Panaji: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said India is among the world’s top five economies and asserted that the country is on course to become one of the top three economies, while highlighting the growth in indigenous defence production and exports.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a Martyrs Memorial at Patradevi village in North Goa, Singh said India would have already become the world’s third-largest economy if the recent crisis had not occurred.
Goa chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant, Union Minister Shripad Naik and Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade were also present on the occasion.
The minister said that India is one of the top five economies of the world. “Had there been no recent global crisis, today we would have been the third largest economy,” he said.
Singh said that if there was no crisis, then within six months or a year, we would have said that we have become one of the world’s top three economies.
“It will happen and it will certainly happen,” he added.
Singh said India was strengthening its indigenous capabilities in areas ranging from fighter aircraft, warships, missiles, radars and drones to advanced defence systems.
“Things which we used to buy from other countries are now being made on Indian soil by Indians,” he said.
The Defence Minister said India’s defence exports, which he put at around Rs 600 crore earlier, had increased to approximately Rs 50,000 crore after the government came to power in 2014.
He also said India’s defence production had risen to Rs 1.80 lakh crore from a few thousand crore rupees earlier.
“India is no longer only an importer of weapons. It is also becoming an important exporter in global defence manufacturing,” Singh said.
Referring to the increasing participation of women in the country’s defence and development sectors, Singh said Indian women who once stood in the last rows of satyagrahas for independence were now sitting in fighter aircraft cockpits and guarding the country’s skies.
“This is not merely a story of change, it is the story of the strength of New India,” he said.
Singh said women were now playing leadership roles in the armed forces, becoming part of space missions and launching startups that were giving a new direction to the country’s economy.
He said these developments reflected the dreams of India’s freedom fighters, including those who fought for the liberation of Goa.
The Defence Minister said the freedom fighters had secured independence for the country, but respecting and preserving that freedom was now the responsibility of citizens.
“Freedom does not only mean that we can freely express ourselves. It also means that along with our freedom, we understand our responsibility,” he said.
Singh particularly urged the country’s youth to understand their responsibilities as citizens, saying the responsibility for the nation’s future would rest on their shoulders.
He called upon citizens to strengthen the country’s unity, protect constitutional values, obey the law and keep national interest above their personal interests.
The Martyrs Memorial was inaugurated at Patradevi, a site associated with the Goa liberation movement, to commemorate those who made sacrifices in the struggle for Goa’s liberation.
