Addressing the Defence Attaches of various countries here, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that terrorism and violence related to terror have posed serious challenges to the international security environment and the inter-play between state and proxy non-state actors has further increased the threat. In a reference to Pakistan, Singh said the continued presence of terrorist infrastructure and state support to terrorists in the neighbouring country has tested India’s patience, but as a responsible and powerful nation, India had displayed that it was able to disrupt and deter the activities of terrorist groups and their patrons. “We need to be more focused to secure our interests. We have adopted pro-active measures to promote peace and stability in the region as well as to increase defence and security cooperation with the Indian Ocean rim countries so as to create a stable maritime environment,” Singh said, referring to the situation in the Indian Ocean and in the Indo-Pacific region. Speaking about the DefExpo, the largest defence expo in India which will begin in Lucknow on February 5, Singh said that with the “establishment of two industrial corridors in the states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, it is expected that this will increase defence manufacturing and exports”. He said there is a “lot of scope” for the Defence Attaches to “work and attract FDI in these corridors”. The minister said that India has also offered several defence Line of Credits (LOC) to friendly countries to allow Indian defence exports and increase their presence in the global market. Singh announced the creation of 10 new defence wings so that 10 more Defence Attaches (DAs) could be appointed to further strengthen India’s defence diplomacy. 📢 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines
