which was around Rs 40,000 crore in 2014, has now crossed a record Rs 1.10 lakh crore.”

“Exports of defence equipment today have touched Rs 16,000 crore from a meagre Rs 1,000 crore around 10 years ago. We have set a target to achieve Rs 50,000 crore of exports by 2028-29,” he said.

The minister said when it came to technology, developing countries had two options — innovation and imitation — and the Modi government was laying special emphasis on making the country a technology creator rather than a follower.

In a veiled dig at China that is often accused by the US and Russia of stealing technology, Rajnath said, “Imitating technology from developed countries is not wrong for those whose innovation capacity and human resource have not reached the level required to produce new technologies. If a country imitates technology from other nations, it still moves ahead from old technology; however, the problem is that one becomes addicted to imitation and gets used to second-class technology.”

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