Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a post-budget webinar named ‘Atmanirbharta (Self-sufficient) in Defence-Call to Action’. Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Union Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh and Principal Secretary to PM Narendra Modi, P.K. Mishra were also present at the webinar. PM Modi started the webinar lauding the country and its defence staff for focussing on ‘Atmanirbharta’ in the Defence Sector, and stated that this year too, a major amount of the annual budget has been allocated to the Defence Sector.
Emphasising the importance of self-reliance, PM Modi said that the country that does not manufacture their ammunitions lacks the ‘uniqueness’ and the ‘surprise element’ in the battlefield. Giving a history lesson, PM Modi said, “Even during British rule & right after independence, our defence manufacturing strength was very high. In World War II, arms manufactured in India played a major role. However, in the following years, this strength weakened. But this shows that India never had a dearth of capabilities.