Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said conventional warfare and its means are as relevant today as they were in 1947 and that is why a military-industrial base will continue to hold importance in future as well

When supply systems get affected during wars, every country wants essential items to be manufactured domestically, he said, adding that a country that is able to meet its own needs can move forward with great confidence

Speaking after performing the ground-breaking ceremony for the state-of-the-art 10,000-tonne Aluminium Extrusion Press (AEP) at Yantra India Limited (YIL), Ordnance Factory at Ambajhari in Nagpur, he also said that India has now set the target of Rs 3 lakh crore defence production and Rs 50,000 crore defence exports in the next couple of years

"Conventional warfare and its means remain as relevant now as they were in 1947 and their relevance will remain almost the same in 2047. We often say that the nature of war is changing. Borders are getting blurred. Enemies cannot be identified. Armies may stand in place and countries become destabilised. Much of this is true, but equally true is that conventional warfare and its means remain as relevant now as they were in 1947," he said

"More than that, their relevance will remain almost the same in 2047 as it is today. We must accept this reality as well. Therefore, the importance of the military-industrial base will continue for a long time to come. What I want to say is that its significance, which was so important in the past and is important now, will remain just as important in the future," he added

Singh further said India''s defence production has increased to a record more than Rs 1,78,000 crore in 2025-26, which was just Rs 46,000 crore in 2014.