Chennai: In a bid to transform India as a global leader in defence technology and ensure the stability of the Indian Ocean region, the government of India is in the process of drafting National Defence Policy. The policy will be released soon, union minister of defence Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Wednesday.
“The government had already released a draft policy and been seeking public opinion on the National Defence Policy. More than 100 suggestions were received till now," she told media persons at the DefExpo.
Explaining about the vision of the ministry, Nirmala Sitharaman added that defence corridors would be set up in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. "The defence corridor in Tamil Nadu will include Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore, Chennai and Tiruchy. The meetings have been held in this regard and the move will boost domestic defence production," she added. The defence corridors were announced in recently concluded budget session.
Also, clearing the haze over the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in the event on Thursday (formal inauguration of DefExpo), the minister said that the Prime Minister would inaugurate the expo as planned earlier. "He will also take part in the hunger strike announced by BJP. There will be no changes in his travel plan," she said.
It is to be noted that uncertainty had loomed over the participation of Modi as the BJP had announced hunger strike on Thursday to condemn the Congress 'stalling' the parliament.
Explaining the intent of expo, she added that the DefExpo has been focusing the medium enterprises in the country and to promote India as a major defence exporting hub.
Meanwhile, Nirmala Sitharaman cleared that the final call on the procurement and standards of equipment would be left in the hands of defence forces. "Of the total companies participated in the expo, 75 percent are Indian," she said.
She also said that the government would insist that arms manufacturers invest 30 percent of our purchases in India.
