India believes indigenous defence capabilities foundation to enduring peace: Rajnath

Against backdrop of tense border standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Lakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said India is a peace-loving country and believes that indigeus defence capabilities are foundations to "enduring peace".

In a virtual dress to a group of foreign envoys on upcoming Aero India exhibition, he also highlighted various reform measures initiated by government to make India a hub of production of key military platforms and weapons systems.

"We are a peace-loving country. We remain committed to peace and stability across world. We also remain committed to belief that self-reliance and indigeus defence capabilities are foundations to enduring peace," he said without elaborating.

Officials said ambassors, hes of missions and defence attaches of over 75 countries attended online conclave.

Showcasing India as an attractive destination for investment in defence manufacturing sector, Singh said: "We need to remove impediments coming in way of our natural alliance in a purposeful and progressive manner and join hands to make this world a more secure, peaceful and prosperous place."

He also talked about India's inherent strength in defence manufacturing and said country is determined to become one of top five countries globally in defence and aero sector.

"We are one of few countries in world which produce a fourth generation fighter aircraft, nuclear submarine, main battle tank and inter-continental ballistic missiles," defence minister said.

Urging envoys to encour defence manufacturers and policy makers from ir respective countries to participate in Aero India, he said event will be a key forum for aero industry to explore business opportunities. next edition of Aero India, considered Asia's largest aero exhibition, is scheduled to be held in its tritional venue of Bengaluru from February 3-7 next year and its me will "runway to a billion opportunities".

Officials said more than 90 per cent of in exhibition has been booked reflecting "tremendous interest" shown by exhibitors to participate in aero show.In his remarks, Singh said that 'Aero India-21' will showcase India's intent to achieve a turver of USD 25 billion with exports of USD 5 billion in aero and defence goods and services by 2025.

"w, we want to make India one of top five countries of world in defence and aero industries, from design to production, with active participation of public and private sector fulfilling objective of self-reliance as well as demand of or friendly countries," he said.

Singh said event will be organised strictly hering to all requisite COVID-19 protocols and that emphasis will be laid on contactless experience to all exhibitors and visitors.

India has one of world's largest technically qualified manpower and we do claim to be a force to reckon with in field of information techlogy. With this infrastructure and human resource, India can prove to be an excellent base for defence and aero industry, he said.

government has unveiled a number of policy initiatives in last few months with an aim to boost domestic defence production.

On August 9, defence minister anunced that India will stop import of 101 weapons and military platforms like transport aircraft, light combat helicopters, conventional submarines, cruise missiles and sonar systems by 2024.

In a related development, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) identified 108 military systems and subsystems like navigation rars, tank transporters and missile canisters for domestic industry to design, develop and manufacture. 

(IM CREDITS:PTI)

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