Addressing the twenty fifth Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations at Drass, Modi mentioned his govt had made defence reforms a prime precedence not like earlier regimes, rubbishing claims that the Agnipath scheme rolled out in June 2022 was meant to avoid wasting pension cash.
“The truth that the common age of Indian troopers was larger than the worldwide common was a serious concern mentioned in Parliament and varied committees for many years, however there was no will energy to deal with it. The intention of Agnipath is to make the armed forces youthful and maintain them repeatedly match for struggle,” Modi mentioned, in his first public response to assaults on Agnipath scheme by opposition which made the short-tern recruitment scheme one of many key themes of the Lok Sabha election marketing campaign.
(Referring to Pak) As we speak, I’m talking from a spot the place the patrons of terrorism can hear me… their nefarious intentions won’t ever succeed. Our courageous troopers will crush terrorism with full power.
PM Modi
It’s “needed reform” undertaken by the navy, PM careworn.
“Sadly, such a delicate subject associated to nationwide safety has been made a topic of politics by some individuals. They’re the identical individuals who weakened our armed forces by committing scams value hundreds of crores. They’re those who didn’t need IAF to get trendy fighter jets (Rafales). That they had additionally made preparations to lock the (indigenous) Tejas fighter in a field,” he mentioned, taking a swipe on the earlier UPA govt by recalling that the Military lacked bulletproof jackets earlier than he took over and the UPA govt allotted Rs 500 crore for one rank-one pension scheme.
The exact same persons are spreading the canard that the govt. got here with the Agnipath scheme to avoid wasting pension cash, mentioned Modi, stressing that the query of pension for these being recruited at the moment would come up after 30 years. “By then, I’d be 105. Why would the govt. take a call for it at the moment and face abuse? We may have left that for the govts sooner or later. However we revered this choice taken by the forces as a result of for us, the safety of the nation is paramount, not celebration or politics,” he mentioned. “The reality is that the Agnipath scheme will enhance the nation’s energy and the nation can even get succesful youth. Bulletins have earlier been made about giving precedence (in jobs) to Agniveers within the non-public sector and paramilitary forces.”
The PM mentioned these “deceptive” the youth at the moment had no regard for the armed forces prior to now. On this context, he cited his govt’s implementation of the “one rank, one pension (OROP)” scheme, underneath which ex-servicemen have been given greater than Rs 1.25 lakh crore until now, and the development of the nationwide struggle memorial.
Stressing the significance of upgrading navy applied sciences amid the continuing geopolitical flux, the PM mentioned the armed forces not solely want the most recent weapons and tools, but additionally “a contemporary working model and preparations”. “Within the final 10 years, defence reforms have been prioritised, making our forces extra succesful and self-reliant,” he mentioned.
A significant stake in defence procurements is now being given to the Indian defence business, whereas 25% of the defence R&D has additionally been reserved for the non-public sector. “Because of these efforts, India’s annual defence manufacturing has crossed the Rs 1.25 lakh crore-mark,” the PM mentioned.
“Prior to now, India was counted solely as an arms importer, however now the nation can be making its mark as an arms exporter,” he added, expressing happiness that the armed forces have determined to cease importing greater than 5,000 defence merchandise and gadgets.
