Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said technological leadership will determine strategic advantage in future warfare, asserting that "our imagination of today will become tomorrow's military capabilities".Addressing a DRDO-hosted event here, he said the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047 was not just about building an economically strong India but a "technologically self-reliant, socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and strategically secure India".
The defence sector is the "cornerstone" of this vision, Singh said.
"By 2047, we have to achieve self-reliance in critical technologies, significant increase in indigenous content, multi-fold growth in defence exports, and we will have to ensure strong presence of India in global supply chain," he said.
All this cannot be achieved without collaboration, he said, urging greater partnership among all stakeholders in the sector.
The DRDO-Industry Synergy Meet -- 'Vimarsh 2026' -- was hosted at the DRDO Bhawan here.
Singh said the partnership between the DRDO and industry should not be limited to production but should extend to research, design, testing, certification and the entire manufacturing value chain.Along with big industries, MSMEs and start-ups should also be made an integral component of the value chain, he said.The defence minister said emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and drones, would play a crucial role in future warfare and urged the sector to accelerate technological innovation.
"Today, we are seeing how AI can be used to render an image which seems to be of the 80s (referring to the viral 'in the 80s' AI-driven trend online). Joy would be when you can present an image of the future 40-50 years ahead," Singh said.He urged stakeholders in the Indian defence sector to work in that direction."How we wish to see India in 40-50 years, the imagination itself will give new energy to our enthusiasm," he said.
Companies investing in new and emerging technologies wil emerge as technology leaders in the future, Singh said."We need to not just imagine the technology of the future, but we need to develop the technology of the future, today. Because, in future warfare, only that country will be able to leverage a strategic advantage, who will lead the technology. And, our imagination of today will become tomorrow's military capabilities," he said.
The event was attended by several senior DRDO officials and representatives of defence industry firms, among others.
Singh said the partnership between DRDO and industry could make India a global hub for defence manufacturing and there was no other option. Underlining that reforms in the defence sector in the past few decades had been "unprecedented", he said self-reliance did not merely mean developing machinery, parts or platforms, but "self-reliance should be a mindset".
The soul, mind, thought and consciousness should all be imbued with the idea of 'Atmanirbharta', Singh said, adding, "the country which has its technology, has the power to build its future".Singh also praised start-ups and MSMEs, saying they had emerged as new flag-bearers in the defence sector.
To achieve the goal of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', start-ups and MSMEs have important roles to play, he said.
A new wave of defence start-ups was emerging in India, and they are innovative, agile and disrupting traditional defence models, Singh said. MSMEs will have to focus on quality, delivery, innovation and global standards and augment partnership with big industries, he added.