On May 25, 2023, the Defence Minister of India (Raksha Mantri), Rajnath Singh, at the inauguration of the DRDO Academia Conclave in New Delhi, said that India must focus on the advancement of defence technology in the view of a “double threat” along the borders in an oblique and apparent reference to China and Pakistan.
He underlined the need for extensive research to develop defence technologies for the country to meet its various security challenges.
“For a nation like India, it becomes very important because we are facing a double threat on our borders, In such a situation, it becomes very important for us to move forward in terms of technological advancement,” he said.
“Today, we are one of the largest armies of the world. The bravery of the Indian Army is discussed all over the world. In such a situation, it becomes very imperative that we have a technologically advanced army to protect the interests of the country,” he added.
The defence minister’s comments came in the backdrop of a lingering border row in Eastern Ladakh and Pakistan’s continuous support to cross border terrorism.
In his remarks, Rajnath Singh also called for collaboration between the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and the academia to ensure technological advancement.
“The only way to this advancement is through research. It is the need of the hour that both DRDO and academia work in tandem. The more this partnership grows, the more I think India’s research sectors will grow in the same proportion. Scientists and experts from DRDO and academia are sitting here,” he said.
Regarding various challenges facing India, the defence minister said collective effort and partnership are required to confront them. “Today, we see major challenges in front of us. When it comes to the defence of the country, then these challenges become more widespread,” he said.
“Although all of you will connect with each other through a partnership, I want all of you to connect with each other at the institutional and individual level as well,” he said.
“No institution can deal with these challenges alone. The most important thing we can do to address these challenges is collective effort and partnership,” he said.
The partnership between the DRDO and academia would also help ISRO develop new dual-use technologies. “In this way, if the partnership between the DRDO and academia is established, then DRDO will move towards the development of dual-use technologies,” he said.
Dual-use technologies are those which can be used for defence (war-time) as well as civilian (peacetime purposes), such as (GPS, Satellites, chemicals etc.)
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