Govt working with "utmost determination" to ensure safe and secure India

The government is working with utmost determination to ensure a safe and secure India with a focus on achieving self-reliance in the production of military equipment required by the armed forces, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Monday.In his address to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session, Kovind also referred to infrastructure development in border areas, including in the Ladakh region, and said it has provided new strength to the countrys security.My government is working with utmost determination to ensure a safe and secure India.

The government is working with ''utmost determination'' to ensure a safe and secure India with a focus on achieving self-reliance in the production of military equipment required by the armed forces, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Monday.

In his address to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session, Kovind also referred to infrastructure development in border areas, including in the Ladakh region, and said it has provided new strength to the country's security.

''My government is working with utmost determination to ensure a safe and secure India. Due to the policies of the government in the defence sector, especially in defence production, the country is becoming increasingly self-reliant,'' he said.

''Of all the approvals accorded for modernisation of armed forces in the year 2020-21, 87 per cent were from 'Make in India' category. Similarly, in 2020-21, preference was accorded to 'Make in India' category in 98 per cent of equipment related contracts,'' Kovind said. The president said the armed forces have issued a list of 209 military equipment, which will not be purchased from abroad. ''A list of more than 2,800 defence equipment has also been issued by defence undertakings which will be manufactured domestically,'' he noted.

In August 2020, the defence ministry announced that India will stop the import of 101 weapons and military platforms like transport aircraft, light combat helicopters, conventional submarines, cruise missiles and sonar systems by 2024.

A second list, putting import restrictions on 108 military weapons and systems such as next-generation corvettes, airborne early warning systems, tank engines and radars, was issued in May last year.

In his address, the president also referred to the deal to procure 83 Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) from state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

''A contract has been signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for manufacture of 83 LCA Tejas fighter aircraft,'' he said. The Rs 48,000 crore deal to procure Tejas aircraft was sealed in February last year. and it was billed as the biggest ever indigenous defence procurement programme. ''The government has also taken important steps for reorganisation of Ordnance Factories into seven Defence PSUs. Besides, the government is also committed to rapidly promote the private sector and start-ups in the defence sector,'' Kovind said. ''Our objective is that the products required by our Forces should be developed in India and also manufactured in India,'' he said.

The president said infrastructure development in border areas has provided new strength to the country's security.

''Today, while on the one hand the modern infrastructure of the country is opening ways for development, on the other hand it is also providing new strength to country's security. ''Border Roads Organisation has constructed a transport-worthy road at 19 thousand feet, the highest altitude for such a road, at Umling La Pass in Ladakh. Even the most remote villages like Demchok in Ladakh, Joling Kong in Uttarakhand and Huri in Arunachal Pradesh have been connected by modern roads,'' he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)