Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that India is manufacturing the Brahmos missile not to attack anyone but to build a credible deterrence.
The missile has "raised India's military stature at the international level," he added.
Singh laid the foundation stone for the Brahmos missiles production unit and a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking at the function, the Defence Minister said: "In history, we have never encroached on the land of any neighbouring country or invaded any nation. We want to manufacture Brahmos just to ensure that no nation with ill intentions dares attack India".
India has been manufacturing the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile system jointly with Russia. Believed to be one of the fastest precision-guided weapons, it has been developed by BrahMos Aerospace–a joint India-Russia entity.
A statement by the Defence Ministry says: "BrahMos Aerospace has initiated work on a new, more advanced variant of the missile – BRAHMOS-NG. This new missile, having smaller, lighter and smarter dimensions, would be designed for deployment on a wider number of modern military platforms, including land, sea, underwater and air. It will hugely bolster the Indian military’s modern combat capability and flexibility in the next few years".
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Referring to Pakistan, Singh said: "A neighbouring country that was recently separated from India always kept ill intentions regarding India. Pulwama was planned but under the leadership of PM Modi, India gave befitted reply and killed terrorists inside the territory of the country that planned the attack. We gave a clear message that India is powerful and can kill its enemy across the border."
Stressing on the concept of self-reliance or Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Singh also highlighted how the government's focus on developing an indigenous defence industry will boost the nation's economy and provide jobs to people.
The Centre, along with the Uttar Pradesh government, plans to create defence and aerospace manufacturing clusters in the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC).
Singh said: "I recently met the defence ministers of France and Russia. I requested them to manufacture their weapon systems in India. I pushed for Make in India, Make for India and Make for World".
