Brig. Arun Bajpai
The mismanagement of Higher Defence set up in India and the existing poor civil military relationship, so vital for India’s security needs a relook and that also urgently. It is not that successive Indian Governments have not bothered about Indian security. The problem lies in the higher defence management, which in the name of civilian control over military, has actually become synonymous to bureaucratic control over military.
The babus of the MOD have been lording over the armed forces for last 68 years of independence except for short time duration during the time of Mrs Indira Gandhi when Armed forces did get a say under then Army Chief Field Marshal Manekshaw and produced spectacular results like decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971 indo-Pak war .This mismanagement in Higher defence set up of the country has resulted in lop sided purchases of arms from abroad and India gaining the reputation of biggest arms importing country in the world
How badly the security of the country has been neglected can be gauged by the fact that Indian Air Force is down to just 34 squadrons from the authorised 44 and that also with lot of obsolete fighters which are more of flying coffins. Today we are having just two more squadrons than Pakistan at the time when we are facing combined threat from both China and Pakistan. Air Force alone needs 35 billion dollars to induct new fighters, helicopters, helicopter gunships, mid air refuellers, transport planes, drones and advanced radars. This is closely followed by the Navy whose most potent arm, the submarines, have been reduced to just 13 rickety diesel electric subs from earlier 19.These submarines are so obsolete that there is no guarantee if they dive they will be able to resurface again. These subs are to oppose 65 modern submarines of China with 8 of them nuclear and six diesel electric subs of Pakistan. Minimum number of submarines that we need to cater for this twin threat is 24 which stand sanctioned but not available on the ground. Indian Army is also in bad shape. There has been no artillery guns bought for them since 1986 when the Bofors Scam broke. The Indian tanks are night blind and we suffer from acute shortage of ammunition. Major inductions costing billions of dollars are needed to fill in these gaps.
The problem area is the pathetic civil military relationship that exists in India. The root cause of this problem is deeply flawed policy of subordinating the armed forces, not to the elected representatives but to lethargic, clueless and uninformed bureaucracy, which constantly feeds their political bosses with fear that if the armed forces are not kept under tight leash then military coup is very certain. The type of politicians that we have in India with their total lack of any knowledge on matters military, they lap up this theory with alacrity. India is the only democracy in the world where on all matters military the political masters, till the Modi Government came to power, did not consult armed forces. Mr AK Antony who was defence minister for seven long years in both UPA-1 and UPA-2 Governments was notorious for taking military advice from bureaucrats straddling the Ministry of Defence (MOD). In the modern warfare, this type of Higher Defence set up is nothing less than bizarre. It is only now after Modi Government has taken over the reins of power in Delhi and Mr. Parrikar an IIT graduate made defence minister that things have started moving.
Under current rules the three services Chiefs carry full burden of responsibility for their services operational and administrative capability but they lack any standing or authority in Ministry of Defence (MOD) where bureaucrats rule the roost. It is the Defence Secretary, a bureaucrat, who is vested with the authority of defence of India and the three armed forces headquarters. He however has zero accountability especially when things go wrong. In real terms this amounts to the fact that every single decision regarding weapons, equipment, infrastructure and personnel, impinging on the three services operational efficiency needs approval of the bureaucrats who themselves do not know the difference between a gun and a rifle and who have never seen a battle field or for that matter the country’s borders. This is ridiculous.
All these flaws and more were pointed out by the Subramanium committee which was constituted after the Kargil War. After this committee report was submitted the then NDA Government had constituted a GOM to go through this report and suggest reforms in the existing Higher defence management set up in India. The NDA Government in 2003 had approved 23 recommendations of this GOM including creation of Chief of Defence Staff system to give single point military advice to our politicians and to coordinate the efforts of three services. However on arrival of Congress led UPA Government in the scene in 2004, most of these reforms including CDS system have been laying in limbo.
Time has come now that India must integrate its three service headquarters with the MOD as recommended by the GOM. The CDS system must be immediately implemented. Fifty percent of all the posts in MOD must be filled in by three services officers. The bureaucrats who serve in MOD must be made to undergo a six months duration staff course on matters military in any Armed Forces institution. They also must be sent to border areas to get the first hand feel of the state of things on the ground. It must be the Defence Minister and not the Defence secretary who should be made responsible for the defence of the country. The accountability must be fixed for all top players. The Defence minister, the defence secretary and the three services chiefs must function in tandem. The three services chiefs must be made permanent members of the Cabinet Committee on Security. With 40 billion yearly defence budget and China-Pakistan combine breathing down our neck we just cannot afford to neglect our higher defence management and civil military relationship.
There are reports that Modi government has almost decided to implement the CDS system. If this happens it will be a quantum jump to the current military set up in India. The CDS will be the right authority to scrutinise the weapon system demands of the three services and strike a right balance between the three services. Currently this job is done by the Babus of the MOD resulting in all lop sided purchase of weapons. Make in India in defence is another very good start made by the Modi government. Both US and Israel are very keen in producing weapons in India jointly in addition to Russia. Even Japan is chipping in for the first time. This apart from generating jobs in India will make Indian armed forces self sufficient. We should never forget that a country is seen by the world as a military power only if it produces its own weapons. Weapon diplomacy also plays an important role in the national interest.
(The author is Defence and Strategic Analyst)
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