GURGAON: Promising a ‘lot of things’, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today outlined a multi-pronged approach of a non-offensive but strong India even as he urged the Navy to rectify the gaps in their radar system especially between Mangalore and Goa and Goa and Ratnagiri.
He also made it clear that there will be “zero tolerance to error” in defence-related issues.
Addressing Navy personnel at the inauguration of the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) of Navy here, Parrikar said, “One thing I will promise… I have been given a task and I will see that India reaches the position where others dare not see eye-to-eye with us”.
He said, India had not ruled any other country which was “unique to India and probably to some extent to China”.
“Even in Ramayana, when Lord Rama went to Lanka he did not rule it. He gave it to Vibhishan to rule it. This nation does not have the history of ruling other countries,” he said, adding, the country cannot be weak.
Parrikar said the biggest defence is to be strong.
“I promise I will fulfil the task given to me… You can expect a lot of things,” he said.
When asked what specific task was given to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Parrikar said, “defence is one field which requires a lot of secrecy,” but added that the outcome of the task is to ensure that the defence sector gets its due and becomes strong thus making India self-reliant.
“Energy, security and your own security cannot depend on others. You can’t depend on some foreign countries for all your procurements,” he said.
Parrikar noted that India has been purchasing defence equipment for the last 20-30 years.
“You can’t suddenly find yourself trapped in a situation where the party which has supplied you the material faces some blockade or some sanctions for supply due to conflict zone,” he said.
Parrikar said nations that had good navies ruled the world. “Today, probably that is the reason why our neighbours are trying to get their navy everywhere in the Indian Ocean and other areas,” he said.
In the recent past, Chinese submarines have docked in Sri Lanka, raising eyebrows in India. He said IMAC will ensure that a huge data is available with the Navy.
“What is important is a mindset. How do you find the needle in the hay,” he asked as he mentioned that the trawler that carried the terrorists to Mumbai in 2008 was Indian and was hijacked.
“Alert mind, alertness to isolate the problem is very important… We should try and strive towards zero error. Zero error is very important,” he said.
Asked what he meant by zero error, he said whatever gaps are left should be filled.
“You can’t get everything perfect on day one itself. It will take time… may be six months, one year,” he said.
