Taking stock of India’s military preparedness

The information that the CCC was held successful May and that Madhya Pradesh went to elections successful November could not beryllium ignored — the venue had immense posters of PM Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and then-CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. This was a lawsuit of drafting the subject into the electoral model and it was avoidable. There was nary CCC convened successful 2019, 2020 and 2022, and portion the Covid pandemic whitethorn person been a crushed successful the archetypal 2 years, the 2022 void is inexplicable. The information that PM Modi spends much clip with the apical constabulary officers of the state than with the subject commanders has not gone unnoticed.

Thus, the JCC is simply a invited forum for the governmental leadership, successful this case, the Defence Minister, to conscionable with the subject commanders and reappraisal nonrecreational matters successful an informed and unhurried manner. The taxable of the inaugural JCC ‘Transforming the Armed Forces’ has been a Modi precedence since 2014. Various large argumentation initiatives person been launched to this effect — the assignment of a CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) being 1 of them. However, appointing a retired three-star serviceman to this station successful a four-star fertile was unprecedented and has introduced an undesirable precedent. Political preferences trumped organization norms.

An nonsubjective reappraisal of the benignant of translation that has taken spot implicit the past decennary (Modi 1.0 and 2.0) whitethorn connection immoderate utile insights into the Indian military, civil-military relations, and the semipermanent consequences of the organization transmutation. Cumulatively, these volition beryllium the issues that the adjacent CCC/JCC would person to grapple with to safeguard nationalist security.

PM Modi came to bureau successful 2014 pledging to redress the shortcomings successful the nationalist information edifice and amended the payment of subject personnel. His way grounds implicit the past decennary is mixed. To his credit, helium took the determination to grant the agelong pending One Rank, One Pension (OROP) connection and though it has immoderate strands that request to beryllium resolved, it has been implemented.

Concurrently, PM Modi has highlighted the indigenisation imperative nether the “aatmanirbharata” banner and the restructuring of defence PSUs, encouraging the backstage assemblage with an accent connected MSMEs and enabling academia to undertake probe projects are each commendable steps. However, their gestation play is long, advancement is often uneven and the results volition not beryllium evident successful the adjacent future. In essence, India volition stay babelike connected imported subject inventory successful the main — thereby diluting its quest for strategical autonomy.

The worldly authorities of the subject remains opaque and the thumbnail summary is that each 3 equipped forces are successful dire request of modernisation and acquisition to marque up for ample gaps successful the inventory. This contented is often glossed implicit and merits candid interior review. Did the JCC code this elephant?

The past broad reappraisal of the subject was done successful 2018 erstwhile the Standing Committee connected Defence cautioned that a modern equipped unit should person one-third of its instrumentality successful the vintage category, one-third successful the existent class and one-third successful the state-of-the-art category. The study noted that the Indian Army had 68 per cent of its instrumentality successful the first, 24 per cent successful the second, and 8 per cent successful the third. The Committee recovered that capable attraction has been lacking with respect to some argumentation and budget for modernising the ageing arsenal.

The Navy and the Air Force are besides grappling with a shortfall successful large platforms. The Air Force, which is authorised 42 combatant squadrons, is down to 32; portion the Navy is operating its craft carriers with below-optimum combatant craft and grappling with different level deficiencies. Capital expenditure funds are shrinking, for the rupee has declined successful worth implicit the past decade. It was pegged to the US dollar astatine Rs 62.33 successful 2014 and is present hovering astatine 83.47. This reduces the buying capableness from overseas suppliers. It is simply a large contented that seldom finds notation successful immoderate conference. The modular refrain is that each is good with the Indian fauj and that it volition present erstwhile required — arsenic it did successful Kargil successful 1999.

Manpower shortage continues to persist and successful 2023, the authorities stated determination was an wide deficiency of astir 1.55 lakh unit wrong the 3 equipped forces with the Army accounting for the maximum — 1.36 lakh vacancies. The hastily implemented Agnipath strategy has aggravated the induction signifier and it is understood that a macro reappraisal of this strategy is connected the anvil.

It is expected that the PM volition code the CCC successful the people of the twelvemonth and hopefully, the composite inventory illustration of the subject volition beryllium reviewed objectively. It would beryllium desirable to institute a template wherein each equipped unit submits the worldly and HR presumption to a parliamentary committee annually.

The Galwan setback of 2020 and the surge successful cross-border coercion ought to service arsenic a reminder that bid connected the borders cannot beryllium taken for granted. Being prepared for warfare successful a credible mode is imperative and specified optics volition not suffice.

The writer is director, Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi