00:00Gaurav Savant was there where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin are right now.
00:06So over to you Gaurav, take our viewers through what you saw
00:09and what next is going to happen in Bharat Mandapam.
00:16Maria, thank you.
00:17So Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at the steel pavilion right now
00:21and it's that steel in this relationship that's strengthening it, that's powering it.
00:25And this is that pavilion inside where cutting-edge science and technology on display.
00:31The image that you see on your television screen right now
00:33is Prime Minister Narendra Modi and those youngsters from IIT Madras
00:37who've made and launched a private satellite,
00:40a private satellite which is an optical SAR satellite.
00:45It can see from space and it also has the synthetic aperture radar.
00:50So that's the kind of technology the Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO,
00:54has done a stellar job.
00:56But to complement what ISRO is doing,
00:58the private sector is moving in in a big way
01:01because you need your drishti or your eye in the sky or your eye in space.
01:07That's what Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Russian President Vladimir Putin
01:10are watching right now.
01:11In fact, on India Today, I had a report talking to these young scientists
01:15just a short while back.
01:17We also spoke to the scientists earlier with the Defense Research and Development Organization.
01:21The radars that you see on your television screen there,
01:24the drone killers that you see on your television screen.
01:26Right now, on India Today, we got you a report of those drone catchers and drone killers.
01:32That's the kind of technology India is making.
01:34And if you look at the interest that the Russian President is showing
01:36in this kind of technology, because this is technology which is made in India.
01:42It's conceptualized in India and it's actually held India in great stead during Operation Sindhoor.
01:48So this isn't just, you know, stuff that's made for Kartavya Pat.
01:52It's made for battle and it's already battle tested.
01:56The aircraft.
01:57Now, remember, India wants to save for an exchange.
02:01India not only wants to make in India, but also make for the world.
02:04And those are some of the critical equipment manufactured in India,
02:10manufactured for India and for the world that the Indian Prime Minister
02:13and the Russian President are watching right now.
02:17These are those radars that were used in Operation Sindhoor.
02:20Also, very recently, you heard this report on India Today, of course,
02:24of a U.S. submersible, an underwater unmanned submarine
02:29that went rogue and was catwalked by the Iranian Navy.
02:33And they saw it as a major work force.
02:36India is manufacturing those underwater submersibles.
02:39You're looking at images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
02:41the Russian President Vladimir Putin,
02:43and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
02:44And, of course, you know, their entourage.
02:48Watching these latest technologies on display here,
02:51Sandeep Unnithan with me on this big story.
02:53Also with me is a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation,
02:56Sushant Sareen.
02:57Somebody who watches this region very, very closely.
03:00Gentlemen, welcome.
03:01Sandeep, this is technology that held India in great stead
03:04during Operation Sindhoor.
03:05Now, it's on display for the Russian President to see
03:09because this is a technology that's battle-proven.
03:12Absolutely, Gaurav.
03:13You know, and that 88-hour Operation Sindhoor
03:16was a, you know, a masterclass in defence technology,
03:21the kind of technology that we have, you know,
03:23built up over the last couple of years,
03:26starting from the BrahMos missile over two decades ago,
03:28the IACCS, which the conception began three decades ago,
03:32and, of course, all of these new counter-drone systems,
03:35drone and counter-drone systems that we've, you know,
03:38acquired in the last couple of years,
03:41backed by political resolve to use all of this, Gaurav.
03:44That's the most important part, of course.
03:46It's the political resolve behind all of these equipment
03:49that we saw coming out front and centre during Operation Sindhoor.
03:53So it's very interesting to see all of this equipment on display there.
03:57I'm sure India and Russia are looking at ways to take this partnership forward,
04:01beyond just the military equipment,
04:03because Russia is, of course, one of our largest defence partners, Gaurav,
04:07for more than half a century.
04:09Now, the challenge is to take it into the civilian sector as well,
04:12to look for areas of cooperation where, you know,
04:15India's automobile sector can possibly power Russian mobility issues.
04:20Russia can come in in areas like critical minerals, fertilisers and all of that.
04:24And that's how both countries are working for that target of $100 billion
04:29that they have set by 2030, Gaurav.
04:31You know, the very important aspect that you mentioned about automobiles
04:36and Sushant Sareen, you know,
04:37when I was reporting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia
04:40when we were in Moscow,
04:43the Russians said, we love Indian cars,
04:45we would love to see more Indian cars,
04:47and especially after Europe had pulled out post-2022.
04:51However, we don't see many Indian cars there.
04:54China has virtually captured that market.
04:56India has a big, big, you know, opportunity there.
04:59However, there are apprehensions of sanctions
05:02if Indian automobile makers were to get into the Russian market in a bigger way.
05:06They may not be able to export to the West.
05:09And perhaps BRICS countries can try and find a solution to this
05:12unilateral sanctions or unilateralism that America and the West seem to be showing.
05:17These are not UN sanctions.
05:19These are US and European sanctions, Sushant.
05:24Yeah, look, if we could find an alternative to those sanctions,
05:29then certainly I don't see any reason why you have to succumb to those sanctions,
05:33which are not, you know, sanctioned by the United Nations.
05:37But the problem is that we are far deeply coupled with the Western markets.
05:43And it's not just in the automobile sector, but a range of other sectors,
05:48whether it's the United States or its EU countries,
05:51or some of the other countries like Japan and Australia and others.
05:55And for us to say that, okay, fine, we are going to bust those sanctions,
06:00because let's face it, whether we like it or not,
06:02and I don't like that particular position, but we are not China.
06:06And we do not hold the rest of the world by their unmentionables like China holds them.
06:13We do not have the same manufacturing capacity and power that the Chinese have,
06:18which they can leverage against any kind of sanctions that anybody wants to impose on them.
06:22So I suppose we will have to walk that tightrope.
06:26And I'm not very sure if BRICS can actually provide a kind of a solution
06:31or some kind of a workaround.
06:33If it can, nothing like it.
06:35I think it would be great if Mahindra's could even set up a plant in Russia
06:40or at least export their vehicles, which are, some of them are world class,
06:45to the Russian market.
06:46You know, especially their EVs are very good.
06:50Some of their SUVs are excellent.
06:52And maybe the Russians will take to Thar like many people in Haryana and Punjab take to Thar.
06:57I don't know if the Russians are going to be as crazy drivers as we have in Haryana and Punjab,
07:02but yeah, why not?
07:04So I think there is a potential for that, but not just in automobiles.
07:08A range of other areas, even in the defense technology, I think the BrahMos model is there.
07:14But Gaurav, I think, and Sandeep can weigh in far more, far better than I will be able to.
07:22But I think we need to be able to set up the kind of manufacturing capacities
07:28which really scale up the production levels of many of these new technologies.
07:34You know, the Russians have now rejigged the Iranian Shahid drones.
07:39Perhaps we can do a better thing, one better than that, maybe bring down the cost some.
07:45And we will have to have an arsenal of at least 100,000 missiles and maybe 5 million drones.
07:53I don't know if we are going in, you know, we are scaling up our inventories to a point
07:58where in the event of a conflict…
08:00Yes, you know, we should have the ability to scale up, but do we want so many drones in our
08:05inventory?
08:05Since the technology gets outdated so quickly, Sandeep, that's such a tightrope walk.
08:11How many do we want in our inventory?
08:13We need enough so that we are not overwhelmed,
08:15but we don't want to be saddled with outdated technology, Sandeep.
08:19So we need the ability to scale up.
08:21You know, to have one model, you manufacture the military version,
08:24otherwise the same version can be used for the civil market.
08:27That's how you continue to scale up, Sandeep.
08:29Absolutely.
08:31You articulated this vision for making India the center of drones by 2030 next couple of years.
08:40And both civil and military drones, they're basically two sides of the same coin.
08:45And as Sushant mentioned, Gaurav, you know, Russia has the expertise for mass production.
08:50The Shahid, which is being produced as the Geran and the Geran 5,
08:53it started out as a turboprop drone, push propeller drone.
08:57It's now gone to jet-powered versions, which are better than cruise missiles even.
09:01And they come with their own EW systems and flares and all of that.
09:05These are technologies that India can adopt and, you know, produce at scale.
09:11You have Russian factories in Tatarstan, which are producing those drones in the thousands,
09:17and they go up to a million a year.
09:19That's the kind of production levels that they've managed.
09:22So this is something for us to do as well.
09:24There are critical voids in our defense capabilities for various reasons.
09:28Our fighter numbers are down, Gaurav.
09:30So as we've discussed on your show, Battlecry, in the past,
09:33that mass production of drones can actually help us offset some of those vulnerabilities that we see
09:39while we build up our capacities for building, you know, fifth generation fighter jets
09:43and, you know, our own missile programs.
09:47We need to fill those gaps with drones and the kind of drones that Russia has mastered.
09:53Jet-powered drones is the way for us to look forward, Gaurav.
09:57Oh, absolutely.
09:58Because these jet-powered drones are such game-changers.
10:02They're not slow.
10:04Once you pre-program them, there is almost nothing that can stop them.
10:08And I think, okay, Sushant Seri, you want to come?
10:10And now you're looking at Prime Minister Narendra Modi just behind me
10:13with the Russian president.
10:16And now they're coming out.
10:18And just about 30 seconds from now, they'll be going later.
10:22I think just behind me, they will be closing.
10:26That is now being clear.
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