A Decade of Defence Reforms under Modi Government | National Security Dialogue

National Security Dialogue: The latest iteration of the ORF's National Security Dialogues—a monthly event- aims to discuss a decade of defence reforms that have been one of the major focus areas of the Modi government’s 10-year tenure. Under the flagship initiative of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the government has aimed to build a resilient defence manufacturing industry catering to India’s domestic needs and simultaneously tapping into the global defence export market. The government's focus has been on the ease of doing business, encouraging investments in the defence sector, domestic defence procurements, indigenization of defence manufacturing and production, and harnessing design and development capabilities for the defence forces through schemes such as the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) aligned with the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020. Another dimension of the government’s defence reforms has been aimed at better integration and jointness of defence forces, initiatives like the Agnipath recruitment scheme intended to reduce manpower costs, theaterisation, and the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to provide single point military advice to the government. 
 
What has been the impact of the defence reforms so far? How effective has the government been in implementing these defence reforms?  How do the defence reforms empower the DPSUs and the Private sector and how have they performed since the inception of these reforms? What are the future reforms needed to make the military ready for the 21st-century battlefield?

This event was part of the series “National Security Dialogues,” a monthly feature of the Strategic Studies Programme. The dialogue intends to debate and discuss on the myriad aspects of India’s national security landscape.

Speakers:

Vikas Khitha, Vice President & Head, L&T Defence
Kriti Upadhyaya, Founder, IndUS Tech Council
Lt Gen D S Hooda, Co-founder, Council for Strategic and Defence Research. 
Manoj Joshi, Distinguish Fellow, Observer Research Foundation

Moderator: 

Harsh Pant, Vice President, Studies and Foreign Policy, Observer Research Foundation