Pointing out that India has never been an aggressor, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in an obvious reference to China and Pakistan, today declared that the country was prepared to defend its people against any nation with hostile intentions.

He was laying the foundation stone for Defence Technology & Test Centre and BRAHMOS Manufacturing Centre, established by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) in Lucknow.

The BRAHMOS Manufacturing Centre, announced by BrahMos Aerospace, is a modern, state-of-art facility in the Lucknow node of UP Defence Industrial Corridor. It will cover over 200 acres and produce the new BRAHMOS-NG (Next Generation) variant, which carries forward the lineage of the BRAHMOS weapons system. This new centre would be ready over the next two to three years and will commence production at a rate of 80-100 BRAHMOS-NG missiles per year.

Congratulating the scientists and engineers of DRDO & BrahMos Aerospace, Rajnath exuded confidence that the two units would play a pivotal role in bolstering national security, defence production as well as the economy of UP.

On BRAHMOS-NG, he said the more advanced missile system, which has proven its firepower in land, water and air would greatly strengthen the modern combat capability of the Indian Army in the coming years.

He said the purpose of the BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile system was to act as a deterrent. He said, the system not only reflected the technical cooperation between India and Russia, but also the long standing cultural, political and diplomatic ties. He termed BRAHMOS as the world’s best and fastest precision-guided weapon which has strengthened India’s credible deterrence in the 21st century. BRAHMOS, he said, has empowered the armed forces and raised India’s military stature at the international level.

Rajnath stated that India has attained a respectable position in areas of defence technologies, including the development of state-of-the-art missile systems in the last few years and has made commendable progress in building its defence industrial base.

He applauded scientists of DRDO for their crucial role in increasing India’s military stature by strengthening the armed forces and achieving ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in the development and production of modern missile systems.