Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said reforms have been the first priority in the defence sector over the last 10 years, which have made the armed forces more capable and self-reliant besides helping India make its mark as an arms exporter after being a weapons importer.

“Due to reforms, our forces have become more capable and self-reliant. India was once counted as a country importing arms. Now India is making its mark as an exporter,” said Modi in his speech after visiting the war memorial at Dras to pay tribute to the men who laid their lives fighting Pakistani intruders in Kargil in 1999.

He said the armed forces have made a list of weapons and military equipment that will no longer be imported. “Today, a significant share of defense procurement is from the Indian industry,” he said. He added that 25% of the research and development budget in defense has been reserved for the private sector. “India’s defense production has now exceeded ₹1.25 lakh crore.”

Modi said the country felt the need for major reforms in the defense sector for decades. “The Army had been demanding this but unfortunately it was not given enough importance earlier. In the last 10 years, we have made reforms a top priority in the defense sector.”

He said the history of those misleading the youth of the country is proof that they do not care about soldiers. “These are the same people who lied about OROP…It is our government that implemented it. More than ₹1.25 lakh crore was given to ex-servicemen,” he said, referring to the one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme, which was implemented in November 2015 with effect from July 2014, fulfilling decades-old demand of defense pensioners.

The Union Cabinet in December 2022 approved the revision of the pension of ex-servicemen and family pensioners under the OROP scheme. With that, around 2.5 million defense pensioners became eligible for arrears.