Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a DRDO Awards presentation ceremony in New Delhi on August 20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a DRDO Awards presentation ceremony in New Delhi on August 20.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday exhorted country's scientists involved in defence research to complete their projects well before experts in other nations do.

"I see that the big challenge is how we complete our work before time. If the world will finish something in 2020, can we do it by 2018?" Modi said at a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) award function in New Delhi.

"Our scientists work very hard in the lab. They sacrifice a lot and that is when they come out with something in the interest of humankind," he said.

"World is changing very fast so are the parameters of war and defence. Technology is becoming a key driving force," he said.

"Are our scientists getting the opportunity to interface with Army personnel? When this happens it will be very good," he said.

"Let us identify universities in this field and then associate a scientist with the university. It will help students," Modi said.

The PM said the country needed laboratories with young people.

"We need labs in India which utilize raw talent, which employ people only below the age of 35," he said.

The PM said the country needed ingenuity in defence research.

"There is need for ingenuity in defence research and working at a faster pace to make India global leaders," he said.