ThePrint | Defence PSUs are headless. Struggle for power hurting national security

In October 2021, the government announced a major reform in the production segment of the Defence Industrial Base ecosystem by corporatising the operations of the 41 factories hitherto under the Ordnance Factory Board. Seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings, based on the commonality of functions, were created — Munitions India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Limited, India Optel Limited, Gliders India Limited, and Yantra India Limited. Read the full article here.

ThePrint | General Electric jet deal will be a test of India-US trust. Critical tech at stake

Last week, media reports raised expectations that an important announcement on defence sector cooperation may occur during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States on 22 June. This announcement could be about manufacturing the General Electric F414 fighter engines in India, and the transfer of technology. White House has not commented on these news reports yet, but if they turn out to be true, India’s indigenous capacity to produce fighter aircraft would be boosted, and a major hurdle in its defence preparedness would be mitigated. It would also signify the growing level of trust rooted in global geopolitical considerations that could potentially strengthen strategic cooperation between India and the US, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. Read the full article here.

ThePrint | Rajnath Singh wants Indian military to boost R&D. But defence finance is complex territory

Last week, on two separate platforms, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh pointed out the dire need for India to metamorphose from being an ‘imitator’ in Research & Development to a ‘leader’ in developing futuristic technologies that could deal with pressing global security concerns. One of the platforms was the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)’s Academia Conclave in Delhi, where Singh highlighted the need for deepened collaboration between DRDO and academia. If realised, the cross-movement of scientists between DRDO and other institutes could produce results greater than the sum of its parts. Read the full article here.

ThePrint | India’s defence sector is not Aatmanirbhar. Govt is exaggerating progress

India has made varied attempts since Independence to achieve self-reliance in defence-related requirements but its achievements have been limited.

The quest for self-reliance has to keep abreast of scientific discoveries and harness them for military purposes. Contemporarily, self-reliance has been rechristened as Atmanirbharta, and cast within a larger national agenda that engages R&D Institutes, academia, industries, start-ups, individual innovators and users. In political and strategic terms, this ecosystem approach aims to protect and preserve India’s ability to take independent policy decisions in an increasingly volatile and anarchic global environment.

Read the full article here.

ThePrint | India should declare that AI will not be used to autonomously launch nuclear weapons

Twenty-five years have elapsed since India carried out six nuclear tests and announced its ambitions to be a nuclear power. Pakistan reacted with seven tests. Worldwide condemnation followed. The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council enforced sanctions. A year later, the Kargil conflict, which was limited in terms of geography and quantum of force, was fought under the nuclear shadow, even though at that time both nations hardly had any operational nuclear weapons capability. Yet it played a role, and to some unknown extent contained the conflict.

Read more here.

ThePrint | Converting cantonments like Yol can reap benefits – only if govt is transparent in its dealings

The government’s plan to disband military cantonments was set in motion on 27 April, when, following a notification from the Ministry of Defence, Himachal Pradesh’s Yol cantonment ceased to exist as one. The decision meant that the identified civil areas of these former cantonments would merge with adjoining civilian municipalities/local bodies while the armed forces would exclusively administer the remaining portions as military stations. The order was projected as a reform meant to do away with an ‘archaic colonial practice’. According to media reports, Nasirabad cantonment in Rajasthan is next in line. It will likely be followed, wherever possible, by the bisection of the existing 62 cantonments across India.

Read more here.

The Quint | A Gap in Strategic Planning: Why India Needs a National Security Doctrine

Japan’s National Security Strategy (NSS), released in December 2022, defied convention and chose to identify China and Russia by name as strategic threats. It also recommended that the country double its defence budget. Several other major powers, such as the United States, France, and Russia, also release similar documents. However, despite being the second most populous country, the fifth largest economy, and a nuclear power with one of the world’s most powerful militaries, India does not publish any such document.

Read the full article here.

ThePrint | Poonch ambush had unmistakable Pakistani hand. But here’s why Indian govt is downplaying it

Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir reared its ugly head yet again on 20 April 2023 with the ambush of an Army vehicle near the Line of Control in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district, resulting in the death of five Rashtriya Rifles soldiers. No group has so far claimed responsibility. Many questions about the incident remain unanswered, and the truth may never be publicly known. But that should not prevent concerted efforts to situate the incident in the context of the dynamics that have emerged since the August 2019 revocation of J&K’s special status and its bifurcation into two Union territories.

Read more here.

ThePrint | MoD protecting Army in Nagaland killings gratifying. SIT acted as handmaiden of state govt

Encounters between perceived insurgents/terrorists and the Indian Armed Forces invariably trigger the bugle of human rights violations and calls for justice. The killing of six innocent miners on 4 December 2021 at Oting in Mon district of Nagaland was one such case. A detachment of India’s elite Para Special Forces led by a Major laid an ambush based on intelligence received from the headquarters and fired at an approaching pick-up truck carrying eight miners returning home from work.

Read more here.

Managing Fault Lines

Since independence, India’s military leadership has faced formidable challenges in dealing with the country’s religious diversity and colonial heritage. Avoiding the seepage of communal disharmony into the military’s cultural fabric requires a multi-dimensional approach that prioritises education, information tools, and the preservation of institutional values.

This article appeared in the April-June 2023 issue of the Raksha Anirveda magazine. Read the full article here.

India needs quick transition ability from ‘No War No Peace’ to ‘limited war’. Is CDS ready?

The smooth and efficient functioning of the military organisation is to a great extent determined by the state of relationships between commanders in the chain of command. Fairly often, the dynamics of relationships transpires in an ambience that is often fraught with uncertainty, ambiguity, danger and fear. However, when combined with institutionalised and professional civil-military relations, military effectiveness gets maximised. The institution of the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in December 2019 were clearly designed to enhance military effectiveness. The mandate assigned to create the Theatre Command system was a recognition of the need to change the prevailing structures so as to strengthen jointness among the three Services and improve civil-military relations.

Should India make tactical nukes to counter China? Delhi’s no-first-use rule has no room for it

On 25 March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s intention to deploy Tactical Nuclear Weapons or TNWs in Belarus. He added that Russia was doing what has been a norm for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Periodically, during the Ukraine war, Putin and some members of Russia’s senior hierarchy have been bringing up the topic of nuclear weapons to keep the nuclear threat alive. The strategic effect sought to be achieved is to warn NATO member countries and reduce their role in the war. The Russian nuclear threats have probably not had their intended effects, considering the increase in the supply of military wherewithal to Ukraine, including offensive weapons like fighter aircraft, tanks, and missiles. The Belarus deployment is probably indicative of Russia adopting a different route to achieve the same intention. From the reaction of the NATO, it seems this threat would also not work to the degree that Russia expects.

Resolve HR issues in Navy, Army, Air Force on 3 levels. Then bring in Theatre Command System

The issue of Human Resources in the Indian armed forces is likely to throw up progressively increasing challenges when the Theatre Command System becomes operational. It has, therefore, become absolutely necessary to resolve those issues before the restructuring gets underway. This article seeks to examine three HR issues that have lingered and defied resolution despite their manifestation since long in the integrated tri-Services structures such as Andaman & Nicobar Command, Strategic Forces Command, and several other establishments. Resolution of these issues can no longer be ignored lest solutions emerge in more painful ways.

Why Theatre Commands must be accompanied by a Uniform Military Code

The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill 2023 was introduced in the Lok Sabha last week. The Bill empowers the Commander-in-Chief or the Officers-in-Command of inter-Services organisations to exercise administrative and disciplinary powers as laid down, over persons of individual services in their establishments. Disciplinary action would, however, only be taken under the Army, Navy and Air Force Act as applicable to an individual. Hitherto, the practice has been that if a naval officer/other rank were to commit an offence at the Defence Services Staff College Wellington, an inter-Service institution, the Commandant, a three star General, would repatriate the officer/rating to a naval organisation, where he would be tried under the Navy Act 1957.

India’s rapid digitisation has one major casualty—cybersecurity

India’s impressive progress in digitisation is certainly revolutionising how citizens and other State entities conduct their affairs. But the nation’s growing reliance on cyberspace has highlighted the promises and perils of an ancient strategic lore – increased dependency could also mean greater vulnerability. India’s vulnerability in the cyber domain has, for long, been recognised as a national security issue. In 2013, a National Cyber Security Policy was issued, which flagged the complexity and dynamic nature of cyberspace, and the need to unify actions guided by an integrated vision and a set of sustained and coordinated strategies.

MHA push for 7 new ITBP battalions is playing into China’s hands. India is wasting assets

It is said that political power is a psychological relationship between those who exercise it and those over whom it is exercised. That said,  creating alternative realities for its citizens may have become the government’s preferred method to manage domestic cognition as China continues its aggression on our northern border. Statements and actions of the head honchos of India’s Statecraft indicate that though they have succeeded in preserving political ascendency in the domestic sphere, they may have conceded psychological dominance to China. If so, does it augur well for India’s ability to perform in growing geopolitical contestations?

Agnipath scheme holds the key to a stronger army. The only hurdle is selection process

The first batch of Agniveers enrolled under the Agnipath Scheme commenced training at the various recruit training institutions of the Armed Forces last month. Understandably, it will take a couple of years for the Armed Forces to crystallise the modifications required in the original scheme. During this period, two areas that would require a higher focus are the initial recruitment process and the recruit training.

The Army has already changed the recruitment process for the second batch by making the online exam the first step of the process. It is followed by physical fitness/measurement and medical tests. Earlier, the written exam that was conducted physically was the last step. This change will certainly reduce the overall administrative burden. 

India’s space security policy, part 2: getting space security right

How should India shape its space security in the near future? The first part of the essay provided an overview of India’s existing policy on space security. Further, it also analyzed how the current policy shaped India’s decision to abstain from voting on the United Nations (UN) resolution to ban debris-creating direct-ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) testing. This essay asks a different question: how should India’s decision-makers think about their nation’s space security?

New IAF doctrine advertises aerospace power too much. It overshadows focus on core beliefs

The third iteration of the Indian Air Force doctrine was released on 4 February 2023; the first two were introduced in 2012 and 1995. The new doctrine has been expanded in length, scope, and detail, and mirrors the blooming potential of air and space as key mediums in which the Indian military can find greater expression and effectiveness. It isn’t surprising that the doctrine has officially rechristened the IAF as an aerospace power — a need that has been highlighted by the Indian leadership for several decades.

A gradual approach on defence spending

Another defence budget zoomed past us this month. Since then, analyses have focused on how defence spending for the coming year departs from the previous one. Some have waved a red flag as defence spending has fallen below 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first time in many years. On the other hand, the defence ministry’s post-budget statement emphasised a 44% increase in operational spending, which it said will close critical gaps in combat capabilities and equip the forces in terms of ammunition, sustenance of weapons and assets, and military reserves.