Rajnath calls upon research institutes to speed up activities in advanced technology

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has exhorted research institutes to speed up activities in advanced technology and achieve progress to make India fully capable of dealing with emerging threats related to cyber and space.

Addressing the 12th convocation ceremony of Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune in Maharashtra on May 15, 2023, Singh shared insights on the continuously changing political and economic equations among nations in the current global scenario.

The minister stated that Science & Technology and methods of warfare are evolving at a rapid pace and there is a need to make fast progress in advanced technology to deal with non-kinetic or contactless warfare, which the world today is witnessing, in addition to the conventional methods.

"If our adversary possesses more advanced technologies, it can be a cause of concern for us in the future. There is an urgent need to move fast towards technological advancements in line with the changing times. This responsibility lies with our institutions. Defence sector is not a stagnant lake, but a flowing river. Just as a river, we need to keep surging ahead overcoming obstacles," he said.

On the visible results being witnessed due to the Government's efforts, the minister stated that today India is manufacturing rifles, BrahMos missiles, Light Combat Aircraft and indigenous Aircraft Carrierson its own. He added that defence exports have increased manifold in recent years to approx. Rs 16,000 crore in Financial Year 2022-23 from Rs 900 crore in 2014. India is exporting defence equipment to many countries, with many showing interest and faith in the country's manufacturing capabilities, he said.

Highlighting the deep connection between cutting edge technologies and defence research, Singh also called upon the institutions such as DIAT to come up with new innovations which are not only useful to the defence sector, but equally effective for civilians as well.

During the convocation, the minister who is also the Chancellor of DIAT, awarded degrees to 283 students, including 261 M.Tech./M.Sc. students and 22 Ph.D. students from various disciplines. A total number of 20 gold medals were awarded.

Singh also witnessed laboratory demonstrations of various frontier research activities carried out in DIAT including free-space entanglement distribution demonstration, biomedical health-care device developed by a start-up in DIAT, Nuclear-Diamond battery, Drone interception and combat technology, Tera-Hz applications and space to undersea communication.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, Chairman DRDO & Chairman Governing Council (DIAT) Dr Samir V Kamat; Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister Dr G Satheesh Reddy; Vice Chancellor, DIAT, Dr CP Ramanarayanan; Directors General and Directors of various DRDO labs attended the event.

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