India’s missile development not to show aggression: Rajnath

Hyderabad, Aug 3 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that India's missile development programme is not to display aggression and that its defence architecture is based on a three-pronged strategy of balance, restraint and if necessary, destruction.

He also made it clear that Indian armed forces were not raised to attack other countries.

The Defence Minister was addressing golden jubilee celebrations of Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), a defence sector public undertaking which manufactures and supplies missiles to the armed forces.

He said Pakistan named its missiles after aggressors and invaders like Babar, Ghouri and Ghaznavi so that it can indulge in aggressive posturing.

"India has not raised forces to attack other countries. Our forces work for peace and stability at regional, continental and global level. The defence preparedness works under this thinking and it is also reflected in the names of our missiles like Prithvi, Akash, Agni, Trishul and Brahmos," he said.

Referring to the development of air defence systems by many countries, Singh called for developing hypersonic missiles to further boost the capabilities of the country's forces.

The minister said India succeeded in telling the world that terrorism can't be good or bad and that nothing less than zero tolerance will work to counter the menace.

"We are seeing the results. Those who encouraged and supported terrorism for decades now want to join peace and democracy. The weapon power had a role in this," he said and lauded BDL's mission statement 'The force behind peace'.

Stating that modernization of armed forces is the government's priority, he said the capacity for indigenous development of weapon systems and defence equipment should be further enhanced to meet all requirements.

He said that the country wants to take its defence exports to a respectable level by 2025 and said BDL would have a key role to play in it.

The defence minister said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the defence sector, investment through offset and defence manufacturing would have a key role in achieving the goal of making India a five-trillion-dollar economy.

He lauded the role played by BDL in equipping the defence forces with missiles and the best weapons systems to tackle the challenges in all three fields.

Noting that BDL so far supplied over 1 lakh missiles to Indian forces, Singh assured that the government would extend it all support and ensure that there is no dearth of work.