Exclusive Interview: From Import Dependence To Indigenous Dominance, Vijay Kumar Saraswat Highlights India's Defence Leap
Vijay Kumar Saraswat talks about India's progress towards defence self-reliance, the rapidly advancing indigenous defence technologies, and much more.
By Anubha Jain
Published : December 19, 2025 at 1:13 PM IST
Bengaluru: Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, Government of India (Defence), emphasised the need to bridge the long-standing gap between academia and industry, highlighting that innovation accelerates when academic research is directly aligned with industry needs. This ensures that laboratory breakthroughs are translated into deployable technologies rather than remaining confined to publications.
Speaking at the Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association (IIScAA) Golden Jubilee Celebration at IISc in Bengaluru, Saraswat called for systemic reform to enable structured collaboration, stressing that when academia and industry work together under enlightened leadership, technological self-reliance is achievable even in adverse conditions.
On the occasion, the IIScAA Souvenir was unveiled by Professor Govind Rangarajan, Director of IISc, and Professor E S Dwarkadasa, Past President of IIScAA, along with other senior scientists and dignitaries, including P Guruswamy, Emeritus Scientist at NASA, who also delivered a talk on aerospace research.
On the sidelines of the event, Vijay Kumar Saraswat talked to ETV Bharat, discussing India's progress towards defence self-reliance, the rapidly advancing indigenous defence technologies, the importance of scale and inventory, shift to non-contact warfare, the role of the private sector, and the technological priorities ahead. Following is an excerpt from the interaction:
Anubha Jain: India is rapidly advancing in indigenous defence technologies. What do you see as the next frontier where India must achieve self-reliance to secure strategic autonomy?
Vijay K Saraswat: India has made remarkable progress in achieving self-reliance in defence technologies. A decade ago, the Indian armed forces operated with nearly 70 per cent import dependence and only 30 per cent indigenous content. Today, this ratio has improved to almost 60 per cent indigenous and 40 per cent imports, reflecting a major shift toward domestic capability.
Recent operations, including Operation Sindoor, clearly demonstrate this transformation. Most weapon systems deployed were indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured, with the notable exception of the S-400 air defence system. Key indigenous platforms include:
- Tejas aircraft
- Akash surface-to-air missiles
- BrahMos cruise missiles
- India’s ballistic missile defence system
- Indigenous air-to-air missiles
We have two types of weapon systems: Strategic and Tactical. India’s defence posture is guided by its No First Use nuclear doctrine, which necessitates a credible second-strike capability. This requires continued augmentation of strategic systems to ensure deterrence through assured retaliation, capable of inflicting unacceptable damage on an adversary if attacked.
Modern warfare has underscored that numbers matter as much as technology. For instance, Iran’s launch of nearly 200 missiles in a single salvo highlighted the challenge even advanced multi-layered air defence systems face against saturation attacks. India must draw lessons from this and focus on large-scale production and stockpiling of indigenous systems.
Whether it is BrahMos, Prithvi, Agni missiles, artillery guns, tanks, or air defence systems, inventory levels must be significantly increased to meet the demands of future conflicts.
Anubha Jain: What are India’s key priorities for future warfare preparedness?
Vijay K Saraswat: Future wars will increasingly be non-contact and stand-off conflicts. India’s ability to strike deep targets without crossing borders demonstrates the value of long-range precision weapons. However, scenarios involving sustained, high-intensity engagements—similar to recent Middle East conflicts—would strain current inventories unless production capacity is scaled up.
The Government of India has taken decisive steps by opening defence manufacturing to the private sector. The development of defence industrial corridors and parks in regions such as Chennai and Lucknow will enable private industry to play a major role in augmenting production capacity and supply resilience. The next frontier of self-reliance lies in advanced, non-contact technologies, including:
- Directed energy weapons (laser systems)
- Long-range air-to-air missiles
- High-altitude, long-endurance UAVs
- Mass deployment of drones, capable of operating in hundreds simultaneously, to saturate enemy airspace
India’s strategic autonomy will depend not only on indigenous design and development, but also on mass production, inventory depth, and advanced non-contact warfare capabilities. Strengthening these areas is essential to securing India’s defence preparedness for future wars.
Anubha Jain: What are the top 3 critical technologies India must indigenise in the next decade to secure defence autonomy?
Vijay K Saraswat: One of the most critical focus areas for India must be high-power directed energy weapons. These systems offer a cost-effective way to counter missiles, UAVs and aircraft, especially in the face of future saturation attacks, where directed energy will be the cheapest and fastest-response option.
The second priority is space-based defence. India must significantly strengthen its space surveillance, tracking and situational awareness capabilities to protect assets and monitor emerging threats in the space domain.
The third essential area is cybersecurity. As warfare and defence systems become increasingly digital, securing cyber infrastructure is non-negotiable.
Together, directed energy weapons, space defence, and cyber security are the three domains India must prioritise to achieve long-term self-reliance and national security.
Anubha Jain: With geopolitical tensions shifting, what role do you envision for India's defence R&D ecosystem in strengthening collaborations with global partners while safeguarding national interests?
Vijay K Saraswat: India has faced geopolitical isolation before. In the 1980s, during our missile programme, we were constrained by the Missile Technology Control Regime, with most collaboration windows closed—except limited engagement with Russia, which itself faced indirect restrictions. We learned then how to build capabilities despite controls.
Today, the situation is fundamentally different. The world has moved from a bipolar to a multipolar order, with multiple countries and corporations willing to collaborate with India. While geopolitics may swing and issues such as tariffs or control regimes may emerge, India now has diverse and resilient partnership options.
By engaging with friendly nations that have the capacity, capability, and willingness to cooperate outside restrictive geopolitical frameworks, India can strengthen its defence ecosystem while safeguarding national interests. Ongoing diplomatic and industrial engagements ensure that shifting geopolitics will not constrain India’s strategic autonomy.
Anubha Jain: Can we see global collaboration in emerging domains like AI, cyber welfare, and space security also?
Vijay K Saraswat: The collaboration window is open today because many disruptive defence technologies are still evolving—even in the West. India must urgently capitalise on this opportunity and collaborate with as many countries as possible in these emerging areas. However, this window will be short-lived. Once these nations mature and operationalise their technologies, they will inevitably revert to control regimes.
We have seen this before—India was either denied critical technologies or offered systems that were already 30–40 years old, never the latest. If we fail to collaborate now and move quickly from a catch-up mode to a leadership role, we risk being subjected to similar restrictions again.
Therefore, our scientific community, industry, and policymakers must act in unison. We need parallel collaborations at the academic, industrial, and national laboratory levels, backed by focused investment, to ensure India not only catches up but leads in these disruptive technologies through strong indigenous capability.
A major programme initiated by the Department of IT is currently underway to develop an AI-based large language model focused on Indian languages, with participation from multiple institutions. While discussions often revolve around the absence of an Indian Python, operating system, or internet, the scientific capability to build them already exists. IISc scientists are fully capable, but such efforts have not yet been pursued as national missions. The time has come to take the lead and build technologies that are truly our own.
