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GUWAHATI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said keeping in mind the aspirations and capabilities of a New India, the country needs strategic autonomy and the government is developing a strong base of domestic defence industrial ecosystem to achieve that.
He was speaking at the 21st convocation of Tezpur University (TU), a central varsity located near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in northern Assam.Tezpur is an important Army base and the headquarters of the 4 Corps, which is responsible for the security of India’s northern boundary with China in the Tawang sector.
The defence minister asked TU to put forth before the Centre its request to set up a centre for defence studies, proposed to be named after Ahom general Lachit Borphukan, on its premises in Tezpur. The central university started teaching soldiers, deployed along the LAC, to read and write Mandarin, including military terminologies, from 2023.
Stating that the country’s domestic defence production has touched Rs 1.08 lakh crore for the first time, Singh said India’s defence sector is scaling new heights after the present government under PM Narendra Modi set a mammoth target to make India self-reliant or ‘atma nirbhar’ in the defence sector.
“We are the first such government, which has put restrictions on ourselves so far as import of arms and weapons is concerned,” Singh said, reminding the gathering of the fifth positive indigenisation list under which 509 defence equipment will be produced in India by the people of the country.
“In addition, we have also issued the fourth positive indigenisation list of defence PSUs, in which 4,666 items have been identified, which will now be manufactured in our country,” he said.
The defence minister further highlighted that the total value of the country’s defence exports has gone up from Rs 1,521 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 15,920 crore in 2022-23, which is an almost tenfold increase.
Singh said the present government’s approach in tackling any situation that may emerge in the country has replaced the crisis of credibility with a culture of confidence. “India is no longer tolerant of the ‘let-it-be’ approach. Today, under PM Modi, New India believes in the ‘let’s-do-it’ approach,” he said.
He was speaking at the 21st convocation of Tezpur University (TU), a central varsity located near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in northern Assam.Tezpur is an important Army base and the headquarters of the 4 Corps, which is responsible for the security of India’s northern boundary with China in the Tawang sector.
The defence minister asked TU to put forth before the Centre its request to set up a centre for defence studies, proposed to be named after Ahom general Lachit Borphukan, on its premises in Tezpur. The central university started teaching soldiers, deployed along the LAC, to read and write Mandarin, including military terminologies, from 2023.
Stating that the country’s domestic defence production has touched Rs 1.08 lakh crore for the first time, Singh said India’s defence sector is scaling new heights after the present government under PM Narendra Modi set a mammoth target to make India self-reliant or ‘atma nirbhar’ in the defence sector.
“We are the first such government, which has put restrictions on ourselves so far as import of arms and weapons is concerned,” Singh said, reminding the gathering of the fifth positive indigenisation list under which 509 defence equipment will be produced in India by the people of the country.
“In addition, we have also issued the fourth positive indigenisation list of defence PSUs, in which 4,666 items have been identified, which will now be manufactured in our country,” he said.
The defence minister further highlighted that the total value of the country’s defence exports has gone up from Rs 1,521 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 15,920 crore in 2022-23, which is an almost tenfold increase.
Singh said the present government’s approach in tackling any situation that may emerge in the country has replaced the crisis of credibility with a culture of confidence. “India is no longer tolerant of the ‘let-it-be’ approach. Today, under PM Modi, New India believes in the ‘let’s-do-it’ approach,” he said.
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