Sounding a note of caution that future conflicts will be “unpredictable,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said “we need to be ready.” He made this observation in his address to Naval Commanders’ meet onboard the country’s first indigenous built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant off Goa. The warship was commissioned into the Navy in September last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In his address, Rajnath also called for futuristic capability development to deal with emerging maritime security challenges and said the Indian Navy is standing firm in protecting national interests and strengthened India’s position as ‘Preferred Security Partner’ in the Indian Ocean Region. He reviewed the operational capabilities of the Indian Navy during the Naval Commanders’ Conference. The minister also witnessed the operational demonstrations at sea, highlighting the Navy’s capability to undertake multi-dimensional missions towards safeguarding the maritime interests of the country.
Elaborating upon the emerging challenges, Rajnath said “Future conflicts will be unpredictable. The constantly-evolving world order has forced everyone to re-strategise. Constant vigil on the Northern and Western borders as well as the entire coastline must be maintained. We need to be ready to deal with all future challenges.” He described secured borders as the first requirement to ensure social and economic progress, asserting that India, under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, is moving forward in ‘Amrit Kaal’ with renewed thrust and zeal to achieve this objective. Emphasising that economic prosperity and security scenario go hand-in-hand, he pointed out that the defence sector has emerged as a major demand creator, which has been boosting the economy and ensuring the country’s development.
“In the next 5-10 years, orders worth over $100 billion are expected to be placed through the defence sector and it will become a major partner in the economic development of the country. Today, our defence sector is on the runway, soon when it takes off, it will transform the country’s economy. If we want to see India among the top economic powers of the world by the end of ‘Amrit Kaal’, we need to take bold steps towards becoming a defence superpower,” the defence minister said.
He reiterated the need for a huge country like India to be completely self-reliant and not dependant on others for its security.
Rajnath commended the Navy for being at forefront of indigenisation and innovation through inductions of ships and submarines and development of niche technologies, in consonance with ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision.
On the commissioning of INS Vikrant, he said it further reinforced the belief that India’s naval designing and development is at a promising stage and more progress will be made in times to come.
