On Thursday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated that the present global environment was changing in rapid and unforeseen ways, necessitating India’s strength and self-reliance. Singh made the remarks during his address at the event to induct the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) system into the Indian Air Force (IAF).
“Today the global scenario is changing very fast, and in an unexpected way. In this, the mutual equations of countries are also changing rapidly according to their interests. Whether it is the South China Sea, IOR or Indo-Pacific or Central Asia, uncertainty can be seen everywhere,” Singh said. He cited the recent changes in Afghanistan, where the Taliban rapidly seized power, as one such example of the fast-changing global scenario.
The minister further said that such conditions made self-reliance in India’s security measures a necessity and not a mere achievement. “The impact of changing geopolitics can also be seen on trade, economy, power politics and in turn the security scenario. In such a situation, the strength and self-reliance of our security become a necessity, not an achievement,” he said.
Further stressing the need for self-reliance, the minister said that defence modernisation is the government’s priority with the changing times. “Our defence modernisation is our priority with the changing times, we are continuously moving forward towards that. You will be aware that many such policy decisions have been taken in the recent few years, which take us towards not only modernization but also towards self-reliance in the long term,” he said.
Calling the MRSAM “one of the best state-of-the-art missile systems available in the world today,” Singh handed it over to the IAF at the Air Force Station in Jaisalmer. He hailed the day as “very special” for the air force and also the entire defence sector. He further said that the missile is capable of hitting multiple targets simultaneously up to a range of 70 kilometres even in bad weather. “Its success in many stringent tests is a testament to its reliability,” he added.
During his address, Singh also said that he believed that the missile system would be a game-changer in the country’s air defence system and also called its induction a great example of the steps towards self-reliance in the defence sector.
