Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has said that self-reliance and indigenous defence capabilities are key to enduring peace. He was addressing the inaugural session of the Defence Partnership Days, organised jointly by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies and Indian Military Review, here on Thursday.

“Today, India is at the centre stage of global optimism. We have become the fifth-largest economy in the world. As we march ahead on the path of progress and prosperity, we believe that self-reliance and indigenous defence capabilities are the foundations of enduring peace. India’s security landscape necessitates a robust and self-reliant defence sector,” General Chauhan said.

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Stating that the common thread that binds all stakeholders is ‘national interest’, General Chauhan said that the entire enterprise of indigenisation will not succeed if the glue of national interest does not bind all the elements.

Talking about various reforms and initiatives by the government in the defence sector, General Chauhan said, “India has opened up its defence industry through reforms. It has opened it up for private industry, joint ventures, FDI, etc. But, we are yet to fully open up our minds. To really succeed, we will have to imbibe the ‘4I’s and be innovative, inventive, indigenous and imaginative.”

Stating that the investments in defence manufacturing takes time to accrue returns, and the time gap in defence R&D is even longer, and also the outcome can be uncertain, the CDS suggested that the Defence Bank with earlier loan terms could be one option, in addition to funding projects like iDEX and TDF.

He also suggested the formulation of defence policies in emerging technologies like space, AI, quantum, and autonomous systems that give direction to the industry as to how the services see the future unfolding.

Over 200 companies and 100 officers from the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces, dealing with technology and procurement, are participating in the two-day event. The event is designed to bring together government and business stakeholders and to facilitate strategic engagements through a series of targeted business-to-government (B2G) and business-to-business (B2B) meetings. On the sidelines of the event, an exhibition by 75 companies is being organised to showcase what the industry has to offer for building the nation’s defence capabilities.