Delhi: Rajnath Singh inaugurates DRDO-MHA collaboration conference-cum-exhibition

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday inaugurated the DRDO-MHA Collaboration Conference-cum-Exhibition in the national capital.

Speaking at the Seminar on Advanced Technologies for Internal Security, he emphasized the evolving nature of security threats and the need for adaptive policies.

“As I just mentioned, internal security and external security are two sides of the same coin. In view of this, it becomes important that we understand the evolving nature of both and shape our security policies accordingly. When I am talking about the evolving nature of security, I mean that we are facing new challenges in this new era. We have to understand the nature of those challenges that are emerging before us,” Rajnath Singh said.

Highlighting the internal and external security challenges faced by India, he said, “As far as internal security is concerned, we are facing threats like terrorism, separatist movements, left-wing extremism, communal tensions, trans-border illegal immigration, and organised crimes. If I talk about external security, there too, we have our own challenges…”

The Defence Minister stated that previous threats were ‘conventional’ in nature, but today, hybrid warfare and cyber and space-based challenges are unconventional threats.

“Earlier, these threats were only conventional, but in recent times, we are also seeing unconventional threats in large numbers. Today, we are facing unconventional threats like hybrid warfare, cyber and space-based challenges,” he added.

Speaking on the conference’s significance, Dr Samir V Kamat, Secretary, DRDO, underscored the need for joint discussions between users and developers.

“This conference is very important because both users and developers can together discuss what are their requirements and what are their challenges. Such conferences should happen so that discussions happen freely and we can meet the challenges of the future… DRDO is working on weapon systems, and we are also working on ways to neutralise it,” he said.