Combined Commanders’ Conference 2023
26-08-2023
12:15 PM
1 min read
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in news?
- Combined Commanders’ Conference 2023
- What is Combined Commanders’ Conference 2023?
- News Summary: Combined Commanders’ Conference 2023
- India’s defence exports reach all-time high
- What are the steps taken by the government to achieve self-reliance in defence?
Why in news?
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi participated in Combined Commanders’ Conference in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Combined Commanders’ Conference 2023
What is Combined Commanders’ Conference 2023?
- Combined Commanders’ Conference is a biennial event where the country’s top military brass come together to brainstorm on military matters and national security.
- This year, the three-day conference of Military Commanders had the theme ‘Ready, Resurgent, Relevant’.
- During the Conference, deliberations were held over a varied spectrum of issues pertaining to national security, including jointness and theaterisation in the Armed Forces.
- Theaterisation in the Armed Forces refers to the process of organizing military forces into functional commands or theaters, each with its own geographic area of responsibility.
- This is done to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of military operations by enabling commanders to better focus their resources and expertise on specific regions and missions.
- Preparation of the Armed Forces and progress in defence ecosystem towards attaining ‘Aatmanirbharta’ was also reviewed.
News Summary: Combined Commanders’ Conference 2023
- PM Modi addressed top military commanders on the third and concluding day of the Combined Commanders’ Conference-2023 in Bhopal.
- During the speech, PM Modi complimented the Armed Forces for their role in nation building and providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) assistance to friendly countries.
India’s defence exports reach all-time high
- India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore in financial year 2022-2023, a whopping 10-fold rise since 2016-17.
- The defence ministry targets to raise India’s annual defence exports to $5 billion by 2024-25.
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Image caption: Defence Export
What are the steps taken by the government to achieve self-reliance in defence?
- Change in Defence Procurement Policy
- The policy increased the Indigenous Content stipulated in various categories of procurement by about 10% to support the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
- It added an additional category Buy (Indian-IDDM) as the most preferred way of defence goods acquisition.
- IDDM - Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured.
- Preference has been given to 'Buy (Indian)', 'Buy & Make (Indian)' & 'Make' categories of acquisition over 'Buy (Global)' category.
- Budget 2023-24
- Government has earmarked 75 per cent of its defence capital budget for 2023-24 towards procurements from domestic sources.
- Negative import list/positive indigenisation list
- So far, three positive indigenisation lists of 3,738 items have been released.
- The items mentioned on the lists cannot be imported by the Services and should be sourced from within the country.
- Defence industrial corridors
- Two defence industrial corridors are being set up in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
- Also, there is an ongoing simplification of processes for ease of doing business aimed at boosting defence exports.
- Defence research
- Steps to encourage defence research are also being undertaken.
- E.g., earmarking 25 per cent of the defence research budget for the private sector in 2022-23, for newer innovation and developing niche technology.
- Space created for private players
- Government has incentivised the private sector to invest in defence manufacturing.
- In this direction, it has relied on transfer of technology, providing a platform for handholding etc.
- The government recently corporatised the Ordnance Factory Board and converted it into seven DPSUs.
Q1) What is theaterisation in the Armed Forces?
Theaterisation in the Armed Forces refers to the process of organizing military forces into functional commands or theaters, each with its own geographic area of responsibility. This is done to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of military operations by enabling commanders to better focus their resources and expertise on specific regions and missions.
Q2) What is ‘Make in India’ initiative?
'Make in India' is an initiative launched by the Government of India in September 2014, with the aim of promoting and encouraging domestic manufacturing and investment in India. The initiative is a part of the larger vision of transforming India into a global manufacturing hub and increasing its contribution to the world economy.
Source: Be ready to tackle new & emerging threats: Modi to military commanders, takes stock | PIB | Indian Express