New Delhi, Oct. 23 -- Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on Friday asserted that India has rapidly emerged as the third-largest arms exporter to Europe, driven by surging demand under the "Rearm Europe" initiative and a broadening domestic manufacturing base.

In the Agrasar Bharat Manch Event on Friday, Singh emphasised that in India, our intention is to build up our defence industrial base, which traditionally used to be focused on some 16 odd public sector companies, government-owned companies, to a much wider defence industrial base, including the private sector, the small and medium sector, as well as the startup ecosystem that is becoming very strong in India.

Defence Secretary stated that the tangible economic and operational di...