Ready to give befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on India: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi, Mar 7:  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the country's Armed Forces are equipped, capable and ready to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on India.

"Today, our forces possess a strong will power due to a powerful leadership at the Centre. We are working continuously towards keeping the morale of the soldiers high. They are equipped, capable and ready to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on India," the Defence Minister said this at a Defence Summit organised by NDTV on Thursday.

He said that India's defence apparatus is today stronger than ever as the Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is focusing on bolstering it with the sentiment of Indianness.

He termed ‘perspective’ as the major difference between the current and the previous dispensations, stating that the present government ardently believes in the capabilities of the people of India, while those in power earlier were somewhat skeptical about their potential.

The Defence Minister described promoting ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence manufacturing as the biggest change brought about by the Government, which is giving a new shape to India’s defence sector. He enumerated the reformative steps taken by the Ministry of Defence to achieve self-reliance, including setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; notification of positive indigenisation lists; reserving 75 per cent of capital procurement budget for domestic industry, corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board and schemes/initiatives such as Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), iDEX Prime, Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI) & Technology Development Fund (TDF).

The Defence Minister emphasised that the country’s defence system has been induced with a new energy by the Government, as per the vision of the people of the country. This, he said, has resulted in India emerging as a powerful nation on the global stage with a strong and self-reliant military.

Highlighting the harmony between military power and spirituality prevalent in the Indian culture since centuries, the Defence Minister emphasised that the Government has been consistently working for the betterment of the serving and retired personnel as well as those who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation, along with their families.