New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that 'India does not believe in a hierarchical conception of a world order where few countries are considered superior to others'. "Our efforts towards 'Make in India' are neither isolationist nor meant for India alone. I want to underline that make-in-India encompasses make-for-the-world," Rajnath Singh said at the ambassadors' conclave ahead of Aero India 2023.
Further adding that India does not believe in making or becoming a client or satellite state, Singh said, "India's self-reliance initiative is the beginning of a new paradigm of partnership with its partner countries. When we partner with any nation, it is on basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect," he said.
Speaking about the robust defense upgradation taking place in India and the country becoming a major defense exporter, the Defence Minister underscored that India's Defense export has grown "eight times" in the last five years and at the moment "we're exporting to more than 75 counties."
Aero India is a premier global aviation trade fare, which provides an opportunity for our Aviation-defence industry, including the aerospace industry, to showcase its products, technologies, and solutions to the national decision makers, the Defense Minister highlighted. "We're now organizing the 14th edition of Aero India-2023 from 13th to 17th February in Bengaluru. Aero India-2023 would, hopefully, surpass the benchmark set in the previous edition with a larger presence of exhibitors and representatives of our friendly countries," the Defence Minister said.
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Speaking about the G20 summit, Singh said the G20 in India is taking place in the larger context of a major geopolitical crisis, food and energy security concerns, comparatively slower progress on Sustainable Development Goals, mounting public debt burdens, and urgent climate change-related issues. "We envisage the G20 Presidency as an occasion to showcase India to the world, the 3 D’s of India- Development, Democracy, and Diversity," he said.
Speaking about India's defense partnerships, he said 'partnership' and 'joint efforts' are the two keywords that differentiate India’s defence industry partnership with other nations. "When we are exporting our defence equipment to our friendly nations, we offer our full support towards the capability development of the buyer through sharing of technology, training, co-production," he said.
"When we are procuring defence equipment from our valued partner nations, very often, they are sharing the technical know-how, setting up manufacturing plants in India, and working with our local firms for various sub-systems," he added.
