Addressing the Combined Commanders Conference in Delhi on Tuesday, he said : “We must focus much more on maritime security, and on securing our coastline, our exclusive economic zone, our island territories and the sea lanes of communication.”

He said that the country was faced with multiple challenges and in this age of rapid information flows and explosion of technologies, one of the most important security imperatives was our ability to respond to these challenges quickly and in an integrated fashion. “Broadly speaking, the international strategic and political environment has deteriorated from our point of view. The policies we adopt, whether internally or externally, must factor this in…..While we must work with the international community to address global issues, we must also strengthen our own capabilities and be ready to stand on our own feet, whenever required. We must therefore consolidate our own strategic autonomy and independence of thought and action,” he said.

He also said that modernisation of armed forces should not be limited to acquisition of foreign equipment and technology. “Modernisation of the armed forces should not be limited only to acquisition of foreign equipment or foreign technologies. We have to progressively reduce our dependence on external sources. This has to be a national effort, involving our armed forces, our scientists and captains of Indian industry. Our armed forces must attract the best and the brightest of our youth. The skills of those who are already in the forces should be continuously upgraded and broad-based so that our forces operate at the cutting edge of technology. As Commanders, you have a special responsibility to inculcate the finest qualities of character, integrity and professionalism among your junior officers and men and women. We live in an increasingly open society characterised by instant communications and mass media. These impose greater responsibilities on all public institutions of our Republic, including the armed forces,” he said.

The Prime emphasized the need for development of indigenous industry as a national security objective, using the expertise in IT, developing R&D and with the participation of the private sector. “The development of an indigenous defence industry is a national security objective. We have succeeded in persuading many of the advanced countries to dismantle their export control regimes targeted at us which will give us access to high technology, but we need to gear up our own efforts. We are among the world leaders in information technology and a knowledge based economy. We have a vibrant private sector. It is necessary to put in place policies to promote a viable defence industry in the country using the large industrial and skill base that already exists. Greater competition will lead to greater efficiencies and more research and development. The Defence Production Policy announced this year is a step in the right direction,” Dr Singh said.

He urged the commanders to optimise the use of scarce resources and bring in transparency, accountability and probity in defence procurement procedures and said that the government was prepared to fund the needs of the Armed Forces. “It is equally the responsibility of the government to equip our armed forces with all the necessary means to meet all threats to our nation, including those which go beyond conventional warfare….The Government will never fight shy of finding the funds for the modernization of our forces. At the same time we have to recognize that resources are not unlimited. I would urge upon you to optimize the use of scarce resources. You are the best judges of how this can be done, but advance and long term planning and the creation of common institutions, communication networks and infrastructure are some examples of how this could be achieved. We should keep this in mind particularly when we build new capacities for meeting emerging threats,” the Prime Minister said.

He said that the Ministry of Defence has over the last few years taken several steps to streamline the processes of acquisition and the Defence Procurement Procedure 2011 contains new provisions to encourage private sector participation in ship building and expansion in the scope of the offset guidelines. Procurement procedures must ensure transparency, probity and accountability. There was a need to constantly work towards reducing time for processing proposals and a well formulated long term integrated plans would facilitate this task, he suggested.

The Prime Minister also did not miss the opportunity to mention about terrorism. He said : “We have a long history in fighting terrorism. Today terrorist groups are highly networked, nimble footed and more lethal. This calls for appropriate responses. Cyber threats are emerging as a major source of worry. Cyber and information warfare could qualitatively change the concept of a battlefield. Nuclear proliferation and nuclear security remain a serious threat in our neighbourhood”.

Further reflecting upon the internal security problems and without directly mentioning the need for involvement of the Armed Forces, he said : “Internally, we have to work assiduously to address problems in the North East and deal with left-wing extremism in a comprehensive manner. We have to be sensitive to the needs of the weaker sections of society and ensure that the fruits of our progress reach them. Issues relating to use of scarce resources such as land and water and strengthening institutions of governance require much closer attention than they have received in the past.”

The Prime Minister, however, lauded the excellent civil-military relations maintained so far which reflected the bedrock of Indian democracy. The fundamentals of Indian economy remain strong despite global slowdown, while there are short-term challenges of scaling down the price inflation and long-term challenges of economic growth being inclusive in nature, boosting agricultural growth, expanding the delivery of basic services like health and education, protecting environment and developing infrastructure facilities.

The Prime Minister praised the stellar role played by the Armed Forces in safeguarding country’s borders, fighting terrorism and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the North-East, pirates in the Indian Ocean and aiding civil authority in Sikkim during the recent earthquake. He said that the welfare of the ex-Servicemen was the responsibility of the government and urged for implementation of the relevant plans and schemes for promoting their welfare.