Chennai, Apr 12: Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday declared that India's commitment to peace
was just as strong as its commitment to protecting its people and the country's
territory.
Inaugurating the Defexpo's 10th edition on the
East Coast Road near here in the historic region of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu,
Mr Modi said the government was ready to take all necessary measures to equip
the armed forces, including through the establishment of a strategically independent
defence industrial complex.
The Prime Minister used the occasion to deliver
a veiled message to the neighbouring nations, particularly China with whom
India’s border is yet to be settled and territorial disputes keep cropping up.
Mr Modi said India India has never desired
anyone’s territory. ``India believes in winning hearts, message of peace and
universal brotherhood has been spread since vedic times,’’ he said while
referring to the spread of Buddhism to the world and Emperor Ashoka’s strength
to protect highest ideals of humanity.
Stating that there was a time when the critical
issue of defence preparedness was hampered by policy paralysis, he quipped: “We
have seen the damage such laziness, incompetence or perhaps some hidden
motives, can cause to the nation. Not now, Not anymore, Never again.”
He said the government successfully resolved the
issue of providing bullet proof jackets to Indian soldiers which was kept
hanging for years. His oblique attack was directed at the Congress President
Rahul Gandhi who has alleged scam in defence deals, particularly Rafale fighter
aircraft deal with France.
``We have brought the process to a successful
conclusion with a contract that will provide a boost to defence manufacturing
in India”, he said.
Mr. Modi said the government has not only taken
bold action to meet critical requirements of the forces, but also initiated a
new process to procure 110 fighter aircrafts, adding the government would not
wait for 10 years to procure arms for the forces.
Admitting that defence manufacturing is unique
in terms of government involvement, he said: ``You need the government to grant
a license to manufacture, since the government is almost the only buyer, you
need the government to grant an order, you need the government even to grant
permission to export,’’ he told the select gathering of delegates and
ministers.
The Prime Minister underlined a number of steps
taken by his government over the last few years towards ease of doing business
in India. ``On defence manufacturing licenses, on defence offsets, on defence
exports clearances, on Foreign Direct Investment in defence manufacturing, and
on reforming our defence procurement, we have taken many steps,’’ he told the
gathering.
Mr. Modi said the defence procurement procedure
has been revised with many specific provisions for stimulating growth of
domestic defence industry. ``We have also de-notified some items earlier made
exclusively by Ordnance Factories, so that private sector, especially MSMEs can
enter this space,’’ he said.
Quoting statistics to bolster his arguments, Mr.
Modi said in May 2014, the total number of defence export permission granted
stood at 118, for a total value of 577 million dollars. ``In less than four
years, we have issued 794 more export permissions, for a total value of over
1.3 billion dollars,’’ he said.
``We are committed to establishing two Defence
industrial corridors – one in Tamil Nadu and another in Uttar Pradesh. These
will utilize defence manufacturing ecosystems in the regions and further build
upon it. The corridors will become engines of economic development and growth
of defence industrial base,’’ he said.
The Prime Minister who formally launched the
'Innovation for Defence Excellence' (iDEX) scheme at Defexpo, said it will set
up defence innovation hubs throughout the country to provide necessary
incubation and infrastructure support to the start-ups in defence sector.
His nearly half-an-hour speech laid down the
government's roadmap to take India to its goal of being one of key makers and
exporters of defence equipment.
He remined the people that Tamil Nadu is the
land of the great Cholas who established India's historical civilization links
through trade and education. ``India is a land of glorious maritime legacy, and
Tamil Nadu has been at the forefront of that legacy. This is the land from
where India Looked East and Acted East for thousands of years,’’ he added.
Noting that over 500 Indian companies and over
150 foreign companies are participating in the DefExpo 2018 and more than 40
countries have sent their official delegations, Mr. Modi said that it was for
the first time that he was at the Defexpo which will continue till April 14.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the
idea of defence corridor was inspired by the Prime Minister, adding the
government had relaxed policies, rules and regulations in the defence sector.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswamy said his
state had the largest number of small and medium industrial units which would
be eager to participate in the defence sector. He declared that Chennai is
being developed as a global hub of Maintenance-Repair-Overhaul and has the
potential to manufacture ships and armaments.
Later, the Prime Minister also witnessed a live
demonstration of fire-power, air display, and land warfare by Navy, Army and
Air Force. UNI
