India will fight and win the next war with home-grown weapon systems, says Army Chief General Bipin Rawat at DRDO event

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday said that the DRDO should keep 'future warfare' in mind while developing weapons and other systems.

Pitching for greater inclusion of hone-grown technology in the armed forces, Army Chief General Bipn Rawat on Tuesday said that India will use indigenous weapon systems to fight and win the next war. General Rawat made the statement during his address at the 41st DRDO Directors Conference at DRDO Bhawan. He added that the DRDO should keep 'future warfare' in mind while developing weapons and other systems.

"And, if we are looking at the contours of future warfare, it may not necessarily be contact warfare. So, there is realm of non-contact warfare. We need to start looking at development of cyberspace, space, laser, electronic warfare and robotics... and, along with that Artificial Intelligence (AI). And, if we do not start thinking on it now, it will be too late," General Rawat said.

General Rawat hailed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for its achievements and said that DRDO is playing an important role in helping India make great strides in research and development. "We are confident the services will greatly benefit from it," he said.

"India is one of the largest importers of weapons and ammunition, and after 70 years of Independence, it is not a very proud statement to make. But in the past few years, it is changing. DRDO is striving to ensure our requirements of services are met with home-grown solutions. We are confident that we will fight and win the next war with indigenous weapon system," the Army chief said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was the guest of honour at the two-day event, which was also attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy.

Earlier, Rajnath Singh paid tribute to former president APJ Kalam by garlanding his bust at the DRDO premises as today is the 88th birth anniversary of the Dr Kalam. "Let us get inspired by his life and work towards realising his dream of making India a developed country through scientific advancement," Singh said.

The defence minister also talked about disruptive technologies that is changing the world and said that India must emerge as a leader in this. "All stakeholders must come together and hold interactions and come up with action plans as far as research is concerned, so as to increase our defence capabilities to take India to a new height," the minister said.

For his part, NSA Doval said that DRDO will have to play an important role in making India string and secure.