To win future wars, India cannot be import-dependent: Gen Rawat

Vouching for home-grown technology and equipment, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Friday said India's aspiration of becoming a regional power cannot rely on borrowed strength. 

Stating that indigenization is the way forward, Gen Rawat, while addressing the 5th IETE Innovators-Industry meet, said that India's wars have to be won with Indian solutions. 

To win future wars, he said, India cannot be import-dependent.

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Assuring that Indian armed forces are well-equipped to deal with any eventualities, Gen Rawat said that air defence capabilities of the armed forces were at the cusp of modernisation with the acquisition of ballistic missile defence system, Akash weapon system, Rafale fighter aircraft, S-400 missile system and progressive replacement of the legacy air defence systems within the inventory.

The Chief of Defence Staff underscored the importance of self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

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Gen Rawat reiterated that India will be able to use its budgetary allocations for armed forces in a better way if it were to develop its systems indigenously.

Talking about cyber warfare, Gen Rawat said the pervasiveness of information and pace of technological change is transforming the very character of warfare and providing innovative ways to execute new forms of warfare, especially in the non-contact domain.

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These, he said, included information operations, stealing of intellectual property rights, economic inducements; all backed up by clever propaganda and at times even fake news to justify their actions.

Gen Rawat said that the security environment today had been further complicated due to the militarization of space, cyber-warfare, quantum communications and manipulation of social media.

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• Future wars
• Gen Bipin Rawat
• India
• Made in India
• import
• modern weapons
• Make in India