News18 to host DEFCON 2026 on India’s defence and security landscape

MUMBAI: The defence debate is moving from the drawing board to the dialogue table, with News18 set to host DEFCON Summit 2026 in association with The Chanakya Dialogues on September 24 in New Delhi.

The summit, scheduled from 10 am onwards, will bring together policymakers, military leaders, diplomats, industry executives and strategic thinkers to discuss India’s evolving defence, aerospace and security landscape. News18 and The Chanakya Dialogues have positioned DEFCON 2026 around India’s transition from defence self-reliance towards becoming a global defence manufacturing partner.

The discussions will cover indigenous defence manufacturing, aerospace capabilities, strategic partnerships, cyber security, space and unconventional warfare. The summit comes as emerging technologies and changing security dynamics increasingly influence how countries approach defence capabilities and supply chains.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to headline the summit. The wider line-up includes General (Dr) Vijay Kumar Singh (Retd.), Governor of Mizoram; Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd.), Governor of Bihar; T. G. Bharath, Minister of Industries & Commerce, Andhra Pradesh; Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani; Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan; Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh; Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence Dipti Mohil Chawla; and Telangana Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju.

The summit will also feature Sanjeev Sanyal, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister; Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov; German Ambassador to India and Bhutan Dr Jasper Wieck; and Denmark Ambassador Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen.

Senior military figures on the programme include Lt Gen Puneet Ahuja, Director General Strategic Planning at IHQ, Ministry of Defence; Dr Amit Sharma, Additional Director General and Advisor (Cyber Security), DRDO; former Army Chief General Manoj Pande; former Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria; former Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar; former National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen MU Nair; and Lt Gen Anil Kumar Bhatt, Director General of the Indian Space Association.

The industry side of the summit brings together executives from defence, aerospace and technology companies. Participants include Jetendra Gavankar, CEO and Country Head, Safran India; Tarun Wig, Co-founder and CEO, Innefu Labs; Ashish Saraf, VP and Country Head India, Pratt & Whitney; Sourya Choudhury, Co-Founder and CTO, Apollyon Dynamics; Ashok Atluri, Chairman and Managing Director, Zen Technologies; Vivek Krishnan, CEO, SSS Defence; Ashish Kansal, Executive Director, SMPP Group; and Amit Mahajan, Director, Paras Defence & Space Technologies.

A key theme will be the expansion of India’s domestic defence manufacturing base. Recent data cited by News18 places indigenous defence production at Rs 1.78 lakh crore in FY2025-26, while defence exports reached Rs 38,424 crore, with Indian-made defence equipment being exported to more than 80 countries.

The summit will also examine the relationship between defence technology and wider industrial development, including the role of private companies, start-ups, advanced manufacturing and research in building domestic capabilities.

Jyoti Kamal, Managing Editor, News18 India, said DEFCON 2026 would bring together defence experts at a time of significant shifts in geopolitical dynamics. She said the summit would look beyond immediate developments to examine the wider forces shaping India’s defence and security landscape.

With conversations spanning defence production, aerospace, cyber security, strategic partnerships and emerging threats, DEFCON 2026 is designed to put policymakers, military leadership and industry around the same table as India’s defence ecosystem enters another phase of technological and industrial expansion.