A primer on MoD-MHA differences over AFSPA

Note: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is once again likely to discuss (debate?) the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act--AFSPA in popular parlance--later today. The standoff between the Defence and Home Ministries on this issue has been on for almost two years now.

Defence Minister AK Antony has resolutely backed the Army's stand point while Home Minister P. Chidambaram has supported--used--Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to try and dilute the provisions of the AFSPA. 

The CCS may or may not agree to any changes in the Act. But here's a glimpse of the main points of differences that the two ministries have.

                                                             

MAJOR DIFFERENCES ON	MHA VIEW	MOD VIEW
SEC 4D POWERS TO ARREST & SEARCH WITHOUT WARRANT     QUANTUM OF FORCE USED	PRIOR WARRANT FOR SEARCH NECESSARY MINIMUM FORCE TO BE USED	IN A PROXY WAR AND WAR-LIKE SITUATION THESE TWO FUNCTIONS CANNOT BE SPLIT 'MINIMUM FORCE' PRONE TO BE MISINTERPRETED
SEC 5 HANDING OVER OF SUSPECTS TO CIVIL AUTHORITIES WITHIN 24 HOURS	HANDING OVER SUSPECTS TO POLICE & MAGISTRATE WITHIN 24	HANDING OVER TO  POLICE SHOULD BE IN 24 HOURS AFTER END OF OPS EXCLUDING JOURNEY TIME
SEC 6     REDRESSAL MECHANISM	FORMATION OF GRIEVANCE CELLS AT  SUB-DIVISION & STATE LEVEL	PRONE TO MISUSE AND ABUSE. ALREADY WITHOUT THIS MECHANISM, ARMY IS HARASSED WITH FALSE CASES

For additional reading here is the 2011 piece I wrote for Purple Beret magazine giving the Army's point of view on why it is premature to withdraw or repeal AFSPA. 

(http://www.purpleberet.com/details/column_detail.aspx?id=247)

Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah may have announced his intention to lift or partially revoke the contentious Armed Forces Special Powers Act but the Army in Kashmir is very clear that the time is not yet ripe for rolling back the AFSPA even if there was relative peace in the state, in summer 2011. The Northern Command has pointed out the quiet months so far have been a direct outcome of the excellent synergy developed by the state administration and the security forces (SF) in formulating and executing the joint strategy against militants and their handlers in Pakistan. But intelligence inputs and internal assessment by various agencies suggests that infrastructure and the will to support proxy war by Pakistan is still intact. 

The Army feels that the separatists and radical or extremist elements in the state have consolidated their capabilities during the current deceptively calm summer. In the words of a senior General, "The time is not appropriate to dilute or revoke AFSPA from any part of the state. This will result in surrendering the operational advantage to the inimical elements, will be to our total disadvantage, and may cause a major setback to our attempts at restoring normalcy in the state and ensuring a peaceful 2012." And he gives several reasons for this assessment.

Retention of AFSPA

While there may be a comparative decline in terrorist violence, the number of terrorists killed and reduction in number of successful infiltration by terrorists during the current year is a reality, the number of attempts to infiltrate have only gone up since there is no change in the Pak ideology and will to support proxy war in J&K while showing it as an indigenous struggle. The infrastructure to support such a proxy war in terms of terrorist training camps, supply of weapons and ammunition, hi tech communication assets to continuously guide, monitor and motivate terrorists operations on Indian soil, fake currency racket, overt and covert support to terrorists and separatists groups operating in J&K are all intact and being regularly upgraded. A number of camps - 34 out of 42 training camps are active. Pakistan is in the process of reorganising camps in PoK to bring in deniability factor in abetting proxy war in J&K. Number of terrorists in training camps are approximately 2000-2500. The number of terrorists poised for infiltration are about 700-800 while the number of attempted infiltrations – 35 attempts by 230 terrorists. As per the MAC report 54 terrorists succeeded.

So one outwardly peaceful summer does not spell a return of peace to the state. Counter terrorist operations by the army are not restricted to the Line of Control but cover the entire area from the LoC where a terrorist initially crosses over to India, the sparsely populated areas adjoining the LoC where terrorists initially establish their reception areas and the hinterland with populated areas from where the terrorists finally operate and draw their support. Administrative support including convoys carrying Army personnel and stores moving to the LoC pass through urban areas in the hinterland and are vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Hence AFSPA cannot be applied in pockets of J&K along the LC while withdrawing the Act from the remaining areas, as is being advocated by Omar Abdullah. The Army has put forward many reasons why AFSPA should not be partially lifted at the moment.

The emergence of sanctuaries Lifting of AFSPA from urban areas / large towns in J&K will result in terrorists seeking shelter in such areas and rebuilding their bases. Eviction of terrorists from such built up areas sanitized after sacrifices by the army and police forces is likely to result in civilian causalities, damage to civilian property and a renewed cycle of violence. Tactical space once conceded to terrorists, will be extremely difficult to regain. If the Army is recalled to restore an adverse situation, restoration would be at a prohibitively high cost and manpower intensive.

Military Lines of Communication All Lines of Communication pass through population centre and have to be kept open at all cost. The Army garrison / strategic assets are spread over in population centres and de-notification will render them vulnerable to terrorist action and hence require separate security arrangements. Any action taken by the Army personnel in these areas will be governed by Ranbir Penal Code which does not confer immunity from arrest will further complicate the issue.

Intelligence Bases:

 De-notification of AFSPA will render the painstakingly established sound intelligence bases untenable. Army carries out seamless operations across districts of J&K. Partial revocation of AFSPA will hinder such seamless operations and hence, is impractical. While SF will operate within distinctly delineated boundaries in areas where AFSPA is applicable, same is certainly not true for terrorists. In addition, movement between AFSPA and Non AFSPA area makes chasing / tracking of terrorists difficult. In non-AFSPA areas, action by terrorists can be acted upon only as part of self-defense but not as coordinated operations such as Cordon and Search Operations (CASO), Search Operations etc.

Restoration of AFSPA 

Even if situation worsens in areas where AFSPA has been revoked, politically it is unlikely that the decision can be reversed/ or at best it will take months. Experience of Manipur is a pointer in this regard.

An argument to justify revocation of AFSPA is that violence parameters in the state of J&K are better than those in other states of the nation. This is specious if Army had not killed 55 terrorists attempting to infiltrate during this year alone, won’t the statistics have been different. Large number of weapons and warlike stores, IEDS etc have been recovered by the security forces under the provisions of AFSPA. The revocation of AFSPA from the State needs a concerted view of all organs of the State and Centre. A suggested way is to convert these areas into Police administered areas/ Police districts as was done for Srinagar initially without revoking AFSPA. Subsequently as the situation improves, while evolving the revocation, an exit strategy needs to be worked for gradual withdrawal of armed forces from the specified area leading to smooth transition.

Mr. "St." Antony & India's defence procurement

Defence Minister AK Antony with Air Force Commanders
Photo:Courtesy: DPR, Defence

Defence Minister AK Antony, has been under fire for mishandling several raging controversies in his ministry, but on Tuesday, he took refuge behind several big ticket deals that the Indian Air Force is on the verge of signing or has signed in a couple of cases to make a point that not everything is wrong in the Ministrty of Defence.

Emerging from Air HQ after interacting with top Air Force Commanders on Tuesday, Antony said: “Today is lucky day for me. We met with air force chief and officials. It was exciting. Air force signed 317 capital acquisition contracts. It is a record. They are more confident. I am happy today because things are much better now.”

What the defence minister did not conveniently on elaborate was that these contracts have been spread over the past five years and not all of them have fructified.

While the entire list of contracts is not readily available,  previous Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, in an elaborate interview to me in June last year (http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/indian-air-force-undergoing-major-transformation-air-chief-to-ndtv-114743) had listed the new hardware that the Air Force was about to acquire or had acquired.

ACM Naik had said then : “126 (jets) MMRCAs is well-known.  214 fifth generation fighter aircraft that will be coming around 2017; 42 SU 30's additionally, we require. The RFP has been issued to HAL; 75 trainers -that process is well on its way, two more AWACS of IL-76 base which we are waiting for; 10 C-17s--another famous deal cleared by CCS; 80 +59 medium-lift helicopters; 22 attack helicopters; 12 VVIP helicopters…”

A very heartening development going by the above-mentioned list.

Now let’s take just two major items and see where they stand.

The Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract, as the mother of all deals (worth an estimated 20 billion dollars), has come to be known, is in a limbo after the French-made Rafael aircraft emerged L-1. The selection was arrived at after a complicated, scientific process benchmarked against 50 plus parameters. The process (started in 2007 and ended in 2012) earned kudos from all the bidders. It was transparent and fair so much so that ACM Naik said he had half a mind to patent the procedure!

And yet, St. Antony, at the first sign of  trouble in the form of an objection by a member of Parliament (who may or may not be well-versed with the entire process), has put the price negotiation on hold till further notice, further delaying the vital deal.

Remember, even if India was to seal the deal tomorrow, it will take at least another three years before the first aircraft joins the Air Force!

 Despite the operational urgency, there is no apparent procedural urgency on Mr Antony’s part!

For a moment forget combat jets assuming that in this season of pappis and jhappis our Western neighbour is not in a mood to launch any air strike and therefore IAF can live with what it has in terms of combat fighters!

But look at where the Indian Force stands in terms of imparting basic flying lessons to the newly-joined cadets at the Air Force Academy at Dundigal. Ever since the ancient HPT-32 trainer aircraft ran into problems and accidents, the basic flying training at the AFA has suffered.

A Swiss trainer aircraft, Pilatus has been identified as an immediate replacement.

The selection was done over a year ago.

As I write this, Air HQ sources say the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) may clear the purchase of 75 of these aircraft in the next few days. Again, assuming that the deal is cleared this week, the induction may as well take another six to eight months, depriving hundreds of cadets of their basic flying lessons!

One can add several other examples of excruciating wait that defence manufacturers have had to endure to get their orders after being selected.

It is not at all my case that contracts should be signed without due diligence but they should also not be subjected to endless, time-consuming, energy-sapping delays brought about by complaints initiated by losing bidders and vested interests or simply by an indecisive, lazy mindset in the Defence Ministry.

Unfortunately, in his obsession to maintain the image of “Mr Clean,” AK Antony has slowed down the processes and injected a sense of uncertainty among defence ministry mandarins leading to policy paralysis that will cost the Indian armed forces dearly in the long run.

Before I close here, I cannot resist citing an example of the lazy, or call it casual, approach that the MoD adopts in writing its annual reports.

Talking about China, MoD said in 2010-11: “India is conscious and watchful of the implications of China’s evolving military profile in the immediate and extended neighbourhood.”

Cut to 2011-12. The MoD says: "India remains conscious and watchful of the implications of China's military profile in the immediate and extended neighbourhood."

Not a word changes! There are several other instances in the annual reports that have passages after passages which are products of nothing but a cut and paste job. 

So much for our ministry that is entrusted with ensuring national security.

The General and his thought process

Note:
The Indian Army and particular, its current Chief, Gen VK Singh has been in the news for various reasons of late: some have called him a loose cannon, a loud mouth; others see him as a crusader, a man with unimpeachable military service. 

Whatever be the views, one thing is certain. The General has been flagging several issues consistently--internal health of the Army, modernisation, transformation and procurement--to name just a few. I have done three interviews with him over the past two years, the first on his first day in office on April 1, 2010 and the last on 12th January this year.

Have pasted the links to the full video interviews but have excerpted some of the key issues in the text below.

Read on and make your own judgement.

Ist Interview, April 1, 2010

Nitin: Let me first ask you straight away what are the challenges that you have envisaged in the tenure that you are going to have?

Gen VK Singh: Our biggest challenge is how to remove our hollowness in terms of deficiencies in various fields and the second one is modernization. Both need to be addressed on priority so that whatever the army requires which makes it battle-worthy is there. 

Nitin: What do you mean by hollowness in the....

Gen VK Singh: See when I talk of hollowness… you are authorised something, it may not be there because over a period of time the procurement procedures ... the other things that keep coming... some things get obsolete so it creates some amount of deficiency and void, specially the combat units. So that is where the priority is. A man who is going to fight must have everything that he needs. 

Nitin: That’s right and you also... in the past spoken about the transformation of the Indian army to meet the challenges of the modern warfare. Now what are the focus areas... you just mentioned some of these but a little bit more ...

Gen VK Singh: See when we talk of transformation it is the process that we want to start and this transformation is to make the army more lethal, more agile and more responsive. We have had a study on this and the study has been finalised and there are a lot of things that have some come out as part of our transformation. Ultimately we are looking at working as a network force in a joint service environment where we are able to cope up with the future challenges. Now transformation is not something which you can do in a day. It will take... it will be a gradual process and we want to start it and it will be started by certain test beds on which we want to look at these transformation concepts that we have worked out.

Nitin: In the morning you spoke about trying to set right the internal health. Can you explain more about that...

Gen VK Singh: See what I meant about the internal health was that we have certain core values, we have certain traditions. There are certain norms that the army follows and what I want to emphasize here is that we keep hearing that in the civil society the norms are like this and our intake is from the civil society and therefore degeneration is taking place. I think that’s a myth that we have got to discard.  The norms that the civil society has, they are one set, but so far as the armed forces are concerned, we have got to have our own sets of integrity and probity and that is what I mean by internal health.

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/army-must-set-an-example-new-chief/135336 

IInd interview July 11, 2010

Nitin: This brings me to the next question , the health of the armed forces, especially the army that you were leading. There have been delays in acquisitions, teething problems, obsolete equipment... Does that affect your preparedness one, and is modernization on track for something you will face in the coming years, two?

Gen VK Singh: Modernization is a long drawn process. We have made our plans holistically for how we should act in a particular year. Our procurement procedures take their own time . There are procedures, you want to be absolutely transparent. You don’t want things to be said against...you know... the procurement itself. So things move at a particular pace. And that is why things do get delayed. I think a lot of effort is being made in the ministry of defence and by the raksha mantri to ensure that things are speeded up. We should see acquisitions coming in better time. I would say that as of now we are prepared, things come in, we will be better prepared. Its not like that you are absolutely hollow. Hollowness is what you asked for in a particular time frame and it has not come, so that is how the situation is.

Nitin: So things are ok ?

Gen VK Singh: Things are ok, they can be better. If Iam looking for a better quality cloth and if it comes in today, I will feel better about it, that is how it is.

Nitin: You had spoken on the day one when you had taken over about setting the internal health of the army right. Three months into your tenure now, how has been your  strategy on that front?

Gen VK Singh: See when I took over it was from the bottom of my heart that I felt that we needed to improve our internal health, be it our core values, our traditions, the way we are seen by others and the way we go about doing things. And as a starter it needed a message to go to people. Now that message has gone to people, where ever I go I speak, I interact. I tell people that look here, this is what is important to us. As an organizations these are our strengths and this is what we must revive. Revival takes a bit of time but it has started with building that confidence that people should have in the senior leadership. It started by having confidence in themselves without that if they do things right their hands will be held and we have been telling them that look here if there is an error of judgment, yes you will be shouted at, you will get a kick. But that you won’t be harmed. If if it is an error of intention, then nobody is going to leave you. It is this process that has been initiated and I think that process has started. It will take a little time but I am very confident that we will revive our values and stick to them. Overall as an army we will be happy now .

Nitin: One final question on the army's medium term forecast in the next four to five years. Is it going to be a modern, let’s say technically savvy, army which will be able to meet all kinds of challenges?

Gen VK Singh: See our transformation process has started and the transformation is to make the army more lethal, agile and make it a networked force which can function in the entire spectrum security threats. It requires a fair amount of technical skills which will happen, it requires upgradation of weapons and equipment which will happen and it requires changes in our force structure which will help us graduate from a threat based force to a threat-cum-capability based force and finally as a capability-based force. So this will take not four-five years but more time because there are old mindsets, organizations which have to be tinkered with. We want to try out things first, test them before we implement them. That takes a little time.

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/special-powers-for-special-situations-army-chief/152016

IIIrd Interview (recorded on 3rd January, full telecast on 12 January 2012)

Nitin: You had  initiated the process of transformation in the Indian army, you had done that study yourself and now you are trying to implement it, how far have you come in that process?

Gen VK Singh: See, our aim was to make the army more agile, more lethal, more responsive, and networked army that is able to meet with the future threats. To that extent certain steps were laid down. One of the things we looked at was restructuring of our organizations into groupings that will take place in battle. So, we have validated these. Certain changes have come about because of our validation in test bedding. These are coming into effect. We also looked at theaterization of our combat and combat support as well as logistic support elements. This, the test bedding has taken place, it will come into effect. Certain things out of this, because it concerns legacy organizations carrying on for years, will take a little time till mentally people get prepared to handle them. We also had the issue of ensuring that our headquarters become more responsive, because over a period of time in the old headquarters we kept adding people. It added onto the chains of decision making. We're trying to sort that out. Certain things in the army headquarters have been implemented. More things are in the pipeline, and it will go down to the other formation headquarters.

Nitin: You have said before and when we had talked earlier that capability building of the Indian army is not adversary specific but capability based, now does that still stand given the kind of constant needling that happens along the line of actual control and also the possible projection that there could be  skirmishes along the China frontier. How do you see those threats?

Gen VK Singh: See, what I'd said was that at the moment we're a threat-based organization. We're moving towards a threat-cum-capability based one. And as the years go by, we will become a totally capability-based force. It has various implications like what kind of equipping norms you have, what kind of training that you do, what kind of resources you have to rapidly deploy to various places. So, these are things that are being put into effect now and by the time we see the result, it will take some time. It is not that overnight we can change something. What you talked of, needling, I don't find any thing of this kind.Yes so far as we're concerned, we're prepared to meet various types of threats that will emanate. And to that extent, I feel satisfied that we've done a fair amount of work. We have our preparedness that will be able to meet the requirements of the time.

Nitin: Gen Singh the two years that you have been more or less in the chair now and the day you took over you talked about setting the internal health of the army right. How far have you come in that endeavor and how do you see it panning out in next couple of years?

Gen VK Singh:  See I had stated a reality and we embarked on various things. I can say today, that within our own structures, we've become more transparent. Secondly, we've also sent a clear message that certain things will not be tolerated, come what may. And to that extent, you're aware of some high profile cases that have been tackled in typical army disciplined way. We've not shied away. And this was a part of this message we wanted to give to people and tell people, look here, if you are honest, you are upright, carry on. But if you are deviant towards what the army lays down in terms of ethos and values, there can be problems. And I think once this message is given, within the army, some kind of internal reform, confidence building is taking place and to that extent, at the moment, I'm satisfied that we have been able to start things, where people say wrong is wrong, and right is right.

Nitin: You spoke earlier about making the Indian army lean and agile and capable of handling any threat in the future. What about, let me say modernisation and the procurement process, because even you have plans in place for transformation, if it is not backed by adequate modernisation and speedier procurement, how do you tackle that problem that is there?

Gen VK Singh: See modernization and procurements have been a problem over a period of time. Couple of reasons have been that our own indigenous and technology base in defense-related industries is limited. So you have to go outside to procure and therefore to ensure transparency, credibility of the system etc , there is a laid-down procedure. Yes, it is time consuming and therefore, things get delayed. We also have a problem where one complaint or one letter, you know, can put everything to a stop. That has to be examined, you also have a problem where some firms because they've taken a particular action, they get either blacklisted or a black mark comes against them and therefore, the whole process gets delayed. We've given our points of view to the ministry they're working at it and I'm sure, between the forces and the ministry we will be able to find solutions that will hasten this up. And this is also one of the areas where the task-force that has been set up under Mr. Naresh Chandra is also looking at it because this is a concern for everybody.

Nitin: But is there then a proposal or a wish, if not a proposal to integrate in real terms to have your people in uniform to be attached or working as cross postings, with the ministry officials, is there a proposal to do that?

Gen VK Singh: See they are there…there's one area already there which is the acquisition wing of the ministry. We have people from all the three services who are there, who go through the force's proposals. And they are an interface between us and the ministry officials; they work in conjunction with them. This is already there. Rest has been left to the task force as to how they look at the entire structure.

Nitin: But is the wish there to be a part of decision making? 

Gen VK Singh: It'll make things better, I mean, that was one of the recommendations made by the Kargil committee also. I think ultimately we must look at organizations that will contribute in a much better manner.

Nitin: Decision making also…you need to be part of the decision making at the highest level…. is that a problem at the moment, that you send a proposal then it comes back?

Gen VK Singh: See certain lacunae were found by the Kargil committee. Now those are being examined by the task-force. The services have all given their own input into this. I think they will take an overall macro view as to how to ensure better integration.

Nitin: Let me come back to the infrastructure problem, I mean again we have spoken about this before, along the northern borders and the China frontier specially, how slow or how fast has it been in the past year and a half or so?

Gen VK Singh: It has got two factors. One is, what is that proposal, which state it is in, and second is the type of environmental laws that we have. Lot of work has been done. Lot of areas where the environmental ministry has cleared our projects. We have a problem at times at the state levels, where the land has, you know, been claimed as forest land, and therefore, various rules apply to it and that is where things do get delayed. We're trying to find a methodology. I think both the services and the ministry are seized of it because we cannot allow infrastructure, development timelines to go beyond a certain time. I'm quite hopeful that the way that the impetus is being given, we will be able to meet most of our timelines, most of our timelines. There will still be some areas where it will be declared some sort of sanctuary or something. Now you have to find a way out of it. And I think it will require will on the part of the state concerned, the ministry of environment to come to some sort of a system, where we can look at the nation's security needs.

Nitin:Do you think, very often the national security interest if I can use that expression is overlooked in decision making, for instance, the critical shortages in artillery… everybody knows for last 20 years we haven't or more than 20 years we haven't acquired any guns? Why is it stuck where it is stuck right now?

Gen VK Singh: Firstly let me correct an impression. There is no critical shortage. There is a problem with modernization. You know, sometimes it gets coupled into saying that for the last 20 years nothing has happened therefore, we're woefully inadequate, we are not. We're not woefully inadequate. Yes, if we modernize, it will be better. See like I said, the procedural aspects are such and I've always said this, there are a lot of faults that the services themselves have committed faults and to that extent, the army has committed. I mean we took a decision at one point of time; we'll have a particular caliber. But after few years we changed that caliber. Now, obviously then, the whole procedure goes haywire. Similarly, you can't make QRs only for one particular system. You've got to have a level playing field for everybody. So these are some of the areas where you get bogged down. We have worked out a philosophy for our artillery system. I'm very positive that this will succeed. Lot of thought has gone into it, it has been presented to the Defense minister and we have his support in this to go ahead and it will combine both, indigenous work as well as what we procure from outside.

Nitin: What about armour, because there is also a problem of, I mean at least one hears about it that the army is not very keen on getting the Arjun tank into the army?

Gen VK Singh: No it is not that. We have worked out the way the tank is, how it fits into our operational plans as per its capability. So accordingly we have pegged a particular number which is going to happen. Yes, there are certain lacunae in what came in which are being improved. After all everybody wants a better thing. So now it's becoming Mark II, certain things will come out with Mark  III which would probably be the ultimate. So that is not an issue. Some of the problems actually that because you can say a certain amount of concern is the type of quality control regime and accountability that we have. This is something that we're pushing for. That look here, if let's say a particular barrel, it goes off, we must hold someone accountable. Don't we do that with private industries? You can't shield people. Now that is something we're trying to ask someone to do. Let's hold people accountable so that our quality control mechanism becomes better which transcends into a better product that comes to the army.

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/general-vk-singh-on-indian-army's-transformation/220943

After induction of INS Chakra, another good news

From the Mail Today newspaper, an important update.

May date for Admiral Gorshkov’s Russian sea trial

RUSSIA will launch sea trials of heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov on May 25. The 44,000- ton carrier, which is being completely retrofitted for the Indian Navy, will first be taken to the White Sea and then to the Barents Sea. It will be docked there for three to four months for sea trial, the Sevmash shipyard said in a statement on Friday. “ After the sea trials are done, we plan to hand over the carrier to India by December 4,” Sevmash said. Gorshkov ’s main power generators are being tested and finishing touches given to its sleeping and living quarters, the shipyard said, adding “ the crew training was completed last month”. Gorshkov , rechristened INS Vikramaditya , is a Soviet- made Project 1143.4 class aircraft carrier. It was sold to India in 2004 but the delivery has been delayed because of differences over its escalating cost. In 2004, the contract was estimated to be worth $ 1.5 billion for restoring the vessel and modernising it, and another $ 530 million for delivering 16 MiG- 29K fighter jets and Ka- 31 and Ka- 27 anti- submarine helicopters with it. The work on retrofitting and modernising the vessel into a full- fledged aircraft carrier was to be finished in 2008. But, the contract deadline was extended because Russia said additional funds were needed for modernising the vessel. During his visit to India in March 2010, then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had signed a supplementary agreement for amending the cost of the reconstruction and modernisation of the aircraft carrier. Accordingly, India now estimates the contract at $ 2.33 billion. The vessel is expected to have a service life of 30 years. The carrier is equipped with STOBAR ( short take- off but arrested recovery), a system used for take- off and landing of aircraft from the decks of aircraft carriers. http://epaper.mailtoday.in/showtext.aspx?boxid=24938640&parentid=66452&issuedate=842012

The Soldier, the State and the Media

In my three decades of reporting on the Indian military, I have never felt more uneasy about the military-media interface as I have in the past three months.

Not because the media has been accused of being sensationalist or because many unsavoury truths about internal rivalry and groupism in the military brass has created bad blood in the top hierarchy.

My unease stems from the damage that events of the past few months have inflicted on the average Indian soldier.

While all dramtis personae are equally culpable in the current controversy, we in the media certainly have a greater responsibility not to add fuel to the fire.

For at least a quarter century now, we have been lamenting the steadily diminishing status of the ordinary Indian soldier in the society.;  that soldering is no longer respected as a nobel profession in our rural areas; that the jawan struggles to get his due from the civil administration increasingly contemptuous and apathetic towards him;  that he continues to get poorly paid and unfairly treated by a society solely driven by materialism.

Now, following a spate of reports based on half-truths and outright lies, motivated by God alone knows what, we may have done the ultimate disservice to the Indian soldier: planted the seed of suspicion about his loyalty in the minds of ordinary Indians.

While I will defend the right of every media person to report what he or she thinks is right, I am afraid none of us has thought through the consequences of the effect it will have on the psyche of the Indian soldier and more importantly the way ordinary Indians will view the Indian Army.

In the mad race to boost our circulation and viewer ratings, we may have, in one go, started the process of demolishing one last institution that has stood rock solid in defence of idea that is India.

For the first time in my now reasonably longish career in journalism, I feel like hiding from my friends in the military.  

I feel we have not paused to think of the long-term damage we have wrought upon the profession of soldiering.  

I say this because from disaster relief in floods, tsunami, and earthquakes to rescuing infant Prince from a deep tube well and from quelling rioters in communal strife to being the last resort in internal counter-insurgency operations, the Indian Army has been omnipresent. 

 
It is, what I call, India’s Brahmaastra (the ultimate weapon). 
 
The versatility, adaptability, selfless attitude and resourcefulness of the Indian Army has allowed it to be what it is today: Nation Builders.

And viewed in the context of India’s immediate and extended neighbourhood, its stellar role stands out in stark contrast to its counterparts in other countries.

Remember, Indian and Pakistani Armies originated from the same source, the British Army and yet, six decades since they parted ways, there couldn’t be a bigger dissimilarity in the way the two have evolved. 
 
As they say, India has an Army while the Pakistani Army has a nation!

More importantly, despite India’s increasing dependence on the Army to pull its chestnuts out of fire time and again, the Indian Army has scrupulously remained apolitical. 
 
The contribution of the Indian Army in nurturing and strengthening democracy—with all its faults—can never be underestimated. 
 
It has put down fissiparous and secessionist forces within India with great cost to itself over these 60 years. It has protected India from within and without.

The Indian army also has a unique distinction of helping create a nation (Bangladesh) in the neighbourhood and then quietly walking away to let the people take charge.

 By contrast, the Pakistani Army has never really allowed democracy to flourish in its country. Instead, it has created a military-industrial complex that has spread its tentacles in every aspect of governance. Even today, the Pakistani army does not let go of any opportunity to undercut democracy; it nurtures and treats jihadi elements as its strategic asset against India and the United States.  
 
Even in other smaller nations around India—Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh, for instance—the armed forces have had to intervene and run the affairs of those countries at some point. 

The Army has also withstood systematic assault on its status from politicians and bureaucrats who are forever looking for ways to downgrade the military’s status. While the principle of civilian supremacy over the armed forces is well entrenched and understood in India, what is incomprehensible is the constant chipping away at the military’s standing. 

The nation as a whole and indeed the people at large have the highest regard and affinity for the men in uniform for the yeoman service they render in every conceivable situation, but most mandarins in the Ministry of Defence and some of the politicians do not have the same opinion and are repeatedly trying to run down the military without realising the immense damage they cause to the only available bulwark we have against any attempt to Balkanise India. Now unfortunately, even we in the media seem to have joined these these ill-informed and devious bunch of opportunists.

As former Chief of army Staff, Gen. S. Padmanabhan says in his book, A General Speaks:  Even after Independence, India’s political leaders found it convenient to keep the Army, Navy and the Air Force out of the ‘policy’ making bodies. The service HQs were left at the level that the British left them—that of being ‘attached offices,’ of the Ministry of Defence. Even at the level of Defence Minister and Service Chiefs, exchanges on major matters of Defence policy were few and far between…” 

Another former Army Chief, Gen. Shankar Roy Choudhury has observed: “It is… essential in the national interest that the armed forces are upgraded and updated on an ongoing basis, something which governments have been traditionally loath to acknowledge and undertake, the Indian government perhaps more so than others in this respect.

”Historically, it is to the credit of the Indian Army that it has fulfilled its role as an organ of the state…It has functioned effectively in every type of role, in spite of the general lack of a supportive government environment by way of adequate finances, resources, equipment, personnel policies, or higher political direction.” 

A nation’s military provides what is called a ‘hard-edged’ backup to its international standing. A strong military and especially a powerful, well-trained, fully-equipped army act as a deterrent against adversaries. It is therefore essential that the nation’s decision-makers consciously back the Army and provide it with the support that it needs to meet diverse challenges that exist and are likely to come up in the coming decade.

So far, the Indian Army has fulfilled its role in nation building admirably well. All of us, ordinary citizens, media persons, politicians, bureaucrats, must continue to back the nation’s strongest asset and further strengthen it, if we desire to see India as a global player in the decades to come.

Centuries ago, Kautilya, the wily old strategist told king Chandragupta why the soldier is important for the survival of the Kingdom. If India has to survive as a nation-state, this advice (reproduced from a piece written by Air Marshal SG Inamdar for the USI Journal) is worth repeating in its entirety here.

As the learned Air Marshal says:” It is amazing how clearly those ancients saw the likely faultlines in governance, the intricacies of management of the military by the state functionaries, the nature of the military and the citizenry and the close interplay between them all. It is truly amazing how those observations continue to be so completely relevant today, even after 2000 years.”

Here’s what Kautilya told the king of Magadh:

“The Mauryan soldier does not himself the Royal treasuries enrich nor does he the Royal granaries fill. He does not himself carry out trade and commerce nor produce scholars, thinkers, littérateurs, artistes, artisans, sculptors, architects, craftsmen, doctors and administrators. He does not himself build roads and ramparts nor dig wells and reservoirs. He does not himself write poetry and plays, paint or sculpt, nor delve in metaphysics, arts and sciences. He does not do any of this directly as he is neither gifted, trained nor mandated to do so.

The soldier only and merely ensures that:

The tax, tribute and revenue collectors travel far and wide unharmed and return safely;

The farmer tills, grows, harvests, stores and markets his produce unafraid of pillage & plunder;

The trader, merchant and moneylender function and travel across the length and breadth of the realm unmolested;

The savant, sculptor, painter, maestro and master create works of art, literature, philosophy, astronomy and astrology in peace & quietitude;

The architect designs and builds his Vaastus without tension;

The tutor (‘acharya’), the mentor (‘guru’) and the priest (‘purohit’) teach and preach in tranquility;

The sages (‘rishis, munis, and tapaswees’) meditate and undertake penance in wordless silence;

The doctor (‘vaidyaraja’) tends to the ill and the infirm well, adds to the pharmacopoeia, discovers new herbs and invents new medical formulations undisturbed;

The mason, the bricklayer, the artisan, the weaver, the tailor, the jeweller, the potter, the carpenter, the cobbler, the cowherd (‘gopaala’) and the smith work unhindered;

The mother, wife and governess go about their chores and bring up children in harmony and tranquility;

The aged and the disabled are well taken care of, tended to and are able to fade away gracefully and with dignity; cattle graze freely without being lifted or harmed by miscreants.

He is thus the VERY BASIS and silent, barely visible CORNERSTONE of our fame, culture, physical well being and prosperity; in short, of the entire nation building activity. He DOES NOT perform any of these chores himself directly: he ENABLES the rest of us to perform these without let, hindrance or worry (‘nirbhheek and nishchinta’).

Our military sinews, on the other hand, lend credibility to our pronouncements of adherence to good Dharma, our goodwill, amiability and peaceful intentions towards all our neighbour nations (‘sarve bhavantu sukhinaha, sarve santu niramayaha…’) as also those far away and beyond. These also serve as a powerful deterrent against military misadventure by any one of them against us.

If Pataliputra reposes each night in peaceful comfort, O King, it is so because she is secure in the belief that the distant borders of Magadha are inviolate and the interiors are safe and secure, thanks to the mighty Mauryan Army constantly patrolling and standing vigil with naked swords and eyes peeled for action (‘animish netre’), day and night (‘ratrau-divase’), in weather fair and foul, dawn-to-dusk-to-dawn (‘ashtau prahare’), quite unmindful of personal discomfort and hardship, loss of life and limb, separation from the family, all through the year, year after year (‘warsha nu warshe’).

While the Magadha citizenry endeavours to make the State prosper and flourish, the Mauryan soldier guarantees that the State continues to EXIST! He is the silent ’sine qua non’ of our very being!”

Can we all—people in uniform, civil services, politics, media and society at large-- imbue this spirit?