When Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took to the podium to speak at the inaugural ceremony of Asia’s biggest air show, Aero India 2025, on a bright Monday morning at the Yelahanka air base of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conspicuous by his absence.
IAF chief Aman Preet Singh too was not on the dais while the front section of the crowd represented a colourful kaleidoscope of the military representatives of the world in their starched military uniforms—from the Russians to Americans to Africans, West and East Asians.
Unveiling the pride of India!
— Aero India (@AeroIndiashow) February 10, 2025
Witness the grand launch of the Indian Pavilion at #AeroIndia2025, showcasing the nation's cutting-edge advancements in aerospace and defence.
A testament to Atmanirbhar Bharat in the skies!
#AeroIndia2025 #IndianPavilion #AeroIndiaShow… pic.twitter.com/IpxAIzOFx6
PM Modi was on his way to Paris where he will co-chair a global conversation on artificial intelligence with President Emanuel Macron before proceeding to Washington DC for a meeting with President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the IAF chief was leading a flying formation of the home-made Tejas light combat aircraft up above in the skies.
If anything, it signified the new business-like attitude of Indians where work and optics go hand in hand. As Singh pointed out: “A more than billion Indians means a billion of opportunities”.
In his speech, the defence minister pointed out the changed role of India’s rapidly growing defence industrial complex, observing that “India is going through a transformational phase, rapidly moving from a developing to a developed nation” and its defence industrial sector was earlier not viewed as a component of national economy, but has today been fully integrated with the overall economy. “The sector is now a motor, powering the growth engine of the Indian economy.”
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Scenes from 15th edition of the biennial Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru | Bhanu Prakash Chandra
As usual, defence continued to hog the biggest pie in the Union budget 2025-26 cake. The budgetary allocations announced on February 1, showed that at Rs 6,81,210.27 crore, defence cornered about 13.45 per cent of the total outlay, a 9.53 per cent rise on the defence allocation from a year ago.
To give an idea of the achievements India has made in just the last two years, he named the Astra missile, new generation Akash missile, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Unmanned Surface Vessel, and Pinaka guided rocket as being manufactured within the country.
Comparing Aero India with the ongoing ‘maha kumbh’ at Prayagraj, Singh drew parallels between the two: “While ‘maha kumbh’ is the ‘kumbh’ of introspection, Aero India is the ‘kumbh’ of research. While ‘maha kumbh’ is focusing on internal strength, Aero India will centre on external strength. While ‘maha kumbh’ showcases the culture of India, Aero India will display the power of India.”
The defence minister also signalled India’s non-aligned posture as well as the publicly declared policy of ‘strategic autonomy’ when he alluded to the fact that India is one country that is witnessing peace and prosperity despite the challenges of global uncertainty caused by the ongoing wars and conflicts. “India has never attacked any country nor has it been involved in any great power rivalry. We have always been an advocate of peace and stability,” he said while not openly stating India’s reluctance to align with any particular bloc.
Yet the desire to be an alternative power centre and also be a leader of the global south seemed obvious in his speech: “Aero India 2025, a confluence of critical and frontier technologies, will provide a platform to further strengthen relations among like-minded countries based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual benefit to deal with today's uncertainties… There is no Indian security or Indian peace in isolation. Security, stability and peace are shared constructs that transcend national borders.”
The minister’s speech was followed by a grand display of aerobics and smart maneuvers by IAF’s aircraft that, besides the thousands of enthusiastic spectators, was also watched keenly by Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Deputy CM of Karnataka DK Shiva Kumar, CDS General Anil Chauhan, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Karnataka chief secretary Shalini Rajneesh, defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar and Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal SP Dharkhar.
