Sunday, Jan 12, 2003
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By Our Staff Reporter
Participating in an interactive session on `Opportunities in Defence and Internal Security Research and Development', organised as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas get-together here, the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, V.K. Aatre, said India would not sell defence equipment to any country which might pose a danger to its friends. Dr. Aatre, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Research and Development, asserted that India had thrown its doors open to foreign participation in defence projects. The country had taken up several joint ventures with the U.S. and Russia. "We want to do projects as equal partners and in a business-like manner.'' He said a coastal surveillance system was being put in place but surveillance on land was a problem. The Indian Army had interacted with the U.S. Army and tried its Remote Area Battle Assistance system, but even that did not work. Defence research and development in India had kept pace with the times. "Lack of resources and denial of technology have been overcome and software, missiles and electronic warfare have been developed as sources of strength. Even the Light Combat Aircraft programme is progressing well,'' he added. By successfully testing Agni I and II India had displayed its missile capability, Dr. Aatre said adding that since very few technical changes were required in missiles over distances of 2,500 km, the question of Inter- Continental Ballistic Missiles stands answered. The Joint Secretary (USC) in the External Affairs Ministry, Jayant Prasad, however, clarified that know-how apart, India — as stated by the Defence Minister, George Fernandes — was not making ICBMs. On border issues, he called for an aggressive approach, vis-à-vis, the borders as a lion does not have to defend its den. The Director of the Institute of Strategy and Defence Analysis, K. Santhanam, said no sensitive technology would ever be exported by India. "Colonel Gaddafi of Libya had asked us for nuclear bombs at the height of the Gulf crisis, but we had refused.'' He stressed the need to develop remotely operated intrusion detection systems, terrorism tracker systems and nuclear biological and chemical (NBC) attack combat devices. This, he said, should be achieved through promotional synergy and co-development with mutual benefit in mind and on the basis of cost and risk sharing. The Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Dynamics Limited, Major-General P. Mohandas, demanded a fast track approach in project implementation and noted that with the military industry being cash- strapped and looking for markets like India, opportunities like never before have cropped up.
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