Ahmedabad, Mar 13 (PTI) As a rising power, it will be difficult for India to receive help from anywhere, making it necessary for it to find in-house solutions, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Golden Katar Division, Major General Gaurav Bagga, emphasised on Friday.
Major General Bagga was speaking at the International Conference on Composite Materials and Technologies organised by Ahmedabad University.
“We are a rising power, and no rising power has ever made friends. We will get help from nowhere. So, the solutions have to be found in-house,” he said.
He noted that during Operation Sindoor, India’s military action against terror infrastructure in Pakistan last year, none of the country’s allies spoke for it.
“India had 190 friends, but not a single one spoke for it, while Pakistan had three allies who delivered loads of ammunition to it during the operation… A rising power will never have people holding its hand. Every power that has risen has done so because of internal strength,” Bagga emphasised.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, 2025, in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack, leading to terror infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and Pakistan getting decimated.
“We need to sit and decide how to secure this nation. And whatever the composite of the material is, the solution, so be it. I am very optimistic that a solution will be found in-house. Atma Nirbharta (self-reliance) will be a success, and India will be Vikasit Bharat in 2047,” he added.
Bagga pointed out that modern warfare has evolved into a multi-domain one, significantly changing the nature of the battlefield.
“When you go on the battlefield, you are required to survive, and then you are required to fight. The whole character of battle has changed. Earlier, there were just three domains — land, sea and air. Today, warfare has gone into multi-domain with the inflow of cyber, surveillance, information warfare, and electronic warfare, and the nature of warfare is ever-expanding,” he said.
And for survival, he said, the first thing that comes in is a material that can withstand the kinetic assault of the enemy.
He noted India’s changing terrains from desert to rainy forests, and sub-zero temperatures in the Himalayas, and hence, the Army’s material requirement keeps changing across the fronts, posing a challenge to survivability.
Bagga said that researchers from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and industries produce materials that the Army can survive on.
“We don’t have the technology to reproduce tank engines and aircraft engines. We don’t have a close-quarter battle weapon. And therefore, if India has to become Atma Nirbhar by 2047, security is of prime importance. We need to secure our nation, empower our armed forces, and invest in them,” he said. PTI KVM PD ARU
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.