Future wars will be won with Made in India weapons: Army Chief General Naravane

By Anish Kumar | First Published Nov 8, 2021, 9:20 PM IST

The army would always take the lead when it came to realising the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, Gen Naravane said.

Rooting for greater self-reliance in the defence sector, Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane on Monday said only indigenously-developed technologies will be available to the military for full exploitation across diverse domains during war-like situations. Speaking at a webinar organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Gen Naravane said that the Indian Army is undergoing rapid modernisation and is increasingly looking at indigenous solutions for its operational needs.

Stating that there was a need to develop indigenous and local capabilities to confront emerging security challenges and reduce the dependence on borrowed technologies, Gen Naravane said that the Army, especially, is most suited to take a lead in this initiative. The Army chief also listed the reforms that have been undertaken by the government to make the Indian defence sector self-reliant. Gen Naravane said that besides increasing the foreign direct investment from 49 per cent to 74 per cent, two positive lists of 209 items for imports embargo had been released.

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He also highlighted the creation of a separate budget for capital procurement of indigenously-developed projects, corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board and setting up of the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme as some of the measures that the government had taken to make the defence sector self-reliant. These decisions, the Indian Army chief said, will have a significant impact in the time to come.

Stating the defence establishment was privileged to be the agents of this change that had the potential to redefine India as a global hub for the manufacture of defence equipment, Gen Naravane reassured the defence industry that the Army would always take the lead when it came to realising the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat. Asserting that the Indian Army is increasingly looking at indigenous options, Gen Naravane told Indian defence manufacturers that their participation in this endeavour will augment the common resolve to wage and win future wars with indigenous weaponry and material.

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