New Delhi, May 26: Under attack for delays in projects, defence research and development organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday said the onus of self-reliance cannot be put on it alone and targeted the defence services for their “overwhelming” temptation to opt for imported weapon systems.
In a strong statement here in presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat said the responsibility of self-reliance was to be shared by all stake-holders, but the Indian industry has not yet matured to take it up.
“The services also must understand that while the temptation may be overwhelming, to field proven, state-of-art imported systems, they (industry) too have a role to play in the economic and industrial growth of the country. No foreign system can be customised to completely address our long term requirement,” he said.
“the responsibility for self-reliance should be shared by all stakeholders of defence ministry,” he said.
—PTI
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‘Agni-5 ICBM will be reality by next year’
New Delhi, May 26: India is on course to test fire the over 5,000-km range nuclear-capable Agni-5 missile in 2011 and a successful mission would put the country in an elite club of nations with Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capabilities.
“Work is progressing satisfactorily in the development of Agni-5, which is expected to become a reality next year. With this, DRDO would have given India a comprehensive indigenous strategic capability, available with only a few nations of the world,” DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat said at the National Technology Day awards function here. Agni-5 is the country’s most ambitious strategic missile.
—pti