New Delhi

Lt Gen Amardeep Singh Aujla, Master General Sustenance (MGS), Army on Monday asserted that the race for technological supremacy has begun and called on the industry to work together with the armed forces to create a secure future for the country.

India can ill afford to be a mere spectator in this race for technological supremacy and the industry will have to take charge, the officer said in his address at an 'Industry Interactive Session' hosted by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.

Lt Gen Aujla told the representatives of various companies from the domestic defence industry that if the end user is the armed forces, quality should be the defining factor as "we are working for a national cause".

The industry and the armed forces can be "co-creators" of a very secure, robust and dynamic India of the future, Lt Gen Aujla said.

"Global dynamics are changing, India is also changing and so are the armed forces. When we are changing and we have got boots on the ground, we want equal boots on ground on the shop floor as well. So, let us not walk separately, let us march together, let's be comrades in capability development," he said.

In his address, the Army officer emphasised that India's military power, as far as the future is concerned, "will no longer get decided only in boardrooms and operation rooms, it will now get decided also in R&D labs, on testing grounds and on potency of the industry".

"The race for technology or technological supremacy has begun and India can ill afford to be a mere spectator... or just a participant. You (industry) are the people who will have to... take the charge and come up trumps," Lt Gen Aujla said.

So, it's a clarion call for everyone, he said.

"And, we have to rise, we have to step up, we have to deliver for the national cause. And in that national cause, revenue procurement and sustainability is (are) extremely, extremely important," he added.

Later, Lt Gen Aujla interacted with the audience and fielded a range of questions, including those on various policies of the Ministry of Defence and some of the issues faced by the private players in the defence sector.

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The Ministry of Defence has declared 2025 as the 'Year of Reforms'.

Responding to a question on his expectations from these anticipated reforms, Lt Gen Aujla said he is "very, very optimistic".