PM Narendra Modi urges industry to play a larger role in defence

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered an 18-minute speech on Thursday, talking up the government's "self reliant India" policy in defence.

In an unscheduled appearance at a Ministry of Defence (MoD) webinar that even caught Defence Minister Rajnath Singh by surprise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered an 18-minute speech on Thursday, talking up the government’s “self reliant India” policy in defence and urging private industry to play a larger role.

“For many years, India has been the world’s biggest importer of defence equipment,” said Modi, blaming it on the failure of earlier governments. This, he said, was changing, repeatedly invoking the confidence of a “New India”.

“When India got Independence, it had enormous capability as a defence producer. At that time, there was a defence production ecosystem that had been established more than a century earlier,” said Modi.

In fact, only the most rudimentary defence production facilities existed at Independence: a handful of ordnance factories that produced low-tech stores such as clothing and ammunition; and a couple of shipyards with no ability to build modern warships. “There were very few countries that had the capabilities and potential that India had. But it is India’s misfortune that, for decades, nobody gave this matter the attention it deserved… And many countries that started after us overtook us and went far ahead in the last half century,” said Modi.

“But now, the situation is changing. You would have experienced that, in the last few years, it has been our effort to throw off the shackles in this sector.”

Modi laid claim to a list of achievements: more manufacturing, new technologies, and a larger role for the private sector. “We have reformed the licensing norms in defence manufacturing, created a level playing field, simplified export procedures, reformed offset rules and many other such measures,” said Modi.