The Indian Army has completed a new security-testing framework that bars the use of Chinese-origin components in all military hardware, including drone systems, Additional Director General of the Army Design Bureau Major General C.S. Mann said in New Delhi on 4 July. Mann added that once the framework receives Defence Ministry approval, every item supplied to the armed forces will undergo rigorous auditing to eliminate potential vulnerabilities. The tightening of supply-chain rules follows concerns raised during May’s four-day Operation Sindoor, when Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development and Sustenance) Lieutenant General Rahul R. Singh disclosed that China provided Pakistan with real-time intelligence on Indian troop deployments. Officials say the incident underscored the security risks of foreign electronics embedded in critical systems, particularly unmanned platforms. New Delhi is also drafting a ₹1,945-crore (about US$234 million) incentive scheme aimed at expanding domestic production of drones, components and counter-drone technologies. The three-year programme would fund audits of suppliers, verify indigenous content and accelerate technology transfers, further reducing dependence on Chinese parts that dominate the global drone market. Speaking separately at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras on 11 July, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval highlighted the government’s broader drive for technological self-reliance. Doval said India had developed indigenous 5G and secure communications networks in just two-and-a-half years—compared with China’s 12-year, US$300-billion effort—and described artificial intelligence as a strategic ‘game-changer’ for national security.