NEW DELHI (PTI): Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan on Thursday told stakeholders in the defence sector that there was a need to change the mindset to keep pace with evolving times, as he urged them to embrace fusion and synergy in order to achieve 'atmanirbharta'.

He said this after virtually inaugurating a two-day national conference on Technology Management (TECHMA 2024).

In his address, the CDS urged the industry, R&D organisations and the Services to "embrace fusion and synergy" in order to achieve 'atmanirbharta' in defence and "make India a 'sashakt, surakshit and Viksit Bharat' (capable, secure and developed India)", the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Stressing on the need to change the mindset to keep pace with the evolving times, he called for coming up with "innovative and unique ideas" which can prove to be advantageous to the armed forces, and in turn the nation.

Themed 'Technology Management in Defence Sector for Vision India @2047', the conference has been organised by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) at the Institute of Technology Management, Mussoorie. It aims to align the country's defence technologies with the national objective of becoming self-reliant by 2047.

The conference began with a roundtable discussion on 'Harnessing Futuristic Technologies and Strengthening Indigenous Capabilities for Vision India @ 2047', the Ministry said.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO, Samir V Kamat attended the inaugural function as well.

The themes of TECHMA-2024 are futuristic defence technologies, technology management with strategic vision for 2047, project management excellence in defence and value engineering and commercialisation.

"The insights gained from TECHMA-2024 are expected to strengthen India's indigenous R&D ecosystem, identify multidisciplinary research areas, improve project management processes and develop solutions for future defence technologies to overcome technical, logistical, and implementation challenges, ensuring India becomes a global leader by 2047," the statement said.