Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hands over multiple indigenous weapons to Army

New Delhi, Aug 16 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday handed over multiple indigenous arms and ammunition to the Indian Army to further boost the country's defence sector.

This consignment of weapons includes anti-personnel landmine 'Nipun', landing attack craft for operations in Pangong Tso lake, infantry combat vehicles and many other weapon systems.

Lieutenant General Harpal Singh said, "The Union government has taken several policy decisions to help promote indigenisation of the defence sector. These indigenous weapons include mines, weapons of face-to-face combat, infantry combat vehicles."

Rajnath Singh handed over the weapons to the Army amid increasing challenges at the country's borders. The weapons include AK-203 assault rifles and F-INSAS (Futuristic Infantry Soldier as a System) rifles as well as the new anti-personnel mine 'Nipun'. They have been developed by Nagpur-based private firm Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL) and other Indian defence manufacturing companies.

On this occasion, the Chief Engineer of the Indian Army, Lt Gen. Harpal Singh, on behalf of the Army Chief, assured the country that the Army is ready to deal with any possible security threat "whether it is the western desert (Pakistan) or the high altitude areas (China) in the Ladakh sector.