Defence minister Rajnath Singh said that responsibility of the government is not only protecting borders but also the cultural identity of Bharat

SILCHAR: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the government is developing a strong base of domestic defence industrial ecosystem to become self-reliant in defence sector and to make the country a strategic economy.

Addressing the 21st convocation ceremony of Assam’s Tezpur University, Singh said that before 2014, India was the country to import most defence equipment but now this country is amongst the top 23 defence exporters in the world.

“We have more than one lakh startups and over 100 unicorns. We are promoting innovation and youths are playing vital role,” he said.

Later he wrote on X, “Addressed the students at the Convocation ceremony of Tezpur University. The Union Government is developing a strong base of domestic defence industrial ecosystem to make India a strategic economy. New India no more tolerant to ‘let it be’ mindset and now believes firmly in ‘let’s do it’ approach.”

According to the defence minister, in 2016-17, India’s defence export was ₹1521 crore which has increased more than ten times in last nine years. “The defence export in 2022-23 was ₹16,000 crore and our domestic defence production stands at ₹180,000 crore now,” he added.

According to him, India has issued five positive indigenisation lists, under which 509 defence equipment have been identified whose manufacturing will now be done domestically. The defence ministry also issued four positive indigenisation lists of Defence Public Sector Undertakings, in which 4,666 items have been identified and these will now be manufactured in India, he said.

He also said that responsibility of the government is not only protecting borders but also the cultural identity of Bharat.

“We respect great personalities from the west like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr but we get inspiration from Ramkrishna, Buddha, Kabir and Sankardev, this our culture. Our youths love songs of Taylor Swift and Beatles but we prefer Bhupen Hazarika and Ravi Sankar because they are from our culture,” he said.

He also said that in the past, a section of people advocated for implementing Karl Marx but the present government is trying to follow the rich ancient values of Bharat.

“Karl Marx might be right at some points in his time, but how India can follow a man who never visited this country. We have our rich Sanskriti,” he said.

He appealed to the students not to become narrow minded in life and to keep the nation first. Singh also gave a green signal to the proposal of establishing a Centre for Defence Studies at Tezpur University in the name of Lachit Barphukan.

After the event, while talking to the media, Rajnath said that Ram temple in Ayodhya is not a political topic of the BJP to gain votes. “It (Ram temple) is not our political topic and not a way to gain votes. Ram Janmabhoomi is about our culture and everyone in the country is celebrating,” he said.