The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu has said that the only matter to be discussed with Pakistan is the handing over the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to India and asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.Speaking at the golden Jubilee Celebrations of Naval Science and Technological Laboratory at Visakhapattanam, Andhra Pradesh today, the Vice President said that the government had only made administrative changes with regard to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. “We will not tolerate anybody’s interference in our internal affairs,” he added.Urging all Indians to speak in one voice on matters of security and national integrity, Shri Naidu said that India was a peace loving country but would give a befitting reply if anybody tried to attack India. Shri Naidu accused a neigbouring country of aiding, abetting and funding terrorism from across the border.Shri Naidu lauded NSTL for carrying out Research & Development in core areas related to torpedoes, underwater mines, decoys and stealth and for their research on emerging and futuristic technologies. He said that world class facilities set up by NSTL laboratory for hydrodynamic evaluation of marine platforms would help the nation in achieving self-reliance in marine platform design.Calling for efforts to make India a strong and self-reliant nation, especially in terms of defence technologies the Vice President said that a special focus was needed to develop advanced systems for our armed forces through indigenous technologies. He opined that a nation’s strength lies in the strength of its academic, economic, scientific and technological prowess.
The Vice President complimented the outstanding achievements of scientists, especially missile and space technologies and said that it reflects India’s inherent S&T strengths.‘The success of Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicles, Agni Series of Missiles, nuclear submarine INS Arihant, fighter aircraft and the Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions have propelled us into an elite club of nations possessing ‘niche’ technologies,’ he added.The Vice President urged DRDO, R&D institutes, academia and industry to work hand-in-hand and provide quality products and services. He also wanted them to make good use of programmes such as ‘Make in India’, to design, develop and produce state-of-the-art systems within India. He also asked the private sector to step up investments in R&D in specified areas and produce the sub-systems and systems.The Vice President also went around the exhibition displaying the work carried out by NSTL in the design and development of various weapons and associated systems. He appreciated the contributions of NSTL and DRDO in meeting the requirements of the Indian Navy. He complimented NSTL for the success story of VARUNASTRA, a heavyweight torpedo.On the occasion, the Vice President launched a postal cover on NSTL and laid foundation stone for construction of Sports, Swimming Pool and residential accommodation for married officers. He also inaugurated a technical exhibition displaying the products of DRDO and NSTL developed in collaboration with the Public and Private Sector companies.The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement, Andhra Pradesh, Shri Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Dr G. Satheesh Reddy, Secretary Deparment of Defence R& D and Chairman DRDO, Vice Admiral A K. Jain, AVSM, VSM, Dr. Samir Venkatapati Kamat, Director General, Naval Systems and Minerals DRDO and others were present at the event attended by Sr Scientists, Scientists and researchers of NSTL and DRDO.