Prime Minister Modi speaks during the inauguration of 11th edition of Defence Expo 2020

Speaking at the DefExpo inauguration, which is a premier industry show organised by the Rajnath Singh-led defence ministry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the aim of his government is to make India a global-level exporter to generate jobs and uplift the economy

LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said past policies and politics were focused on purchasing foreign arms thus making India the largest importer of weapons in the world.

Speaking at the DefExpo inauguration, which is a premier industry show organised by the Rajnath Singh-led defence ministry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the aim of his government is to make India a global-level exporter to generate jobs and uplift the economy. Linking defence manufacturing to the government’s aim of achieving a $5 trillion economy, the PM said India is focusing on promoting exports of arms with the target being set at $5 billion within the next five years. “For many years, India was among the foremost in the world when it came to defence manufacturing. But after independence, this strength was not used. The policies and politics were focused on importing arms. The result was that India became the world’s largest arms importer,” the PM said.

He was addressing an audience that consisted of global arms manufacturers, the Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem and foreign delegations. “In 2014, the export of defence equipment from India was about Rs 2,000 crore. In the last two years, it has gone up to Rs 17,000 crore. In the next five years, our target is to increase exports to $5 billion, which is about Rs 35,000 crore," the PM said, adding that the world’s largest democracy cannot remain dependent on imports for its security.

Listing out the several policy changes that the government has undertaken in the past five years, including opening up of testing facilities to the industry, increasing the FDI limit and free technology transfer from DRDO, the PM said the private sector has to be an equal partner in achieving the goal of self-reliance and exports. “We want equal partnership from the private industry when it comes to defence manufacturing. If the user and the producer cooperate, national security can be strengthened,” he said.

The PM’s remarks were echoed by defence minister Rajnath Singh who said the key to unleash defence manufacturing in India was to collaborate with various countries and global defence manufacturing companies. The minister said that companies from around the world can bring together their individual competencies to collaborate with Indian companies to create a win-win situation.

Modi emphasised on using Artificial Intelligence for defence to prepare for future challenges.