INDIA STILL CANNOT DEVELOP INDIGENOUS RIFLE: ANSARI

still imports 60% of its defence requirement and has not been able to develop a proper rifle for its armed forces, Vice President Hamid Ansari said on Friday, bemoaning the government’s “inadequate” push for research and development.

Ansari’s comments come after an indigenously built rifle “miserably failed” the firing tests conducted by the Army, which is seeking a replacement for the ageing INSAS model.

The vice president also said India devotes only 0.9% of its gross domestic product (GDP) for scientific research, compared to 2% by China and 2.8% and 4.6% by Germany and Israel respectively.

The number of PhDs in the pure sciences in the country is “abysmally low” and India is “far behind” in the fast-changing world, he said, and questioned why this had gone unattended by several governments.

“The governmental effort into the R&D is inadequate. After 70 years of independence, we still import 60% of our defence requirements...not kitchen requirements (but) defence requirements,” Ansari said.

He added, with apprehension, that India is totally dependent on suppliers and what they would do in “certain conditions”.

“We, to this day, cannot prepare a proper rifle that is used by our army. We have to go and buy rifles outside,” Ansari said.

According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India was the world’s largest importer of major arms in the last five years and its overseas procurement was far greater than that of China and Pakistan.

The governmental effort into R&D is inadequate. After 70 years of independence, we still import 60% of our defence requirements ....