Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on November 3, 2026, called for strengthening indigenous production and the independent sustenance of critical defence capabilities, asserting that military preparedness in the 21st century would depend increasingly on a country’s technological and industrial strength. Addressing the third edition of the Delhi Defence Dialogue 2026 at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), he emphasised that India’s pursuit of Aatmanirbharta must go beyond domestic manufacturing to encompass technological sovereignty, intellectual property ownership and the ability to sustain defence platforms throughout their lifecycle.
Speaking on the theme ‘Defence Reforms, Aatmanirbharta, Collaborations and Exports’, the Raksha Mantri described the four elements as interconnected pillars of India’s ambition to become a developed nation by 2047. He said reforms must create an enabling institutional environment, self-reliance must strengthen indigenous technological capabilities, international collaborations must facilitate access to advanced technologies and co-development, while exports must provide the scale and competitiveness necessary for a sustainable defence industrial ecosystem.
Rajnath Singh observed that reforms reflected the nation’s willingness to change, Aatmanirbharta its determination to create, collaborations its confidence to partner with the world and exports its readiness to compete globally. He stressed that these dimensions must advance together, as self-reliance without institutional reforms, international partnerships and access to global markets could restrict India’s technological horizons and industrial competitiveness.
Emphasising the strategic significance of indigenous capabilities, the Defence Minister said true self-reliance involved possessing the knowledge to design a defence platform, the technology to manufacture it, the intellectual property required to improve it and the capacity to maintain and sustain it independently. He cautioned against allowing critical defence requirements to remain vulnerable to external dependencies, particularly in areas essential to national security and operational readiness.
The Raksha Mantri also referred to the changing character of warfare, noting that recent conflicts across the world had demonstrated how military operations were increasingly extending beyond traditional domains of land, sea and air into space, cyberspace and the digital environment. The distinction between conventional and unconventional warfare was becoming increasingly blurred, requiring armed forces and defence industries to adapt to rapidly evolving technological and operational realities.
He pointed out that relatively inexpensive drones and autonomous systems were challenging sophisticated and costly military platforms. In this changing environment, the ability to innovate quickly, manufacture equipment at scale and replenish military capabilities had become as important as possessing advanced weapon systems. The changing nature of conflict, he said, made technological adaptability and industrial resilience essential components of military preparedness.
Highlighting the measures undertaken over the past decade to strengthen India’s domestic defence industrial base, Rajnath Singh stressed the importance of progressive policies, responsive institutional processes and an enabling environment for technological development. Among the initiatives highlighted were the establishment of Defence Industrial Corridors and the corporatisation of the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board into seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings. These measures were aimed at improving autonomy, efficiency and competitiveness in defence manufacturing.
The Defence Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to expanding private-sector participation in the development and production of advanced defence platforms and systems. He identified programmes such as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, propulsion systems, Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), artillery ammunition and shipbuilding as areas offering significant opportunities for private industry.
He said wider participation by private companies, micro, small and medium enterprises, start-ups and academic institutions would help expand indigenous development, increase manufacturing capacity and strengthen India’s position in the international defence market. Greater collaboration between the public and private sectors was also important for building a broader industrial ecosystem capable of supporting complex defence programmes.
Referring to 2025 as the Year of Reforms in the Ministry of Defence, Rajnath Singh said the initiative had focused on jointness, integration, emerging technologies, innovation and strengthening the domestic defence industrial ecosystem. Reforms across policies, institutional structures, technology development, acquisition procedures and ease of doing business were yielding positive results, he noted.
Highlighting the growth of the domestic defence industry, he stated that defence production had reached a record level of approximately Rs 1.78 lakh crore in the financial year 2025–26, while defence exports had increased to Rs 38,424 crore. Indian defence products were now reaching more than 80 countries, reflecting the growing contribution of defence public sector enterprises, private manufacturers, MSMEs and start-ups.
The Raksha Mantri described defence exports as an important indicator of the maturity and competitiveness of India’s domestic defence ecosystem. He said exports demonstrated the confidence of international partners in Indian technologies and manufacturing capabilities. The expansion had been supported by sustained policy liberalisation, simplification and standardisation, which had enabled Indian manufacturers, particularly MSMEs, to respond more effectively to international opportunities.
He called for broadening the scope of defence exports beyond the supply of equipment to include maintenance, repair, training, logistics and technology cooperation. According to him, every successful defence export should become the foundation of a long-term strategic partnership between India and the recipient country.
Reiterating the government’s targets, Rajnath Singh said India aimed to achieve defence production worth Rs 3 lakh crore and defence exports worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2029. He stressed that achieving these objectives would require the domestic defence industry to expand production capacity, maintain high quality standards and improve its competitiveness in global markets.
A significant part of the address focused on the relationship between operational requirements and defence research and development. The Defence Minister said the Defence Forces must remain important stakeholders in the R&D process, as their operational experience and understanding of battlefield conditions were essential for identifying research priorities and assessing the practical relevance of emerging technologies.
At the same time, he cautioned against restricting research entirely to immediate operational requirements. He observed that research driven too closely by the immediate perceptions of end-users could end up addressing only problems that were already recognised, leaving little room for exploring technologies and possibilities that had not yet been imagined.
Rajnath Singh called for a balance in which operational requirements inform research priorities while scientists and researchers retain the independence and intellectual freedom needed to pursue unconventional ideas. He emphasised that research institutions must have the space to question established assumptions, experiment with new approaches and develop technologies whose applications may not be immediately apparent.
He also stressed that innovation should not remain confined to laboratories and prototypes. Successful research outcomes must be translated into production and operational induction through sustained investment, institutional support and effective coordination among the Defence Forces, research organisations and industry. The objective, he said, should be to establish an ecosystem in which innovation is encouraged and promising technologies are converted into deployable military capabilities.
On international defence partnerships, the Raksha Mantri clarified that India’s pursuit of self-reliance did not represent a withdrawal from global engagement. Instead, he said, a technologically capable and self-reliant India would be better positioned to participate in international collaborations on equal terms.
He noted that traditional defence partnerships based on procurement, licensed manufacturing and transfer of technology had contributed to the development of India’s industrial capabilities. However, future cooperation needed to move towards more ambitious arrangements based on co-development, co-production and shared innovation.
Such partnerships, he said, should ensure meaningful Indian participation in design and development, access to critical technologies, appropriate sharing of intellectual property and opportunities for Indian companies to become part of global supply chains. He highlighted India’s large domestic market, expanding industrial base and pool of scientific and engineering talent as important advantages for international companies seeking partnerships with Indian industry.
Concluding his address, Rajnath Singh called for a collective commitment from the Defence Forces, civil servants, scientists, industry, academia and international partners to realise India’s defence ambitions. He said the country must move beyond procuring defence technologies towards creating them, expand from manufacturing primarily for domestic requirements to competing in global markets, and progress from participating in international defence partnerships to contributing meaningfully to the future of global defence technology.
He expressed confidence that the deliberations at the Delhi Defence Dialogue would generate valuable ideas and actionable recommendations to strengthen India’s defence preparedness, technological capabilities and strategic autonomy.
In his welcome remarks, MP-IDSA Director General Ambassador Sujan R Chinoy said the Delhi Defence Dialogue 2026 would provide a platform for exchanging perspectives on defence reforms, indigenous capabilities, international collaborations and defence exports. He also highlighted the two preparatory roundtables organised by the Institute on propulsion systems and defence exports, along with the inaugural ASEAN-India Defence Think Tank Forum, which had further strengthened its international engagement.
CISC Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, Additional Secretary Dipti Mohil Chawla, senior serving and retired officials, and foreign dignitaries were present on the occasion.
The two-day Delhi Defence Dialogue, organised by MP-IDSA on November 3 and 4, 2026, brought together policymakers, representatives of the Defence Forces, defence industry, academia, think tanks and strategic experts from India and abroad. The discussions were aimed at examining India’s evolving defence priorities, strengthening indigenous technological capabilities and identifying opportunities for international cooperation.
The dialogue also sought to facilitate greater engagement among the government, industry, original equipment manufacturers, MSMEs, start-ups and research institutions, with the objective of generating actionable policy recommendations for a self-reliant and technologically advanced Indian defence ecosystem.
