India has the capability, capacity & govt's push to become self-efficient: CDS Bipin Rawat

Addressing the Defence Industry Outreach Webinar on Thursday, Chief of Defence Staff [CDS] General Bipin Rawat remarked that India has the capability, capacity and the government's push in the right direction, it should seek to become self-efficient and become an exporter of defence equipment. India's first CDS, General Rawat highlighted that the country has the 'capacity, capability and will' to produce high-end indigenous weapon systems. General Rawat's remarks comes with PM Modi's call for 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' in the backdrop which has led to several steps being taken by the Defence Ministry to strengthen the Armed Forces by relying on indigenous capability. 

"To emerge as a global power, it is imperative that India must invest in building long-term indigenous capabilities or applications of decisive military power. The unequivocal assurance of our commitment to procuring indigenous equipment and weapon systems will remain with the industry and all those who support them," the former Chief of Army Staff said. 

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"We will re-examine defence requirements and prioritise those with indigenous research and development. Work towards corporatisation of Ordnance factories for a more efficient interface and integrate them into the layered defence ecosystem," he added. 

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'Biggest defence importers'

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also addressed the webinar where Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh was also present. Lamenting that India had lost a golden opportunity to focus on domestic defence production after independence, the PM stressed that the aim was to increase indigenous defence production and development of technology in India. He mentioned that steps such as easing the licensing procedure and improving the offset provisions had been undertaken by the Centre. 

PM Modi remarked, "India has been one of the biggest defence importers in the world. When India achieved independence, there was a lot of scope for indigenous defence production. Very few countries had the potential like India. But it is India's misfortune that inadequate attention was paid to this issue over the decades."

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