Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that institutions need to promote innovation which is not only useful for the defence industry but also for civilian purposes.
"We need to promote such innovations in the defence sector which are not only useful for defence but also equally effective for the civil sector," Rajnath Singh said at the 12th convocation ceremony of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) in Pune.
How navigation systems became an important part of civilian life
He cited examples of how the use of navigation systems was initially started for defence requirements but later on became an important part of civilian life.
"Plastic surgery is also deeply related to the defence sector. We see that many a time soldiers get injured during the war, and different parts of their bodies get damaged in an unfortunate way. For this plastic surgery is a boon which is also helping civilian life," the Defence minister said.
Rajnath Singh said countries have to move fast towards technological advancement.
"We have to keep in mind that if our adversaries have more advanced technologies, then it can become a problem for us in the coming times. That's why we have to move fast towards technological advancement along with the changing environment," he said.
Cyber Threats
The minister said apart from land and air, threats can come from cyberspace and the space sector.
Concepts like non-kinetic or contactless warfare have made the need for advanced technology in the defence sector more important than ever, the minister said.
"In the last few decades, we have seen that the methods of warfare are changing at a faster rate.... The dangers of conventional war are in front of us, but going beyond them, now completely new types of threats are looming in front of us," added Rajnath Singh.
Government's Atmanirbhar push
He also touched upon the government's Atmanirbhar push and highlighted that a huge country like India cannot depend on imports.
"If we only import defence equipment and platforms, it will make us dependent on other countries in the defence sector. This dependence can also be a hindrance to our strategic autonomy," he said.
Rajnath Singh also met former President Pratibha Patil and personally expressed condolences to her on the demise of her spouse Dr Devisingh Shekhawat.
During the convocation, Singh, who is also the Chancellor of DIAT, awarded degrees to 283 students, including 261 M.Tech./M.Sc. students and 22 PhD students from various disciplines.
A total number of 20 gold medals were awarded. He also witnessed laboratory demonstrations of various frontier research activities carried out in DIAT including free-space entanglement distribution demonstration, biomedical health-care device developed by a start-up in DIAT, Nuclear-Diamond battery, Drone interception and combat technology, Tera-Hz applications and space to undersea communication.
Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, Chairman DRDO & Chairman Governing Council (DIAT) Dr Samir V Kamat; Scientific Advisor to the Raksha Mantri Dr G Satheesh Reddy; Vice Chancellor, DIAT, Dr CP Ramanarayanan; Directors General and Directors of various DRDO labs attended the event.
Visit to Bapat's House
During his visit to Pune, Singh took the opportunity to meet with the family of the late BJP Lok Sabha member from Pune, Girish Bapat. Bapat, a former Maharashtra minister, passed away on March 29 after a prolonged illness. The 72-year-old leader had been undergoing treatment at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and was on life support during his critical condition.
