Rajnath urges defence industry to come forward, says not worried about potential corruption charges

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday urged the industry to come forward and meet him, saying he is not afraid of potential corruption charges and "not worried" that fingers will be pointed at him.

Speaking at the India International Security Expo here, Singh said India cannot remain dependent on imported weapons for long and that it did not align with the country's plans to become a superpower.

He said that when he became the defence minister people told him he should be careful on who to meet and who to allow entry, as there may be corruption charges.

"They said that there are many business-related proposals, and there are matters related to imports and exports, and the minister should be careful of all this otherwise someone will raise a finger (Nahi to ungli uth jayegi).

"A minister who is afraid of corruption charges, should refrain (from taking decisions), Rajnath Singh is not worried about all this. People and big industry organisations in this country know who is what (kaun kya hai). I am not worried at all. Come. My doors are open. Whatever help I can give, the defence ministry will give. This is an assurance I would like to give you," he said.

He also said his ministry had taken many steps to boost MSMEs in the defence sector and liberalised industrial licensing.