Nagpur, Jan 27 (PTI) There is need to reduce the defence technological differential between India and its adversaries with improved quality and cost effectiveness in production, a top advisor to the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Lieutenant General Vinod Khandare (retired), the Principal Advisor to Ministry of Defence, was delivering a keynote speech on the topic 'Way forward to Atmanirbhar Bharat' at the 'Khasdar Audyogik Mahotsav- Advantage Vidarbha' event here.
Among those who attended were CMDs of defence PSUs and CEOs of private sector defence manufacturers.
There are three to four essential requirements for export of defence production, including being globally competitive in terms of quality with niche and futuristic technology, which should be available in production line, and cost competitiveness, he said.
There may be several aspects in which Pakistan may be in a very bad state but their products are of NATO standards and the costs are very competitive, Khandare pointed out.
Khandare stressed on 'atmanirbharta' (self reliance) through civil-military fusion in the form of academia, government efforts, specific users and multiple ministries.
"The private sector and public sector are both important to us. Research and development (R&D) is extremely important for us. We want to reach a stage which cannot be incremental growth. We need to sprint, we need to leap frog. We need to reduce the technological differential between India and its adversaries," he said.
"There are currently two identified adversaries that we talk of, China and Pakistan. So if there is a technological difference, don't expect the others to stop, they will keep growing. You have to run, catch, overtake. This means the work culture has to improve and 'working together of whole of nation' approach has to happen," he said.
Manufacturers must ask the users (infantry, artillery, armoured corp) what are the quality needs for product improvement, he said, adding that such talk had begun.
"We need to be fast, whether it is indigenisation or innovation," Khandare asserted.
Speaking at the event, Air Marshal Vibhas Pande, AOC in charge, Headquarters, Maintenance Command Nagpur said there must be self reliance in defence production capability so that supply of resources is uninterrupted and services can fight in the manner they have to in a long haul.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) had indigenised more than 70,000 lines of spares, the Air Marshal said, adding MSME sector has an important role to play in indigenisation.