Staff Reporter / New Delhi
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today asserted that self-reliance in the defence sector and secured borders were the critical aspects for making India a powerful nation.
During an event here, Mr Singh echoed the government’s resolve to transform the country into one of the most powerful nations by 2047. He underlined the government’s focus to equip the armed forces with state-of-the-art weapons systems and equipment, manufactured by a self-reliant defence industry.
Citing the example of recently-commissioned INS Vikrant, he said, the country has the ability and capability to manufacture modern weapons and platforms.
He exuded confidence that the country will start manufacturing modern and effective water, land, sky and space defence platforms in the next ten years.
The Defence Minister said, defence exports have seen a massive jump in recent years. He said, defence export has gone up to 13 thousand crore rupees which was earlier one thousand 900 crore rupees.
He said, the country has set a target of one lakh 75 thousand crore rupees worth of defence production by 2025, including 35 thousand crore rupees worth of defence exports.
Terming border areas development as a priority area of this government, Mr. Singh said, efforts are being made to increase connectivity with far-flung areas to further strengthen the preparedness of the Armed Forces.
He said, the restoration of peace and prosperity in the North East region in the last eight years is one of the biggest achievements of this government. He said, the region witnessed 80 to 90 percent reduction in violent incidents since 2014.