DEFENCE

Even if the previous Manmohan Singh Government is discounted as an example of bad governance, what difference has Modi’s government that works made? The ground realities haven’t changed. Even if the first of the 18 MRCA’s are delivered in 2015, the remaining 108 aircraft made in India will not be available for quite some time.

Almost 60-70 % of the army’s inventory is out-of-date and unserviceable due to lack of spares for repair, maintenance and overhaul. According to an internal audit - the Army has a critical shortage of artillery ammunition, tanks shells, fuses and spares for all types of weapons.

The Indo Pacific region has more than half of the World’s population. The region has 2 billion people living under democratic rule.

The intelligence agencies are in particular unable to figure out why no debris of the drones could be found at the blast site. It seems likely that the drones were pulled back by the handlers after completing their mission.

In the last nearly one decade the Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence, Government of India has produced a wide range of defence paraphernalia through Ordnance Factories, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and, licensed private sector companies

At present, the ACR system in the Army commences only from the rank of Naik upwards. Sepoys are not evaluated by ACR possibly because they are not considered fully trained soldiers capable of a leadership role and their numbers are large. Hence if the institution of a central, transparent, and, rigorous system of reporting has to be extended for the Agniveers can you imagine the additional burden on Commanding Officers who may have to write about 200 more ACRs that too for the men at the lowest rung in the hierarchy, who are not in contact with senior officers on a regular basis?

At the time of independence, the Indian Armed Forces were equipped to consolidate the British Raj. Today we have the fourth largest Armed Forces in the world.

China is luring Tibetan youth to join the PLA even though It is a known fact that conscripted soldiers are not a substitute for motivated regular troops.

India has built a reasonable number of bridges of friendship in the Indian Ocean Region which have helped in enhancing its image as a benign friend in need.

On November 5, 2013 Pakistan conducted its fourth test of the Hatf-IX (Nasr) short range battlefield ‘nuclear’ missile and claimed that the missile had a range of 60km and was capable of carrying ‘nuclear warheads. This leaves a few unanswered questions - first, what is Pakistan trying to signal by way of Nasr? Secondly, can Pakistan actually fit a nuclear warhead into the Nasr? Thirdly, what will be the impact of Nasr on the Indo-Pak strategic balance? Finally what happens if this weapon falls in the hands of a jehadi organization?

Given the geopolitical nuances within the Indian Ocean, the Indian Navy must transform itself into a blue water navy. For that to happen, it will have to first become a builder’s navy and achieve nation-building through shipbuilding. Buying naval equipment is very costly and navies are not built in a day.

The idea of Theatre Command has received a fair amount of criticism from various quarters. Some analysts feel that Theatre Commands are required for expeditionary forces like the USA and China and not suited for India which does not covet territory beyond its borders.