DefExpo

Nirmala Sitharaman says can't insist armed forces to use indigenous products

nirmala-sitharaman-def-min Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman | PTI

Amidst the debate over making India as a defence manufacturing hub on one side, and the country continuing to be the world's top most buyer of military equipment on the other, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made it clear that she cannot force armed forces to use only 'indigenous manufactured' products.

The Army has raised flagged several objections over the home-built Arjun tanks, while Navy has outrightly rejected naval version of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Similarly, short range air defence missile system Aakash has also not been received favourable response from the Indian Air Force. In fact, recently IAF had also come with several reservations to LCA Tejas.

The issue has become critical, when the ministry of defence is making tall claims of turning the country into defence export hub.

Speaking at the DefExpo event, which is to officially to be inaugurated on Thursday by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sitharaman on Wednesday said she cannot prevail upon armed forces to choose a particular weaponry.

"If you have plans to export military equipment, ideally it should be first used by our forces. I am also telling the forces to procure from the indigenous sources, but the forces are free to decide what they need for their readiness. They are free to choose their equipment," Sitharaman said while adding that she wants a prepared, lean and mean military, and want give them space to choose, and that there is a fine line on whether homemade products fulfills their requirement or not.

On March 12, Stockholm based global think-tank, SIPRI, in its report, revealed that India continues to be on the top in the list of biggest importer of weapons in the world, with around 70 per cent of its weapons being imported.

Sitharaman, who decided to hold the DefExpo first time in Chennai, said this year, they had been very clear to make India into a manufacturing hub for defence equipment with a strong potential to export.

"This year, we will highlight India as a manufacturer of defence products and country's export potential," She added.

While commenting on the budgetary allocation for modernisation of defence forces, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra assured that "resources were adequate to meet the requirement of armed forces. Almost 33 per cent of India’s capital budget is for defence."

The four-day DefExpo will provide platform for various companies, including micro, small and medium enterprises, to showcase products at the global level, as it is biggest naval, air and land system exhibition in Asia.

On making Chennai as the permanent destination for DefExpo, Sitharaman said ,"Choosing Chennai as the venue is done with a purpose. First, setting up of a defence corridor in Tamil Nadu was announced in this year's Union budget. Secondly, DefExpo has never come down to south India. It was a usual feature of Delhi and the prime minister wants us to organise such events outside national capital and move to other places,"she added.

Over 670 defence firms, including 154 foreign manufacturers, are participating in the exhibition of weapons and military hardware on the East Coast Road, spread over an area of 2.90 lakh sqft.

Confirming participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who along with other BJP MPs will observe a day-long fast on Thursday to protest the recent washout of the budget session, the defence minister said, “Yes, I will be on fast. So as the Prime Minister. And he will be here as fast does not stop work.”