First of all, I welcome all the participants who have come from abroad and various parts of India to share their expertise in the inaugural Delhi Defence Dialogue. I appreciate Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and its Director General, Ambassador Sujan Chinoy for launching this first edition of ‘Delhi Defence Dialogue’.
I am confident that the Delhi Defence Dialogue will emerge as a flagship platform for addressing multifaceted challenges in regard to defence and security issues. The dialogue is a response to a need of such platforms for informed deliberations and keen analysis of contemporary defence and security challenges in a rapidly changing world.
Friends! There could be no better theme than “Adaptive Defence: Navigating the Changing Landscape of Modern Warfare”. I congratulate MP-IDSA for choosing such relevant and contemporary theme.
Friends, we are living in a world of geopolitical and economic flux, full of uncertainties with changes taking place at an unprecedented pace in history. The traditional mindset of perceiving reality as something static is being challenged, and the compartmentalized understanding of subjects is evolving into a more multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approach. Traditional notions of war are being reshaped by emerging technologies and evolving strategic partnerships. New perspectives, doctrines and concepts of operations have emerged within the armed forces in keeping with the changing nature of threats and challenges.
Defence and Security, both in the conceptual and practical domains, are experiencing the overwhelming impact of the information age. This is the age of Grey Zone and Hybrid warfare where traditional ways to defend ourselves have been challenged. In this scenario, continuous adaptation is the best strategy to cope up with and to address the challenges posed by the fast changing world.
Friends, Adaptive Defence, at its core, is a strategic approach where a nation’s military forces and defence mechanisms continuously evolve to counter emerging threats and challenges effectively. It is not merely responding to what has happened but anticipating what could happen, and preparing for this proactively. In essence, it involves cultivating a mindset and capability to adapt, innovate, and thrive, even in the face of unpredictable and evolving circumstances.
Situational awareness, flexibility at strategic and tactical levels, resilience, agility, and integration with the emerging and futuristic technologies are the keys to understand and create adaptive defence. We need to translate and imbibe these principles into the defence and security apparatus. Adaptive Defence must be the mantra of our strategic formulations and operational responses.
India, and for that matter the world, faces a diverse range of security challenges, from the traditional border related threats to unconventional issues such as terrorism, cyber-attacks, and hybrid warfare. Recognising the need for an adaptive defence strategy in a changing geopolitical and technological scenario, the Government of India, under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken several initiatives to build a robust and self-reliant defence ecosystem. It includes establishing the institution of the Chief of Defence Staff, promoting jointness among the three armed forces, improvising the training curriculum, forging new defence partnerships around the world, and so on.
Friends, contemporary wars are not being fought on the battlefields alone. We, in this age of digitization and information overload, are facing an unprecedented scale of psychological warfare. The Government of India is determined to employ adaptive defence strategies to counter the menace of information warfare against national security. Our Government has taken robust steps to deal with contemporary threats to the nation. While these include measures against external threats, these also focus on enhancing our indigenous capability and capacity.
Several initiatives have been taken to address the issue of defence modernization and production. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, with its focus on self-reliance in defence sector, forms the bedrock of this vision. The Defence Acquisition Procedure - 2020 prioritizes domestic procurement and promotes indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured products. I commend the MP-IDSA for having initiated an academic exercise to review DAP-2020 in consultation with all stakeholders. The emphasis on indigenous capabilities aligns with our aim to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. This must not be seen as an isolationist approach, as we are very much open to foreign investment, collaboration, joint R&D and co-production within the broader framework of “Make in India” initiative.
To attract investments for the defence industry, the Government of India has increased the Foreign Direct Investment limit up to 100 per cent in specific cases. It has also streamlined the procedure to invest in defence manufacturing industry with increasing the upper limit to 74 per cent through the automatic route. The government is also promoting co-development and co-production of niche (नीश) defence technologies with foreign manufacturers.
Additionally, the establishment of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu aims to attract investments and promote defence manufacturing clusters. The iDEX initiative fosters innovation by encouraging startups and MSMEs to contribute to defence technology development.
The Make in India campaign has also seen success in indigenous projects like the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, INS Vikrant, and DRDO’s missile programmes. Today, we are also witnessing the fruits of our endeavour in the rising exports of defence items from India. Currently, India is already exporting defence items to over 100 nations, with the top three destinations for defence exports in 2023-24 being the USA, France, and Armenia. We hope to achieve the target of Rs 50,000 crores worth of defence exports by 2029.
The publication of multiple positive indigenisation lists further emphasizes the government’s commitment towards self-reliance. These lists include numerous defence items that will no longer be imported, thereby encouraging their domestic production.
Friends, India is committed to remain among the leading countries working on emerging Technologies in cyberspace and Artificial Intelligence. We have already issued the AI framework and guidelines for the DRDO projects and programmes. The system laboratories of the DRDO has AI technology groups to introduce AI features in all the products. There is an AI roadmap for each Defence Public Sector Undertaking.
We have also introduced programmes to train our youth for futuristic defence needs. I can assure you all, that the Government is keen to have state of the art AI capabilities with these initiatives. A country of the size and potential of India has to have the capability and wherewithal to deal with the imminent global innovations of AI in defence.
Friends, drones and swarm technologies are bringing fundamental changes in the ways and means of warfare. The development has changed the post-World War II understanding of warfare completely. The traditional notions and concepts of warfare in all three dimensions – land, air and water – have been rapidly changing. These dimensions are being seen as overlapping due to drone and swarm technology interventions.
India is aiming to become a drone hub of the world. Several initiatives have been taken in this regard. This would not only help the Indian economy but also significantly contribute to our Make in India and the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme. We are already working to improve Research & Development thorough reliable certification mechanisms, and Indian Intellectual Property creation in this sector. Additionally, we have also introduced rewards for innovation through the schemes of iDEX and ADITI.
Friends, not only reforms related to defence personnel, command, control and equipment, but a Collaborative Approach also is critical to deal with contemporary problems of defence and security. The actors involved in these matters are not only states, but non-state as well. The current geopolitical dynamics and cross-border issues make a collaborative approach to defense essential. The ambiguities of the cyberspace, Artificial Intelligence, and the vast potential of quantum and nanotechnologies further demand collaboration and sharing of knowledge, perspectives, information and if possible, strategies.
It is an irony that in a world that is increasingly being seen as a global village, where sharing of ideas and solutions is a collaborative exercise and where security has become an all-pervasive reality, we continue to be divided by ideological and geopolitical walls of our own creation. Adaptive Defence can only become a reality when it is also a reflection of Collaborative Defence. This event will help us analyse aspects of jointness and integration as part of the proceedings.
Ladies and Gentlemen, jointness cannot and should not be restricted to the military domain of individual countries. Our interconnectedness is as much a blessing as it is a challenge. If our threats are transnational so should be our solutions.
Friends, it is rare to find a technological solution today that is completely designed, developed, manufactured and consumed within the same country. This is the nature of globalisation and the inter-dependence that it has created. The logic of both economies of scale and the sources of expertise demand that our solutions should therefore be logically And our inter-connectedness allows and facilitate such collaborations without the limitations of geography. Our time zones facilitate and encourage the ability to utilize time more efficiently. Our skill sets ensure that time, money and talent become assets rather than constraints. However, this works well only if all countries cooperate and refrain from seeking unilateral advantage as we have seen in some glaring instances.
Friends, those of you who regularly visit India and have been a witness to our journey of progress and would have noted some rather perceptible changes. The infrastructure development has moved ahead by leaps and bounds in recent years. However, for me, the real change is defined by the collective and boundless energy of the 1.4 billion people of India. I would very much hope to see this energy translate to the proceedings of this event. I see the best minds coming together to improve our understanding of challenges. I am also equally hopeful that you shall seek solutions to complex issues.
Friends, by bringing together policymakers, military experts and scholars, the Delhi Defence Dialogue seeks to generate innovative ideas and collaborative strategies to enhance our defence posture. It is a vital initiative that aspires to strengthen our strategic vision emphasizing a comprehensive approach and facilitating informed discussions that contribute to national, regional and global security. Through this, we intend to foster strategic partnerships, promote indigenous defence production, and find ways to adapt to emerging technologies. I hope that this process comes up with a set of robust policy recommendations for defence and security planners.
Friends, Adaptive Defence is not merely a strategic choice but a necessity. As the threats to our nation have evolved, so too must our defence systems and strategies. In this context, India’s vision of adaptive defence must be founded on flexibility, innovation, and resilience, and we should also be prepared for all future contingencies. It is more than just protecting our borders; it is about securing our future. Let us all work together towards a more secure, Atmanirbhar, resilient and adaptive India.
Inaugural Address by Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Raksha Mantri & President, IDSA at Delhi Defence Dialouge
Good morning,
Thank you.
Jai Hind!
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