Article Posted on : - Sep 14, 2014

India's Agni V ICBM during the Republic Day parade.

VISAKHAPATNAM (PTI): India has come a long way from being mere buyers of technology to a country which created its own technology with extensive scientific inputs of the indigenous origin, Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and DRDO Chief Dr Avinash Chander has said.

"We have come a long way since our Independence, from being mere buyers of technology to those who have made science and technology an important contributor for national development and societal transformation," Chander said in Visakhapatnam.

He was speaking at the 5th convocation of the Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) University on Saturday.

"India has become one of the strongest in the world in terms of scientific manpower in capability and maturity.

Hence, we are in a position not only to understand the technologies that we may have to borrow, but also to create our own, with extensive scientific inputs of indigenous origin," he said.

Our country has put in lots of efforts into the field of basic research and Indian science and technology has come to be regarded as one of the most powerful instruments of growth and development, the DRDO Director General said.

"We developed the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicles, Arihant nuclear submarine, our own fighter aircraft and the ICBM Agni-5, Chandrayaan and Mangalyan," he said.

"We could pool and augment the resources effectively and have been able to network the knowledge base available in the universities and other academic institutions. We are depending on the new generation to lead with new ideas."

However, Chander lamented that higher academic institutions in India lack orientation towards research as a result of which their standing amongst the top global institutions is not very high. "Research is a neglected domain in our higher education structure. Successful research programmes offer vast possibilities to make a difference in the lives of people," he said.

Chander said that Indian universities should be the breeding ground for creative pursuits and source of cutting edge technological developments.

The GITAM conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Science on Dr Chander during the function.