Rajnath Singh highlights India’s defence exports, domestic procurement and strategic autonomy. (Image: X)

New Delhi: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said India did not seek to occupy any country’s territory but would take all necessary measures to protect its security and strategic autonomy when threatened.

Addressing a defence conclave in New Delhi, Singh said India’s commitment to peace should not be mistaken for weakness. The country sought global stability, but not at the cost of its strategic autonomy, he said.

Singh ruled out dialogue with countries that promoted terrorism against India. Nations using terrorism as an instrument of state policy or sheltering terrorists must realise that it could not serve as a strategic asset, he said.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, Singh said India was entitled to take all necessary measures against terrorism as long as a neighbouring country continued to support it.

Describing national security as a collective responsibility, he urged citizens to rise above divisions of religion, caste, language and region and put the national interest first.

Singh said India was a “civilisational power” whose rise was based on inclusive development rather than confrontation. Its approach rested on respect, dialogue, prosperity, security and culture, drawing on the principles of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, he said.

Highlighting India’s growing role in the Global South, Singh said the country had emerged as a trusted partner. Under Vaccine Maitri, India supplied more than 30 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses to over 100 countries and also provided medicines, digital payment solutions and technical expertise.

On defence self-reliance, Singh said India was moving from being a major arms importer to a trusted global supplier. Defence exports had risen from Rs 686 crore in 2013–14 to a record Rs 38,424 crore in 2025–26. The government had set an export target of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029, he said.

India was developing indigenous capabilities in aircraft and drone engines and fifth- and sixth-generation fighter jets. Growing global demand for Indian missiles, radars, ammunition and other platforms reflected confidence in the country’s defence industry, Singh said.

The defence allocation had increased from about Rs 2.53 lakh crore in 2013–14 to Rs 7.85 lakh crore in 2026–27. About 75 per cent of the capital acquisition budget, or Rs 1.39 lakh crore, had been reserved for domestic procurement.

Singh said warfare was expanding into cyber, space, electronic and information domains, with artificial intelligence, drones, autonomous systems, quantum technology and hypersonic weapons gaining prominence.

He said private companies, startups and MSMEs were playing a growing role in defence manufacturing. The Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu defence corridors had received investment proposals worth about Rs 70,000 crore, of which nearly Rs 10,000 crore had been invested.

Technologies developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation for conventional missile systems would be transferred to eligible Indian industries. Singh said this would improve military preparedness, ensure timely missile supplies and allow the DRDO to concentrate on research and development.

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