Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday recalled how India's defence preparedness was hampered by policy paralysis and how there was a shortage of bullet-proof jackets and fighter aircraft. "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 during his 30-minute long speech.
Pointing out the policy paralysis during the earlier UPA regime, he said, "The issue of bullet-proof jackets to soldiers was kept hanging for years. You would also have seen that we have brought the project to a successful conclusion with a contract that will provide a successful boost to defence manufacturing in India," he said. He added his government was ready to take all necessary steps to equip India's armed forces by establishing a strategically independent defence industrial complex.
Modi was speaking on Thursday after inaugurating the 10th edition of the Defence Expo at Thiruvidanthai on the outskirts of Chennai near Mahabalipuram. Addressing the gathering after launching the iDex scheme, a scheme to support innovations and newer manufacturers in the Defence sector, Modi said his government is committed to equip the armed forces.
Modi's speech, however, did not touch upon any areas other than defence, manufacturing and Make in India.
Meanwhile, the sprawling venue where the Defence Expo is held at Thiruvidanthai has been turned into a fortress overnight, with around 5,000 police personnel being deployed at the site. Also, the Special Action Force and Special Task Force have been roped in and a three-tier security were arranged at the airport following black flag protests against Modi demanding Cauvery Water Management Board.
However, there were no signs of protests inside the premises. No one, including Tamil Nadu Chief minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, mentioned about the protests or Cauvery in their brief speech during the event.
Stating that his government's commitment to peace is "just as strong as our commitment to protecting our people and our territory", Modi emphasised that the BJP government in Delhi has taken bold action to meet the immediate critical requirements in the defense sector. "We have also initiated a new process to procure 110 fighter aircraft," he added. “In addition, we have launched the ‘Innovation for Defence Excellence’ scheme. It will set up defence innovation hubs throughout the country to provide necessary incubation and infrastructure support to the start-ups in the defence sector."
On the two proposed defense corridors—one in Tamil Nadu and the other one in Uttar Pradesh—Modi said, "These would utilise 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."
Giving details of the defense export, Modi said it has gone up in recent years after the BJP government took over. "In May 2014, the total number of defence export permission granted stood at 118, for a total value of $577 million. In less than four years, we have issued 794 more export permissions, for a total value of over $1.3 billion."
"Over the last few years, we have made a humble beginning. We have taken many steps towards defence manufacturing licences, defence offsets, defence exports clearances, foreign direct investment in defence manufacturing, and on reforming our defence procurement," he added.
Later, Modi watched a live demo of the armed forces and also visited the 700 odd stalls in the Defence Expo along with his cabinet colleague and Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.