'Operation Sindoor' a bold signal of India's defence strength and self-reliance: Saraswat

Thiruvananthapuram | 'Operation Sindoor' has sent a clear message to the world that India shall never be underestimated and that the country is a leading force now, according to Dr V K Saraswat, former Director General of the DRDO.

The military offensive, a retaliation on terror launch pads in Pakistan and PoK in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 persons dead, also highlights the self-reliance India has built in defence technology, the former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) told PTI Videos.

Saraswat, who played a key role in the development of India's missile and air defence systems, said that through 'Operation Sindoor', India has shown it is self-reliant and has the capacity and capability to counter any threat from any direction.

"The precision with which we were able to reach the targets in the enemy's territory shows the quality of our weapons. The greatest thing today is, other than the S400 that was taken from Russia, I think all the missiles LRSAM, MRSAM, Akash and all the drones, all the fighter aircraft, everything, are indigenously produced in the country-- designed, developed and manufactured," Saraswat said.

The Akash, MRSAM (Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile), and LRSAM (Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile) are key components of India's multi-layered air defence system.

The NITI Aayog member recalled how the restrictions imposed on India by the international community under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) turned out to be an opportunity for the country to develop indigenous technologies and components for its weapon systems.

"We have done the development of all our missile systems, whether they are air-defence systems, or strategic missiles, ballistic missile defence systems or long range ballistic missiles like Agni, Prithvi-- and all of them have been developed under, what is called the MTCRs. So every step, we had to face challenges of non-availability of support from the international community," Saraswat added.

He said India was deprived of materials, components, and technologies that the country wanted to develop its missile systems.

"We were not part of the MTCR, so even our own very good friends were not giving us technology," he said.

Saraswat recalled how DRDO, under the leadership of former President, the late Dr Abdul Kalam, turned this into an opportunity for indigenous technology development.

"So under the leadership of Abdul Kalam at that point in time, we found that let us use this non availability of technology and control as an opportunity. And then we put all our resources together, we worked with our industries, we worked with our academic institutions, we worked with our national laboratories like CSIR labs and all other labs and as a national mission (and) we launched how to become self-reliant and beat these control regimes that were there," he recalled.

The former DRDO chief said this helped India achieve more than 70-80 per cent indigenisation in the country's weapon systems today.

"We depend on outside (suppply) even today, but not because we cannot do it here but because it is not cost-effective. There are certain things that are required in such small numbers, but the cost for setting up a facility for such a small number is very high, so we import," he said.

India took this as a mission, always keeping in view the cost factor, self-reliance, capability, and capacity.

"So, overall, I must say India is flying high and the mission of Atma Nirbaratha (self-reliance) as far as defence, space, atomic energy, and other sectors are concerned is getting fulfilled," he added.

He said that, in comparison to India's firepower, Pakistan stood no chance.

"You have seen that most of the weapons used by Pakistan in this particular short battle, I think, are of foreign origin and that only shows that their internal capability to build systems of this class and accuracy is limited. So I think they are nowhere compared to India," Saraswat said.

Speaking about the future of warfare and its changing dynamics, Saraswat said that India's armoury is being enhanced with futuristic weapons such as hypersonic missiles and directed energy weapons.

He said the change in warfare is aiding the growth of the technology.

"Once upon a time, we used to enter into the enemy's territory to fight a war but today we do not cross the line of control. All our weapons are stand off weapons and we are reaching the targets inside the enemy's territory. So the complete complexion of warfare is changing," he said.

India is going for hypersonic glide vehicles, hypersonic missiles, and directed energy weapons.

"A laser beam will be able to kill a drone in no time, and as you know, a laser beam travels at the speed of light. So you can see that in such a short time you can do the entire damage, so nobody has time to move," Saraswat said, adding that India's directed energy weapons are getting ready.

"Our maneuverable ballistic missile defence system, which under my guidance, was developed by DRDO, is ready for deployment now. So, I think we are abreast with modern technology but more can be done," the former DRDO chief said, adding that more will be done based on the situation's demand.