PM Modi to Attend ‘Bharat Shakti’ War Game in Pokhran, Emphasising Atmanirbhar Bharat Vision

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the war game ‘Bharat Shakti’ in Rajasthan’s Pokhran on the eve of the Lok Sabha Elections notifications on March 12. The exercises in the warfare event will only include an exhibition of indigenously developed weapons platforms and systems.

According to an HT report, the warfare showcase in Pokhran will be based on PM Modi’s concept of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and encourage India-centric tactics-led revolution in military affairs which suits and serves the specific to the Indian geography and security threats to Bharat.

The exercise will also be attended by the top brass of the tri-services including Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, the publication reported.

The prime focus of the ‘Bharat Shakti’ war game is to test the efficacy of Indian-made platforms and network-centric systems as well as exhibit India’s growth in the defence manufacturing sector.

This compliments PM Modi’s vision to achieve indigenisation in the technology-centric Indian Air Force and Indian Navy in the areas of submarine construction and aircraft engine manufacturing. Notably, the Indian Army is 100 per cent indigenised.

The ‘Bharat Shakti’ exercise will also test the resilience and integrity of these communication systems and networks to ensure that the hacking of the system can be prevented, especially in hostile conditions.

The exercise will also showcase the synergy among the three defence services which often tend to operate within their silos.

The weapons to be put on display will include Tejas fighter aircraft, K-9 artillery guns, indigenous drones, Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers and short-range missiles.

Earlier in February, Prime Minister Modi attended the Indian Air Forces’ biggest war exercise Vayushakti-2024 at the Pokhran field firing range. More than 140 planes and helicopters, including the Rafale aircraft, took part in the exercise.