I-Day: Modi wants India to be defence supplier to world; says focus on drones, anti-drones, hypersonics

During his Independence Day speech, PM Modi stressed that expanding domestic production is critical to boosting India’s strategic strength.

We have to be atmanirbhar in defence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his Independence Day speech at the Red Fort Saturday | Praveen Jain | ThePrint

New Delhi: Emphasising that there is no alternative to being atmanirbhar (self-sufficient) in defence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday presented the vision of India becoming a global defence supplier by developing next generation defence technology.

Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on the 80th Independence Day, Modi said cyber security is also part of defence now and the youth of the country should take charge to secure India and other countries. 

“We have to be atmanirbhar in defence, by developing next generation defence technology. We will have to aim to become a global supplier,” the Prime Minister said.

He further said that Indian companies should develop drones and anti-drone systems, adding: “We will also have to take the lead in hypersonic technology.”

Modi stressed that expanding domestic production is critical to boosting India’s strategic strength. He said there has been a growth in defence exports from India since his government came in 2014.

India’s defence exports in the financial year 2025-2026 stood at Rs 38,424 crore. Defence exports in 2013-14 stood at Rs 686 crore.

While there has been a strong push by the armed forces for drones and counter-drone systems, and a number of Indian companies have gotten into it, a large amount of these systems are still imported. Some of these purchases are direct imports while some are routed through Indian companies. 

During an exclusive interaction with ThePrint earlier this month, recently retired Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan sharply criticised the growing practice of “white labelling” in India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem, calling it a serious problem that undermines the country’s push for indigenous defence production. White labelling is a term used to describe the practice of foreign-origin systems being supplied as indigenous products with little or no value addition.

At ThePrint’s marquee talk show Off The Cuff (OTC), Gen Chauhan had said that the responsibility of nationalism cannot rest solely with the armed forces.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)