Export of defence equipment rose six times in 9 years: Dr Jitendra

Jammu, June 26: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday said the export of defence equipment from India has gone up six times in the last nine years.
Addressing the National Security Conclave here in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was the chief guest, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “Earlier, most of the defence equipment was imported from other countries, but after the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over, it is now the other way round, and the export of defence equipment from India has gone up six times in 9 years.”
He complimented Rajnath Singh, first as the Union Home Minister and later as the Defence Minister, for steps taken to mitigate the sufferings of border villagers from intermittent shelling across the LoC and welfare measures.
“Earlier border villagers used to take shelter in Block or Gram Panchayat buildings, but the Union Government first sanctioned bunkers for civilians and later approved family bunkers also,” Dr Singh said, adding, “PM Modi amended the rules to extend the 4% reservation to residents of border villages so as to include the International Border (IB) under its ambit. This corrected the anomaly created by the erstwhile Congress-National Conference government who had given 4 percent reservation to LoC residents but ignored IB residents for vote bank reasons.” The minister also complimented the Modi government for approving the raising of two Border Battalions in the paramilitary police.
Dr Jitendra further said, “Our national security will be further strengthened with two landmark agreements signed during the historic visit of PM Modi to the US. One is the deal for manufacturing jet engines for the LCA Tejas fighter jets, and the other is that US warships will now be berthing at our Naval Shipyards for extensive repairs. This demonstrates the trust reposed in our capabilities by the US.”
The union minister said the Modi government has opened new avenues for the youth of Jammu & Kashmir, particularly the residents of border villages. “In J&K, the youth are also gaining with the launch of Agri Startups through Lavender cultivation and under the Aroma Mission”, the minister said.