New Delhi: Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, in his first appearance on a podcast released Friday with news agency ANI, said trust with China remains low and India must remain militarily prepared for any misadventure. At the same time, he said India should stay “cautiously optimistic” as dialogue continues under the ongoing dispute resolution process, noting signs of a thaw and stressing the need for continued diplomatic engagement.
Singh made it clear that India’s approach after Operation Sindoor has fundamentally shifted. The country will no longer limit itself to striking foot soldiers or remote camps. “We will be going after the headquarters, going after the leaders,” he said. He also confirmed that Pakistan had asked for time, and effectively requested a ceasefire during the conflict.
He also termed the meeting between Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and US President Donald Trump as “a very strange thing”.
Discussing the role of India-made weapons during the operation, Singh said indigenous systems like the Akash and BrahMos cruise missile were battle-tested and performed decisively, calling the latter a “game changer”. He also added that the government is now focused on cutting procurement delays and introducing more competition in major defence programmes, including the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA), to ensure faster delivery and better capability.
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On Op Sindoor and China’s role
On DGMO talks held in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor between India’s Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai and Pakistan’s Maj Gen Kashif Abdullah, Singh said, “They (Pakistan) are the ones who came forward, who asked for time and thereafter essentially asked for a ceasefire.”
He also said that the transcripts and record of discussions between the two DGMOs were made and are available.
As reported by ThePrint earlier, Pakistan, which “brusquely turned down” the request of the Indian DGMO on 7 May “with an intimation that a severe response was inevitable and, in the offing,” was desperately reaching out to him on 10 May to ensure a ceasefire.
In his first address to the nation after Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear that India has only paused its retaliatory action against Pakistan, and will monitor its neighbour’s every move. India will not tolerate “nuclear blackmail”, he said.
The defence secretary also stated that while India has scaled back some deployments following Operation Sindoor, the move is intended to keep adversaries alert. “There isn’t any immediate aggressive posturing,” he said, “but the intent is to be aggressive.”
Singh emphasised that India aims to maintain what is known in strategic terms as “escalation dominance,” retaining the initiative to choose the time and place of response.
“We are not leaving it to the terrorists to decide. We will change the script and ensure they are never certain of what we’ll do,” he added.
Asked about how India views the Wednesday lunch between US President Donald Trump and Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir in Washington D.C., Singh said, “It must be an embarrassment to any country that the military chief gets invited and the prime minister is nowhere to be seen, I mean it’s a very strange thing.”
During the podcast, the news agency also questioned him on reports of Chinese military and diplomatic officials being present in Pakistan’s war rooms.
He responded with: “Collusion in terms of equipment, helping them out in various ways perhaps with satellite imagery as well could have happened, but definitely they did not take any active role. We have to engage with China diplomatically but at the same time remain sort of militarily prepared for any misadventure. Trust is low.”
However, Singh pointed to being “cautiously optimistic”, as dialogue with Beijing continues as part of the dispute resolution process. India and China reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in October 2024, leading to disengagement from all friction points formed post the Galwan clashes in 2020.
Furthermore, during last month’s hostilities, Pakistan fielded a range of Chinese-origin platforms, including JF-17 and J-10C fighter jets, variants of HQ-9B long-range air defence systems, HQ-16 medium-range air defence systems, PL-15E beyond visual range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM), and Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
India, on the other hand, fielded a mix of foreign and indigenous weapon systems. “We used a mix of fully indigenous, partly indigenous and foreign weapons. BrahMos and Akash performed very well. Our ability to upgrade older air defence systems to counter low-flying threats like drones also worked effectively. It was a good mix of foreign and indigenous systems used effectively,” said Singh.
On the armed forces’ state of readiness, Singh said that, “the services were very well prepared and had access to precision stand-off weapons.”
Further, on Operation Sindoor being the first time several made-in-India weapons were battle-tested, he said it is well established that they performed well and added, “BrahMos in fact was probably, you could even call it, a game changer”.
During the hostilities, India had fired several BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles at key Pakistani military installations. The air and ground variants of the BrahMos, a joint venture between India and Russia now manufactured domestically, were said to be central to the destruction of key targets, including Pakistani air force’s runways, bunkers and hangars.
On AMCA, reforms and defence modernisation
On whether India is eyeing American F-35A or Russian SU-57E fighters, the defence secretary made it clear that discussions with the two countries are not formal yet.
“I mean, whatever has been discussed has been informal. We don’t really have any formal consultations going on on these. Our intent, of course, will have to be to acquire critical technologies through selective foreign purchases,” he added.
On the Expression of Interest (EOI) for the India’s indigenously developed fifth-generation AMCA prototype development, released Wednesday, which allows participation by a single company, a joint venture, or a consortium with the technical capability to develop prototypes, support flight testing, and manage certification of the AMCA, Singh said the objective is to foster greater competition. “We would like to create a level playing field where others can also bid. They have the first mover advantage but the intent is to bring in some competition because monopolies are never good.”
Asked about the ministry speeding up the procurement process, which remains a key issue, the defence secretary said that the maximum time taken for any procurement, “even the most complex ones, should not exceed about 2 years”.
As reported by ThePrint earlier, Singh had last month revealed that the “government has already cut timelines across multiple stages of the procurement process, potentially saving up to 69 weeks.” He stressed the need to move away from the traditional nomination-based, cost-plus procurement model, historically dominated by public sector undertakings (PSUs), and adopt competitive bidding to create a level playing field for both public and private defence manufacturers.
He had previously also said that the ministry is currently revising the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 to better align with operational realities and expedite decision-making, including in key programmes such as shipbuilding and the AMCA programme.
In March, the ministry approved a proposal to nearly halve procurement timelines, an initiative expected to feature in the updated DAP, anticipated later this year.
Among changes under consideration in the DAP are introduction of deemed licencing beyond a defined time frame to ensure accountability, removal of outdated practices such as product reservation for defence PSUs and streamlining of procedural bottlenecks that have historically slowed defence acquisitions.
This comes at a time when delays in defence production and delivery remain a pressing concern.
Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, has, on multiple occasions alluded to these challenges, citing constant delays in defence projects and failure to stick to delivery schedules, especially of fighter jets.
While discussing the country’s defence budget, he said that while India’s defence budget has grown at an average of 7 percent over the past decade, a significant portion was often left unspent. However, he noted a shift in recent years. “We’ve started utilising our Revised Estimates (RE) at least,” he said, adding that improving the pace of procurement would increase the system’s absorptive capacity and strengthen the case for a larger budget share. “I’m confident there will be no cut at the Revised Estimates stage. Singh also emphasised that expediting procurement processes remains a key focus. “If we sustain our speed, it will ensure the budget is allocated to the labs accordingly,” he said.
He also confirmed that the sixth round of emergency procurement is underway, aimed at fulfilling urgent requirements that emerged in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
On the question of drones and where India stands in the indigenisation process, the Defence Secretary acknowledged that while India has a significant manufacturing ecosystem for drones, much of it currently serves the civilian segment.
“Military-grade drones, not so much. It’s something we’ll have to build up quickly,” he said, linking the gap to the broader need to speed up the procurement process.
He further emphasised the need for government support to expand India’s drone manufacturing ecosystem. “The government must use its buying power to help the small ecosystem grow into a larger one, which will involve transfer of technology. We are looking at three to four manufacturers who will be encouraged through orders and tenders in this domain.”
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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