Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday that national security can no longer be understood merely as the protection of geographical borders, arguing that it now equally involves countering cyberattacks, hostile drone activity, terrorism, disinformation campaigns and threats to the economy and energy security. Singh made the remarks while addressing a defence conclave in New Delhi.
The Defence Minister said India is simultaneously strengthening its military capabilities and its diplomatic outreach, describing the two as complementary rather than competing tracks of national strategy. He warned that any terrorist attack originating from Pakistani soil would henceforth be treated as an “Act of War” against India and would be met with an appropriate response, language that signals a continued hardening of New Delhi’s stated posture toward cross-border terrorism.
Singh pointed to Operation Sindoor as evidence of this shift, saying the operation demonstrated India’s move away from a counter-terrorism doctrine built around “deterrence by denial” toward one centred on “deterrence by punishment,” a framing the government has used in recent months to describe its willingness to respond directly and forcefully to attacks traced to Pakistani territory.
On the domestic front, the Minister highlighted the government’s continuing push for defence self-reliance under the “Design in India, Develop in India and Manufacture in India” framework, positioning indigenous production as central to India’s long-term security strategy rather than a supplementary goal. He said the country’s defence budget has risen to Rs 7.85 lakh crore for the 2026-27 financial year, while domestic defence production has reached approximately Rs 1.80 lakh crore, figures he cited as evidence of the sector’s expanding scale under the self-reliance push.
Singh further stressed the importance of building indigenous capability across a cluster of emerging technology domains, including drones, artificial intelligence, cyber security, electronic warfare, space and quantum technology, areas increasingly viewed by defence planners worldwide as decisive in future conflicts. His remarks come against the backdrop of heightened attention to hybrid and non-traditional threats facing India, ranging from cross-border terrorism to digital and economic vulnerabilities that fall outside the scope of conventional military engagement.
