Workers & engineers from Mazagon Dock cheer during the floating out of the first project 75 (Scorpene) Submarine, in Mumbai. India’s the largest importer of weapons, despite large sums of money being allocated to defence. PTI

Over the last three decades, India’s defence budget has grown exponentially. The defence budget for 2016-17 has been pegged at a staggering Rs 3,40,921 crore,  which includes Rs 82,332 crore for defence pensions. Considering the phenomenal amount of the defence budget, two questions arise: Are the armed forces better prepared to fight a war? Do we feel more secure as a nation?A simple yes or no answer would be too simplistic and reductionist. Yet a qualitative and quantitative analysis of events continues to point towards a situation almost as grim as that in 1991-92 when India’s defence was adversely impacted by two landmark developments — (i) a severe resource crunch that had forced the country into economic reforms and (ii) the breakup of the Soviet Union, which until then was India’s dominant if not sole supplier of defence equipment. Ironically today the situation is grim despite India having the money as well as alternative sources for defence equipment.  After a freeze on the purchase of big-ticket items for much of the 1990s (the purchase of Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft was the only exception), India embarked on a major purchasing spree which has earned it the dubious distinction of become the world’s largest importer of defence equipment. In the last decade-and-a-half, India has added two major capabilities unprecedented in the sub continent — fuel-refuelling aircraft (FRA), aimed at elongating the airborne endurance of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) frontline fighter fleet and Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), that can detect the enemy aircraft at longer distances. India has also added big-ticket items such as the purchase of INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov), India’s largest-ever aircraft carrier and lease of INS Chakra, a nuclear-powered submarine, from Russia; purchase of the P-8I Poseidon maritime reconnaissance-cum-strike aircraft, C-130J Hercules and C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft from the United States; and a contract for purchase of six Scorpene conventional submarines from France to name a few.These “impressive” purchases have, however, been overshadowed by events that have been both embarrassing and humiliating for India and its security apparatus. The failure to detect a surreptitious invasion by the Pakistani Army along a 150-km stretch of the Line of Control in the high-altitude Kargil region of Ladakh which was evicted at considerable cost of human life and money after two months of fighting (May-June 1999); the release of three dreaded terrorists for hostages taken aboard a hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft that was flown at gun point from Kathmandu to Kandahar via Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai (December 1999); a futile and expensive 10-month Operation Parakram that involved the biggest mobilisation of troops since the 1971 India-Pakistan War, following the December 2001 terror attack on Parliament (December 2001-October 2002),  the 26/11 terror attacks by 10 Pakistani terrorists that exposed India’s dismally poor coastal security (November 2008) not to forget the monotonous regularity with which Indian Army cantonments and posts have been attacked by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir along with the attack on the Pathankot air base last January. Ironically, most of these incidents have occurred during the previous (1998-2004) and current BJP-led NDA regimes.And yet, successive reports prepared by the parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence and the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) have pointed to glaring deficiencies in India’s defence preparedness. The IAF’s fighter fleet has fallen to a record low of 33 squadrons against an authorised strength of 42 squadrons. The Navy’s submarine fleet is down to just 13, with most submarines over two decades old. The Navy’s fleet, last authorised 52 years ago in 1964, comprises 140 vessels and 236 aircraft and helicopters, 72 vessels and 222 aircraft and helicopters short of the recommendations of the 15-year Maritime Capability Perspective Plan (MCPP) for 2012-2027. By then most vessels and aircraft, which are already ageing, would have been decommissioned. Time and cost overruns abound. For example, the indigenously produced aircraft carrier which was supposed to be ready for induction by December 2010 is now expected to be ready by December 2018 with the cost having escalated almost six times from Rs 3,216 crore to Rs 19,341 crore. Indigenous production of the three stealth Guided Missile Destroyers and four anti submarine warfare Corvettes is similarly behind schedule, with costs having escalated. It is the same story for a series of smaller vessels comprising Offshore Patrol Vessels, Fast Interceptor Crafts, Landing Craft Utility and Fast Attack Craft that have been commissioned for indigenous production.The Army’ Artillery has not added a single new howitzer gun for the last three decades and the Infantry is struggling with an indigenously made 5.56 mm rifle, whose deficiencies were exposed during the 1999 Kargil War just five years after it was first inducted in 1994. The Army is struggling to raise its first-ever Mountain Strike Corps, sanctioned in 2013, by drawing equipment from the highly classified War Wastage Reserve (WWR), which are reserves set apart for anticipated use of weapons and ammunition during a war. Worse, even the current WWR is less than 100 per cent in respect to several weapon systems and equipment. The Army’s critical shortages in artillery guns, Infantry weapons, Sights and Fire Control equipment, engineer equipment, air defence equipment, medium-range surface-to-air missiles, self-propelled guns and helicopters, to name a few, all due to inadequate production capacities of the 40 Ordnance factories and nine defence public sector units and procurement process delays in well documented. Interestingly, the shortages are not in big-ticket items alone. The Army, which is actively deployed in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and in high- altitude warfare, continues to be short of 2.30 lakh bullet-proof vests since 2009, hand-held thermal imagers with laser-range finder, night-vision devices and weapon sights and special clothing and mountaineering equipment, including 2,17,388 high ankle boots and 44,700 baklava caps to name a few. During both the previous and current NDA regimes, India’s defence budget has remained partly unspent with large sums of the capital budget earmarked for defence purchases being surrendered. For example, during the Vajpayee-led government in 2000-01, which is a year after the Kargil War, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could spend only 84.69 per cent of the defence budget, followed by 85.6 per cent in 2002-03. During the current Modi Government, the MoD spent only 85 per cent of its defence budget in 2014-15, followed by 91.3 per cent in 2015-16. Translated into monetary terms, the MoD surrendered as much as Rs 11, 595 crore from the defence Capital budget in 2015-16 and Rs 7,874 crore in 2014-15.   The irony is that despite large sums of money being allocated to defence and India maintaining its record of being the world’s largest importer of weapons, slippages in defence preparedness are steadily increasing. There are huge gaps in India’s defence and security. There have been suggestions to link the defence budget with about 3 to 3.5 per cent of the GDP.  The question is: How much is enough for credible defence. There is no doubt that India’s defence budget needs to be more realistic. Else, allocating otherwise large sums of money does not make sense. The continuing gaps in preparation for all spectrums of warfare will not only appear to make defence expenditure less purposeful if not ‘wasteful’, but, more critically, will not make India any securer. 

dkumar@tribunemail.com

A policeman inspects an Army chopper that made an emergency landing at Maili village in Hoshiarpur on Friday. photo: malkiat Singh
A policeman inspects an Army chopper that made an emergency landing at Maili village in Hoshiarpur on Friday. photo: malkiat Singh

Hoshiarpur, March 11

An Army chopper carrying four Army men was forced to make an emergency landing in a wheat field in Maili village near Mahilpur after it developed a technical snag, the police said on Friday.

“The helicopter made an emergency landing in the village at around 12:30 pm,” Hoshiapur Senior Superintendent of Police Dhanpreet Kaur said.

All four onboard are safe, although two suffered minor in injuries.

“There was no damage to the chopper,” the SSP said.

With four crew members on board, the chopper took off from Jalandhar cantonment on routine sortie today at about 11 am.

Major Guriqbal Singh and Lt Col B.S. Chohan received minor injuries in the incident, DSP (Chabbewal) Hardeep Kumar said, adding that they were given first aid.

Pilot Aditya Verma and Co-pilot Ajit remained unhurt, the police said, adding that they were taken to Jalandhar by Army personnel. — TNS/ PTI

The three cadets who will be inducted in the IAF on June 18. PTI

New Delhi, March 8

The first batch of women fighter pilots, comprising three cadets, will be inducted into the Indian Air Force on June 18.Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said three women trainee officers had volunteered to be inducted in the combat role. “We inducted women as pilots in 1991, but on only helicopter and transport (planes). I must thank the Defence Minister for having approved the IAF’s proposal to induct women as fighter pilots. Very soon…on June 18, the Air Force will get women fighter pilots.”As of now three women trainees have volunteered to join the fighter stream. They are under the second phase of their training. Once they complete their training…they are on par with their male colleagues and the passing out parade is scheduled on June 18,” Raha said.He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Women in Armed Medical Corps’ organised to mark International Women’s Day here, which was also attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. The Defence Ministry had cleared the proposal of inducting women as fighter pilots in October last year. Parrikar also lauded Raha’s insistence to push forward the proposal to induct women as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force. —PTI

Modi salutes womenSaluting achievements of all women on Women’s Day… From Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao to better health & education facilities, our govt’s efforts towards women-led development are unwavering – Narendra Modi, prime ministerSonia for quota Bill}Maximum governance also means giving us our legitimate due — Women’s Reservation Bill… thanks to Rajiv Gandhi that we have mandatory reservation for women in panchayats and nagarpalikas – Sonia Gandhi, Cong President

Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, February 22

The “mediatory role” played by ex-servicemen between the agitating populace in Haryana and the armed forces deployed to curb violence played a large role in diffusing volatile situations, the Army has claimed.The substantial population of retired soldiers in the state proved to be an important factor which enabled the Army to stem violence and prevent the situation at many places from spiralling out of control, a spokesperson said.“Acting as a bridge between the Army and the agitating civilians, the veterans were able to convince the protesters to abide by the instructions given by the Army,” he said, adding that they were instrumental in dispersing a large crowd that had gathered at Karnal Chowk in Kaithal.Haryana has been a major contributor of manpower to the armed forces, who have played a very important role in all wars and other major operations undertaken by India, including counter-terrorist operations.The Army is also playing a major role in evacuating travellers from affected areas to safer places. A large number of senior citizens, women and children who required immediate help were moved to Ambala over the past two days in military vehicles. Army columns also arranged evacuation of patients from a private hospital in Kaithal.

GULMARG:  On the upper reaches of Gulmarg, an avalanche rescue team of the Indian Army conducts a mock drill. Carrying special equipment in backpacks that weigh more than 25 kilos, the soldiers patrol snow-bound peaks. An avalanche victim detector shows the possible location of men buried under several feet of snow and the team swings into action, clearing the snow with shovels and rods.

The first thing they find is a rifle. Then, a man buried under the snow is pulled out. They rush him to the medical camp where doctors work to revive his heart beat and give him first aid.

The rescuers have trained at the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg. They have had rigorous training before being sent out in rescue missions. The time available to react in emergencies is very less and there is no scope for acclimatisation.

The men who carried the recent rescue operation at Siachen after a post was hit by an ice wall on February 3 were trained here. Avalanches and frostbites are among the main reasons for casualties at the 72 km long glacier that has killed nearly 850 soldiers since 1984. But, Siachen is not the only area prone to avalanches where soldiers are deployed.

“The people who are launched into rescue operation are the ones who are already acclimatised. There were men already at Siachen and they were launched immediately after it was learnt that the post has been swept away in an ice avalanche,” says Major General Navneet Kumar- Commandant at the High Altitude Warfare School.

“Those who get buried under (an) avalanche, the rescue equipment is used to find them,” says instructor Prakash Singh, pointing out to ropes, snow bars and avalanche victim detectors with the team.

But, innovation is key on such missions. When the teams are not carrying tents, they construct Igloos and snow caves. These snow shelters can accommodate up to 10 men. They can cook inside these snow caves and light them up.

“This is basically a part of survival training. We are training Indian army jawans here…If they don’t carry tents, they are well trained to make these shelters,” says the instructor.

There’s been a lot of talk about the army recently, particularly about how our soldiers must be respected because they’re guarding our borders and keeping us safe. I am in full agreement with this sentiment. Our ministers especially have stood up for the rights and honour of our soldiers. As they should.

Someone else who seems to have our ministers’ support is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whose Art of Living Foundation is all set to throw a gala celebration event to mark its 35^th anniversary. An event that will be attended by 3.5 million people over three days, we are told, including the honourable prime minister of India.

Keep in mind that this is a private event. Not a state or national celebration.

The event, called The World Culture Festival, has already been panned for the large-scale ecological destruction being undertaken in the process of preparing the venue. It is going to be held over 405 hectares of the riverbank, much of which has already been cleared of vegetation and been levelled. The event is going against the National Green Tribunal order of January 2015 putting a stop to all construction activity on the Yamuna’s banks and saying that any such activity would be deemed criminal. But in the world of Sri Sri, these are small matters and obviously no one says no to him.

Also, 650 portable toilets will be set up. No one knows how this waste will be disposed. There will be diesel generators, cars and sound pollution. Manoj Mishra of the Live Yamuna campaign has been quoted as saying that more than 1,000 acres of land have been cleared for the ‘party’ – there really is no other word for it.

Till now, my only and major bone of contention with this event was the imminent environmental damage that will take place and whose effects are likely to last for years. But it seems that the foundation’s Art Of Misusing is not just limited to the environment.

It has now been reported that instead of protecting our borders and people, 120 soldiers have been made to spend over a week building two temporary bridges that will float on the Yamuna river.

I can only conclude that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Ministry Of Defence (which must be in the know of what its soldiers are up to) saw these ads about joining the army.

Released by the Indian Army, starring actual army men, they’re ads that make army life sound wonderful, and the profession sound noble. As of course it is. The problem is that it seems that the government and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar took the ads at face value – especially the first one, which says, “it is India’s best construction company and biggest logistic operator”. Even if the Indian Army has soldiers trained to make bridges, they are not supposed to be daily labourers or labourers of any sort on hire. And they are definitely not supposed to be called in to do odd jobs for private events. Next thing we know, soldiers will be asked to be valets at the World Culture Festival. Because you know, the ad said they know how to drive cars.

Why is the army involved in labour activities such as building a bridge for this event? What justifies them being called in to do so?

The event, which will allow “spiritual and religious leaders, politicians, peacemakers and artists to spread the message of global peace and harmony in diversity”, seems to also spread the message of how to misuse the Indian army. According to an NDTV report, “army sources who asked not to be named confirmed to NDTV that 120 personnel were assigned to build the bridges, and that after expressing reservations about the task, senior officers made it clear that the organizers must accept liability for any accident that injures attendees”.

In fact, these soldiers (and by extension, the army) are being made complicit in the ecological nightmare that is this private event. The committee which has been set up to investigate the potential ecological damage that may be caused as a result, has said that the building of the two pontoons is in direct violation of their order. In fact, the “committee has noted that there is no way to find out whether the debris generated during the construction of the bridges has been dumped into the river”.

Is this what our soldiers are expected to do? One would think that the dismal conditions in which they have to protect our borders are bad enough. Now they have to lug construction material around to build bridges for a spiritual guru’s private celebrations? Forget any politician speaking up about the misuse of the army, the event is going to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One would think he would step in and put a stop to this utter misuse of our soldiers.

In India, for all our beating-our-chest adulation for our soldiers, we don’t think twice about asking them to carry out jobs that are not their responsibility. Whether it be pulling a child out of a borewell or being called in to maintain peace and order during riots, it’s all kosher.

Imagine you manage to qualify to enter a military academy, then you spend years training, finally you join the army. Then you’re told that your first call of duty is to build a bridge – not for an army sortie or in a disaster-struck part of the country, but for a yoga and meditation event. To be attended by the very Prime Minister who should be ensuring your job is respected. What could be more demoralising? We should just be pleased that they weren’t called in to make the stage for Baba Ramdev and Shilpa Shetty’s yoga celebration, or for Gautam Adani’s son’s wedding. Keeping with the spirit of the Art Of Living, don’t hold your breath though. It seems anything is possible.

What is worse is that other than for NDTV, nobody else seems to be bothered about this incident. No media has written about it since the news broke. Not one politician or minister tweeted about it or made a statement. These are the very same politicians and ministers who are leaving aside no opportunity to tell us how much we Indians should be indebted to the Indian Army. Could the silence be because if anyone has friends in high places, it is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar? Now that is the true Art of Living.

Charsadda (Pakistan), Jan 20

At least 20 people, mostly students, were massacred today by Kalashnikov-wielding Taliban suicide attackers who stormed a prestigious university here in restive northwestern Pakistan and opened fire, in a grim reminder of the 2014 Peshawar army school attack.The gunmen entered the Bacha Khan University named after iconic leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan alias Bacha Khan in Charsadda, some 50 km southwest of Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, and opened fire on students and teachers in classrooms and hostels, police said.Earlier, reports said that 21 people and four terrorists were killed but later army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Bajwa held a press conference and stated that 20 people —18 students, a professor and a staffer — and four terrorists had been killed in the attack. The militants used the cover of thick, wintry fog to scale the walls of the university before entering buildings.Blasts and heavy gunfire were heard from inside the campus where a poetic symposium was in progress to mark the death anniversary of Bacha Khan who died on January 20, 1988. There were about 3,000 students and 600 guests on the campus when the attack took place, Vice-Chancellor of the university Dr Fazal Rahim said.Umar Mansoor, Peshawar school attack mastermind and a commander of the Hakimullah Mehsud faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistani (TTP), claimed responsibility for today’s assault. He called local media from a mobile number in Afghanistan to claim that they have carried out the attack. A spokesman for the militant group said it was revenge for those killed by security forces since Peshawar school attack. The attacks would continue, he warned. But the spokesman for another Taliban faction, Mohammad Khurasani, condemned the attack and said they were not involved in it.The Inter-Services Public Relations chief said the four terrorists were using two mobile phones on which phone calls were received from different locations including Afghanistan.Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid visited the university and told the media that the operation launched by security forces to clear the campus has been completed. He said the attack was in response to military operation in the province, “which had broken the backbone of militants”.The victims were shot in the head or chest. Images from inside the university showed a pool of blood on the floor of a dormitory and charred corpses of two alleged militants lying on a staircase.PM Nawaz Sharif, who is in Zurich to attend the World Economic Forum, condemned the attack. — Agencies‘Attackers were like us’The attackers were like us — they were very young. They carried AK-47 guns. They wore jackets like the forces do… We were in the hostel sleeping as we don’t have classes… After everything was over, the Army men knocked on our room and told us we were safe — A university studentStrongly condemn the terror attack at Bacha Khan University in Pakistan. Condolences to families of the deceased. Prayers with the injured — PM Narendra Modi on twitterWe are determined in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland. The countless sacrifices made by our countrymen will not go in vain — Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan PM

Terrorists kill 21 in Peshawar university