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India must plan to export more of defence equipment: Lt Gen AS Lamba, (Retd) Vice Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army
Jan 24, 2022
NEW DELHI, 24 January 2021: Lt Gen AS Lamba, (Retd) Vice Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army on Saturday said that we need to highlight Netaji's pursuit of self-reliance. "The dynamics of change of security are the only constant in this world," he added.
Addressing the virtual '125th Birthday Celebration of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose & India@75- Azad Hind Mahotsav', organized by Netaji Subhash Bose-INA Trust, jointly with FICCI, Lt Gen Lamba said that the internal structuring of the defence sector was earlier occupied by the Central government and this is the change that we are seeing today. The FDI in the sector through the direct route was enhanced to 74 percent and part of the allocated fund was kept aside to procure from domestic companies. "No defence sector in the world has ever grown without catering to exports and that is the way the dynamics of the defence sector work.
Emphasizing on the exports, Lt Gen Lamba said that since India has the 3rd largest defence budget, it should plan to export more equipment. "We are on the route of capacity building along with building capability. The country needs to be self-reliant, capable and must have the capacity to not only ward-off threats but ensure that the small neighbouring countries do not get threatened by its presence," he added.
Speaking on India's self-reliance, Lt Gen Lamba said in last few years there have been a ramp-up in our policies. The government has pushed for Aatmanirbhar bharat, especially in the defence production sector. "There is a need for a robust defence manufacturing sector and the Prime Minister had vision to grow exponentially in the 1.5 years. We also needed a private manufacturing capability to limit the imports," he added.
Mr PK Basu, Eminent Economist and Founder-Chief Economist, REAL-Economics.com; Insight Provider at Smartkarma & OHM Research said Netaji first created the Planning Committee to advise various provinces on industrialization. The Planning Committee was focused on developing skills, educating people so that they would acquire those skills to enable industry to advance. "The current NITI Aayog is a far better reflection of Netaji's vision of planning than the Planning Commission," he added.
Netaji, he said, wanted a convergence of western and eastern ideas with a pragmatic approach to industrialization. "PLI scheme, which was announced by Taiwan, Korea and Japan earlier, is one such scheme to provide incentives to specific industries to achieve rapid increase in production and exports," added Mr Basu. He further stated that last year was the best year for most of the countries in achieving highest ever exports since 2010 and India did exceptionally well in that.
Prof Srikanth Kondapalli, Head, Centre for Chinese Studies, JNU said that Netaji's abroad visits and training at the INA are all geared to strengthening India and its capabilities so that it can stand on its own. Netaji adopted a tactical foreign policy with strategic goal of making India self-sufficient and it is currently well placed in achieving the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign.
Dr Anita Bose, Daughter of Subhash Chandra Bose and Patron, Netaji Subhash Bose-INA Trust said that Netaji was a champion in gender equality and India along with the rest of the world has to go in that direction. India is growing rapidly and will take count of its strength as a democracy to take care of the needs of its citizen and others as well.
Mr Arun Chawla, Director General, FICCI said that FICCI is privileged to partner with INA Trust to perpetuate the memory of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. "This is an important juncture and let the pandemic be an opportunity to reimagine ourselves as a nation," he added.
Brig RS Chhikara, Chairman, Netaji Subhash Bose-INA Trust said that Neta ji was visionary and a leader par excellence. He further stated that Netaji believed that the world would grant a suitable place to any country based on how powerful and self-reliant that country is and was working to ensure India attains that position.
Mr Mumin Chen, Deputy Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India said that more historical documents about the Netaji is still in Taiwan. We should call for scholars from both sides to conduct joint research on the common history connecting India to Taiwan. "India and Taiwan should rediscover the common history of the Indo-Pacific region," he added.
Mr JS Rajput, Vice Chairman, Netaji Subhash-INA Trust said that India
is now conscious of its responsibilities towards the citizen, its neighbours
and to itself.