Rajnath Singh: Technologically advanced military crucial to protect country's interests

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has emphasized the significance of a technologically sophisticated military to protect the interests of the country.

Addressing the DRDO-Academia conference in New Delhi on May 25, 2023, he stressed that India's borders face a double threat, making it essential for it to have a competent defensive systems. He noted that India has of the largest armed forces in the world, the bravery and valour of our military is praised all over the world.

"Countries across the world express their willingness to conduct joint exercises with our armed forces. In such a situation, it becomes imperative that we have a technologically advanced military to protect the interests of the country. For a country like India, it becomes very important because we are facing double threat on our borders,” Singh said.

The Defence Minister underscored the significance of the conclave's theme, 'DRDO-Academia Partnership: Opportunities and Challenges'. In order to handle the difficulties of the twenty-first century, he underlined the necessity of collaboration between the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the Academia. This partnership will prove helpful in making India a leading nation in defence technologies, he said.

“I don’t see the partnership between DRDO and Academia from the point of view of 1+1=2, but as 1+1=11. That is, when these two entities cooperate with each other, not only both of them will get double benefit, but the entire nation will be benefited greatly from this partnership,” he explained.

Defence Minister Singh also emphasized the critical significance that research and development (R&D) plays in acquiring cutting-edge technology. He stressed the important role that R&D has historically played in the advancement of civilizations by transforming commonplace materials into useful resources.

The Defence Minister stressed that this collaboration will give the DRDO access to a professional human resource base from major universities all throughout India, including IISC, IITs, NITs, and others. Simultaneously, academia would benefit from DRDO's R&D funding, advanced infrastructure, and lab facilities, fostering a thriving start-up culture in the country.

Rajnath Singh highlighted the partnership's transdisciplinary potential and said that technology created via collaborative efforts may find use in both the civil and defenslce sectors. He advised academic institutions to consider hiring DRDO scientists as faculty members, and vice versa, to create a symbiotic partnership that would stimulate information sharing and provide new ideas.

The goal of the two-day conclave was to provide a forum for interaction and cooperation amongst DRDO directors, scientists, and academicians. The conference included a plenary session as well as four technical sessions on armaments, life sciences, naval systems, and aeronautics, which drew over 350 prominent academics from throughout the nation.