India has no option but to make itself stronger amid changing world order: Rajnath Singh

PTI, Apr 22, 2022, 3:04 PM IST

India has no option but to make itself stronger to ensure its defence, peace and stability as the world order is changing rapidly, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday in the context of the Ukraine-Russia war.

A lot of things are happening in the world that are affecting India, Singh said at the inauguration of DefConnect 2.0.

DefConnect 2.0 is a one-day event to bring together start-ups, big companies and armed forces personnel to boost indigenous innovation in the defence sector.

”When we met at Aero India 2021 (February 21), from then to now, the world has changed so much that it cannot be accounted for or measured. Every new danger is looking more complex and challenging than the previous one,” Singh told the gathering.

”We did not even recover fully from the Covid-induced crisis but the world is now facing the issue of the Ukrainian conflict,” he said.

”The way the world order is changing with time, we do not have any other option but to make ourselves stronger,” he said.

Even before this, the minister said, the world has seen instability in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

”Apart from this, there are a lot of things happening in the world that are affecting India for sure. Therefore, it is important that we become strong to ensure our defence, peace and stability,” he said.

”We need to develop many of our sectors in order to strengthen ourselves. Disruptive technology is an important sector in this regard,” he noted.

Singh underlined the utility and uniqueness of a defence technology matter equally.

”How useful a defence technology is to us is definitely important but it is also important that the defence technology should be with us only,” he said, adding as a defence technology reaches other countries, its utility is nullified.

DefConnect 2.0 provides an opportunity to innovators to showcase their capabilities, products and state-of-the-art technologies to the industry leaders. The start-ups get to leverage this opportunity to generate investments and leads for future operations.