Bangalore: Union Defence Minister A K Antony
on Tuesday said India would continue "unabated" with its
modernisation process in a time bound manner without
compromising on transparency and fairness.
"Though doubts were raised about modernisation, the
process would proceed unabated in a time-bound manner. At the
same time, we will not compromise with transparency and
fairness at any cost," Antony said.
Antony also said self-reliance through indigenisation
remained the overarching objective. "Self-reliance is not just
about numbers or percentage. It is our ability to clearly
define those strategic and critical areas in which development
of national capability is a must," he said.
Speaking at a function at defence undertaking BEL here to
hand over the advanced Naval Gun Fire Control System to the
Navy, he said non-availability of indigenous advanced
technologies to meet the needs of the armed forces compelled
the country to import nearly 70 per cent of procurement.
"I wish to strongly reiterate that this is highly
undesirable. Our government realises the adverse impact of
continued over-dependence on external sources for meeting our
critical defence needs," the minister said.
Too much of dependence on foreign suppliers could hurt
during times of crisis and hence the Centre was keen on
"reducing dependence on foreign suppliers", Antony said.
He said if Indian industry meets the needs of armed
forces, it would get priority over imports. "As far as
possible, we want to give preference to indigenous sources,
but the equipment has to match up with the best in the
business," he said.
Antony said the present day security environment across
the globe was becoming increasingly complex. India`s vast
coastline and geographic locations make high demands on its
Navy and Coast Guard towards safeguarding maritime and
national interests, he said.
"Threat perceptions are increasing and we were living in
an unstable neighbourhood," he said.
The sea lanes of communication are being used for
proliferation of weapons and mass destruction, trafficking or
arms and other nefarious activities. Last year`s terror attack
on Mumbai had raised questions on India`s preparedness. Since
then the Indian Navy, Coast Guard had taken various measures.
BEL has completed setting of a prototype off the Gujarat
coast to strengthen the Coastal Surveillance Project and must
ensure its timely implementation, he said.
Antony said India`s enemies had been procuring the latest
equipment and the country too had to move ahead with the
times.
‘Govt wants to provide level playing field in defence’
Defence Minister A K Antony today
said the government wants to provide a level playing field to
both the public and private undertakings in defence sector.
"We have thrown open the defence sector to the Indian
private industry along with PSUs and foreign Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). We want to provide a level
playing field to all participants -- be they in the public
sector, or the private sector," he said.
He said it was imperative for defence PSUs to try and
excel in a competitive environment, now that the defence
sector has been thrown open to private industry, along with
public sector units and foreign OEMs.
"The latest Defence Procurement Procedure has made
defence acquisition process dynamic and competitive. It has
also thrown up fresh challenges to defence PSUs," Antony said.
He was speaking at a function at public sector
undertaking BEL to hand over the advanced Naval Gun Fire
Control System for the Navy and inaugurate a modern facility
of the Digital Flight Control Computer.
"Our government is committed to ensure the well-being of
Defence PSUs, but the onus lies on them too to excel in a
competitive environment," he said.
"We want modern, state-of-the-art equipment for our armed
forces. However, we cannot afford to import our requirements
endlessly," Antony said.
Ever-growing defence demands would make it difficult for
private and PSUs to meet all needs in near future, he said.
PTI
