IndiaPosted at: Nov 15 2026 4:34PM


Rajnath Singh calls for India to become a global technology leader

New Delhi, Nov 15 (UNI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday called for strengthening India's indigenous capabilities in advanced technologies, asserting that the country must move beyond merely adopting sophisticated technologies and emerge as a developer, innovator and global leader in critical domains.
Emphasising the strategic importance of technological self-reliance, he said that Aatmanirbharta in defence was not merely an economic objective but a strategic necessity, particularly amid the rapidly evolving global security environment.
Addressing virtually the 36th Annual Conference on Non-Destructive Evaluation and Enabling Technologies and the 15th International Symposium on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in Aerospace, Singh stressed the need to build a robust domestic ecosystem for advanced inspection technologies, specialised sensors, evaluation equipment and associated software.
He underlined that accurate and reliable testing, uniform quality assurance practices and indigenous technological capabilities were essential for strengthening India's defence preparedness and securing critical supply chains.
"We must strengthen our indigenous capabilities in advanced inspection technologies, specialised sensors, evaluation equipment and associated software. Developing domestic capabilities in these areas is essential for reducing technological dependencies and securing critical defence supply chains," he said.
The Defence Minister also called for greater participation of defence public sector undertakings, private manufacturers, start-ups and MSMEs in developing a comprehensive quality assurance ecosystem. He emphasised that testing outcomes must be accurate, reliable and traceable, backed by robust procedures, prescribed standards and assessments by qualified professionals.
Highlighting the significance of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), Singh explained that the technology enables the examination of materials, components and structures without causing damage to them. Drawing a parallel with medical diagnostics, he said that just as ultrasound and X-rays help doctors examine the human body without surgery, NDT techniques help identify internal defects in critical equipment without dismantling or damaging the components.
He said that as India's defence platforms and weapon systems become increasingly sophisticated, every material, component, assembly and manufacturing process must conform to the highest standards of quality and reliability.
Undetected defects, he cautioned, could affect the operational availability of military equipment, increase maintenance requirements, shorten service life and, in critical situations, compromise mission success.
"We need to move beyond a culture of merely identifying defects towards actively preventing them by embedding quality at every stage of the manufacturing process," he said.
Singh observed that quality in defence manufacturing was not simply a production benchmark but an integral component of operational reliability and national security, particularly in strategically sensitive platforms such as missiles, aircraft, naval systems and spacecraft.
Referring to India's expanding indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities, he cited progress in missile development, naval platforms, aerospace engineering, radar systems and space applications as evidence of the country's growing scientific and industrial strengths. He described the commissioning of the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, as a significant milestone in the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
The Defence Minister also highlighted the role of innovation in strengthening the defence ecosystem, stating that it was not confined to scientific discoveries or new inventions but also involved continuously upgrading and improving existing technologies and systems.
He referred to initiatives such as Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and the Technology Development Fund (TDF), saying these institutional mechanisms and policy interventions had encouraged experimentation, technological development and innovative thinking across the defence sector.
Drawing attention to the rapid transformation of Non-Destructive Evaluation, Singh said emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, advanced sensors, Digital Twins and Predictive Analytics, were opening up new possibilities in inspection and structural health monitoring.
These technologies, he said, could improve inspection speed and consistency, facilitate the assessment of complex data and identify defects and patterns that conventional techniques might fail to detect.
He stressed that combining established inspection methods with advanced digital technologies would make evaluation processes more precise, efficient and responsive to emerging industrial requirements.
Calling for greater investment in research, sophisticated equipment, software development and skilled manpower, Singh urged Indian professionals and institutions to develop indigenous solutions suited to the country's strategic and industrial needs, while also creating technologies capable of competing in international markets.
He further stressed that technological progress required close collaboration among the Government, industry, academic institutions and research laboratories, advocating a whole-of-government and whole-of-ecosystem approach to achieving strategic self-reliance.
The Defence Minister urged professionals working in the NDT sector to continuously upgrade their expertise and keep pace with emerging technologies and changing security requirements to ensure that indigenous weapons, platforms and supporting systems deliver the highest standards of performance and reliability.
The three-day conference, organised by the Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing in Hyderabad, Telangana, has brought together more than 2,000 professionals, researchers, industry specialists and students.
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