The national efforts towards ‘Make in India’ in defence manufacturing are neither isolationist nor are they just meant for India alone, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on January 9, 2023. On India’s G20 presidency, he said the endeavour was to build consensus within the G20, and shape the agenda for a “more secure, prosperous, sustainable and just world.”
“It is our endeavour to transcend the relation of buyer and seller to a co-development and co-production model, irrespective of whether we are a buyer or a seller. When we are exporting our defence equipment to our friendly nations, we offer our full support towards the capability development of the buyer through sharing of technology, training, co-production,” Mr. Singh said addressing the Ambassadors’ Conference ahead of the Aero India expo next month in Bengaluru.
He said, “We envisage the G20 presidency as an occasion to showcase India to the world, the 3 Ds of India: Development, Democracy and Diversity.”
Defence exports up
Pitching India’s growing defence manufacturing ecosystem, Mr. Singh said India had been working towards enhancing its defence manufacturing capabilities, particularly in the emerging areas of drones, cyber tech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), radars and other equipment. “Our defence exports have grown by eight times in last five years and now India is exporting to more than 75 countries,” he remarked.
“Partnership” and “joint efforts” are the two keywords that differentiate India’s defence industry partnership with other nations, Mr. Singh said, adding that India did not believe in a hierarchical conception of world order, where few countries were considered superior to others. “Our self-reliance initiative is the beginning of a new paradigm of partnership with our partner countries,” he said, while requesting the envoys to encourage their defence and aerospace leadership to visit Bengaluru for Aero India.
The 14th edition of Aero India with the theme ‘The runway to a billion opportunities’ is scheduled to be held from February 13-17 at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in a total area of over 1.08 lakh sqm. As on date, over 645 exhibitors have registered for the event, with 80 countries confirming their participation, the Defence Ministry said.
Published - January 09, 2023 06:37 pm IST
