India Needs to be Ready to Face Wars and Internal Crises

Spread the love

India has one of the largest Armies, Navies and Air Forces in the world, but they are inadequate simply because China has forces that vastly exceeds India’s and they have tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery guns, missiles, anti-aircraft guns, fighter aircrafts, transport aircrafts, AWACs, warships, submarines (and other weaponry) that again vastly exceed India’s. Then, there is Pakistan which, though economically a failed country and an utterly lawless one too, maintains a large military force (one amongst the ten largest militaries in the world) and, in the recent past, she spent 16.27% of her budget on defence. This is quite a high figure considering that Pakistan is an underdeveloped economy and this money could have been put to better use. Sadly, the Pakistani government and the military establishment just looks at India’s annual defence budget amount, which naturally would be higher than Pakistan’s, without admitting that India’s economy is multiple times higher than hers, though the percentage allocated by India for defence (from its total budget) is quite low and not comparable with Pakistan’s. Moreover, the Pakistani media also trumpets this fact, without going into the details.

Indian-T-72-Tank

Compared with China (2.1%) and Pakistan (16.27%), India spends just 1.2% of its budget on defence. This is not enough to face both the enemies, i.e. Pakistan on the western frontier and China on a very vast border right from the north running all the way to the north east at the other end, i.e. 4,057 kilometres.

As per this google search, Israel is 20,770 square kilometres in area and proclaimed independence effectively on 14.05.1948 after the British mandate on Palestine ended, i.e. exactly 10 months after India. Tiny Israel has not only become self-sufficient in military needs (thanks to its incessant research and development right from the time of its independence and manufacture of military hardware at its ordnance and other factories, aircraft facilities and shipyards. Whereas, India is virtually dependent on imports for sophisticated weaponry and it is high time that the Government exerts strong pressure on its ordnance factories, factories manufacturing tanks and all types of vehicles, aircraft factories, dockyards manufacturing warships, submarines (and all other types of naval vessels) to accelerate and increase its production. Even so, if defence production is not able to cope up and meet the targets, then it can set up new facilities. Any surplus in defence production can be exported to friendly countries, who can buy military hardware at cheaper price tags than sold by other arms exporters. Export of arms to friendly countries should be made with a rider that stipulates that these arms are purely for defensive purposes and should not be given to other countries under any circumstances. With this rider, India would ensure that the arms do not fall into the wrong hands. By producing all its weaponry, India will not only save very precious foreign exchange, but by exporting it India will also earn additional and vitally required foreign exchange.

Further, in order to make additional funds readily available for defence, India should try to trim and streamline its large, creaky, overstaffed and mostly inefficient manpower in Ministries and Public Sector Undertakings by terminations and golden hand-shakes. Indian Railways, with 1.7 million employees is like a charity institution, because there are employees who work, others who do not work. After the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Indian Railways is the second largest employer in the world. There are countless organisations in the world, who are gigantic profit-making entities and have highly productive employees’ productivities. Even when it comes to Railways, the Indian Railways is the fourth largest. So, where is the justification to have 1.7 million personnel on its payroll? None of the Railway Ministers, over the years, have not talked about the Railways having far excessive manpower than what is requires but, on the contrary, spoken about high operating costs, etc. The present Minister of Railways should make himself a trend-setter and a trail blazer by introducing an efficient and committed management, dispensing the archaic system and streamlining it, introducing automation and dispensing with surplus manpower. By doing this, the manpower could be cut down by as much as 50% and the other 50%of retained manpower should be sent for periodic in-house training and also training in external institutions both in the country and abroad to hone their skills, enhance their usefulness and worth to the Railways. Efficient employees should be well paid and recognised. The immense savings effected can be diverted to various sectors like defence, education, health, agriculture, etc.

The Ministry of Defence can create a vast pool of Army Reservists by attracting high school and college students to opt for military training and remaining in the Reserves till certain age or number of years. In return, the Government should give them free high school and college education by bearing these students fees. After having completed a year or two military of training, other ranks and NCOs could undergo refresher training of 30 days each year thereafter and officers could undergo 45 days training. So, if the Central Government foots the education bills of these youths who are physically and medically fit to undergo military training, then India will have large pools of Reservist Army of millions of men to fight infantry warfare, support and assist the Regular Army and service, repair and maintain vehicles and other equipment, etc. Further, having undergone military training, these youth will be highly disciplined. Both the Government and country on one hand and the youth looking to a career and employment on the other hand, stand to benefit by this arrangement. It is a highly common fact that in U.S.A., many youth opt to join for Armed Forces for certain number of years to do higher education and complete graduation or post-graduation and take early retirement to take up jobs in the civilian sector or pursue other vocations and earn pensions from the military.

Israel has a population of a little over 8,000,000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel) and 75% comprise Jews, who have emigrated to that country from all parts of the world. Probably, one of the most notorious dictators of all times, Adolph Hitler, can be credited for Israel’s birth, simply because he and his henchmen had killed over 6,000,000 Jews (apart from millions of other nationalities and ethnic groups). That made the survivors of the concentration camps (and Jews from Europe and Russia) to be the first one to sail to Palestine, a land to which they were historically and religiously attached, even by dodging British naval blockades and finally declaring independence. To get an idea of how Israel achieved independence, one should read “O’ Jerusalem” by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. Subsequently, Jews from many countries have emigrated to Israel, including Jews from India. Israel has taken part in the War of Independence (1948), The Sinai Campaign (1956), The Six Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973) and have been victorious in all of them, though they were outnumbered by the enemy in men, tanks, guns, aircrafts, ships, etc. in these wars. In the Yom Kippur War, Israel had initial setbacks and shocks, but later on, under Gen. Ariel Sharon, they were able to re-group, cross over to the West Bank of the Suez Canal and encircle the IIIrd Egyptian Army which, if cease fire had not come into effect, would have surrendered.

Israel’s regular Army is just 176,000 men. Military training is compulsory for both male and females in Israel and, therefore, in the event of crises and calamities, they can mobilise around 625,000 men in the matter of 72 hours. Surprisingly, the Israeli Army comprising Regular Army and a large Reservist Army is led by a Lieutenant General. The combined strength of the Israeli Army is something amazing, considering that Israel is a small country – both territory and population-wise. But in such emergencies, leading to mobilisation of forces, the Israeli economy suffers a lot, because there is acute shortage of manpower in private and government offices, factories, business establishments, public and private transport system, etc..

Finally, there are 14 countries in the world that have compulsory military training. To name a few, Austria, China, Finland, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and others. In conclusion, having an Army of Reserves is good for the country, as it is not an excessive drain on a country’s resources and this force can come in handy during wars, riots, cyclones, earthquakes, etc.

More Articles:

China: Is it A Threat to Neighbours and the World?

Colombo: Is It A Value-For-Money Destination?

My Picturesque Hometown

Pakistan – A Rogue and Failed State

A Trip to Goa: A Paradise on Earth

Why Fuss Over Pakistan?

Mount Mary: An Attraction to Devouts

Kashmir: Facts and Causes

Reading: An Ideal and Stimulating Pastime

Mangalore – The Land Of My Roots

Our Honeymoon- An Unforgettable Event

Oscar receives Nelson Mandela Award

Oscars At Long Last: SDM Does It For India

Prime ministers of India

English and solving crosswords

Mumbai Carnage- Assault on democracy

Exit Musharraf – What next?

Pathetic State Of Sports In India

On Twenty Overs Cricket

USA Presidential Elections, Et Al


Spread the love

7 Comments

  1. Dear Readers on this Foram,

    I have written an article under the title, “INDIA NEEDS TO BE READY TO FACE WARS AND INTERNAL CRSISES,” which many of you may not observe as it appears on the bottom of left-hand side, where everyones articles are listed. Therefore, my article is not conspicuous and, therefore, not eyecatching.

    I request you to read the said article, as it is related to defence matters and not one of those articles relating to day-to-day events.

    Regards and best wishes,
    Nelson Lewis

  2. Nelson’s article is very thought provoking. One should agree that training high school and college students in military would help the Nation in times of need and other emergencies as flood and the like.

    Some statistics given by Nelson make us think in various directions.

    Thank you,
    Sincerely,

    Govindraj

  3. India is virtually dependent on imports for sophisticated weaponry and it is high time that the Government…..Nelson Lewis.

    Thanks for the good article.

    Since Independence India has never made any attempt for manufacture of defene hardware. Successive Congress governments in their 57 years of rule always enjoyed arms import which gave them ample of opportunities to fill their coffers with kickbacks. DRDO has always remained as a most inactive organizations. Modi government for the first time is trying to change face of DRDO. Modi government approved the termination of the contract of Mr. Chander with effect from January 31. Mr. Chander was a retired guy. MMS gave him extension for 18 months for his inefficiency. UPA government never felt that DRDO needs an efficient leader.

    India lost more Piolets due to MIG crash during the peace time than during the war.

    The cause of Russian made INS Sindhuratna disaster which killed 18 Indian Navy Sailors will remain a mystery forever.

    Make in India policy will be a big boom for Indian economy. When a small country like Israel could become self-reliant why not India become a global power in defence productions.

    • Make in India policy will be a big boom for Indian economy. When a small country like Israel could become self-reliant why not India become a global power in defence productions.-Mr.Krishna,India

      Sir,A decade before GSLV is launched into orbit, in December 1982, India had formed a cryogenic study team to focus on the development of an engine which could generate a thrust of 10 tonnes. But the project did not take off because Isro realized indigenous development of such engines would pose major technological challenges. It then decided to import these engines from Russia to expedite its GSLV programme.

      The Indian quest to acquire cryogenic technology faced not just technological challenges but also geopolitical sanctions. In fact, the US had at one point tried to scuttle India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) project.Despite all those hurdles and less than 300 crores budget allocation,our own space research programme idegenously built putting the nation in top six countries in the world.

      http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-01-09/news/46030395_1_cryogenic-engine-mahendragiri-isro

      In the middle of the euphoria about the launch of Mangalyaan, India’s Mars probe, it may seem churlish to bring up the question of whether the space programme could have been more efficient and produced results earlier. Before PM Modi government take the credit and talks about ‘Vimans’ flying 7000 years ago ,the 60 years of Congress ruling has already ‘Made in India’ technology.

      Then comes the supercomputer,The idea of such a computer was first floated in 2009 at the supercomputing conference in 2009. Intel has announced it would develop the computer by 2018. USA has put aside a substantial sum for it while India too has committed $ 2 billion. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore are expected to develop a supercomputer with 132.8 exaflops by 2017.Then Indian scientists and technologists took the challenge of “Made in India” Supercomputer. For this purpose a new institution was set up in 1988 by the name “Centre for Development of Advanced Computing” (C-DAC). The success came within two years; in 1990 first prototype of Indian Supercomputer was built. It was named ‘Param’ (Parallel Machine), the word ‘Param’ is Sanskrit in origin and it means ‘The Supreme’. The prototype was benchmarked at the 1990 Zurich Supercomputer Show. India became second after USA. In 1991 the first full-fledged Indian Supercomputer, ‘Param 8000’ was installed. It had a speed of 1 GigaFLOPS.

      Even before former PM Vajpayee tested the capacity of Nuclear bombs, the predecessor government under PM Indira Gandhi designed,produced and tested “Smiling Buddha” was the assigned code name of India’s first nuclear weapon explosion on 18 May 1974.

      The defence ministry released the Defence Procurement Policy of 2013 which had only been outlined earlier.The full policy contains unprecedented clauses and rules that add teeth to the MoD’s declared intention to promote indigenisation.

      An Indian-built Dhruv, or Advanced Light Helicopter,LCA are the other achievement already in our skies.

      The defence ministry released the Defence Procurement Policy of 2013 which had only been outlined earlier. The full policy contains unprecedented clauses and rules that add teeth to the MoD’s declared intention to promote indigenisation.

      PM Modi only talked about pseudo mythological based science and still allocated worth $ 15 billion defence contract to Isreal,French and USA to ‘Make in India’.

      For PM Modi it is time to walk the talk rather than wearing ‘made in London’ pinned suit addressing the intellectuals in science congress to present the stone age technology to put the nation backward.

      Buying and running the bullet train won’t be our national pride, unless we improve the ‘Skybus’ technology designed by Konkan Railways.

      Jai hind

    • “UPA government never felt that DRDO needs an efficient leader.” – SAYS Krishna!

      DRDO WAS A TOTAL WASTE ACCORDING TO KRISHNA.

      DR APJ ABDUL KALAM WAS MADE THE CHIEF OF DRDO BY UPA. ALL HIS ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXCELLENCE WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CONGRESS. OF COURSE, HE BLOSSOMED TO BECOME A BHARAT RATNA FOR NUCLEAR DETONATION AND LATER PRESIDENT OF INDIA, ALBEIT, FOR WRONG REASONS!

      HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM. FOR, RAJA RAMANNA DID IT IN 1974. BUT BJP GAVE THE CREDIT TO KALAM IN 1998 FOR NUCLEAR DETONATION AND BESTOWED BHARATA RATNA ON HIM. ALL FOR THE WRONG REASONS. FOR INDIRA GANDHI PRESIDED OVER FIRST NUCLEAR DETONATION AND NOT VAJPAYEE!

      KALAM WAS A MILITARY ROCKETRY MAN AND NOT A NUCLEAR SCIENTIST. HE BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA BY DEFAULT. FOR RSS WANTED TO MAKE A NON-HINDU TO BE ELECTED THE NEXT PRESIDENT, JUST TO PREEMPT THE BECOMING OF SONIA GANDHI, A NON-HINDU, THE PRIME MINISTER NEXT TIME; PLAYING ON THE POSSIBLE HINDU SENTIMENT THAT BOTH THE PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTERS SHOULD NOT BE NON-HINDUS, CONCURRENTLY! CONGRESS REJECTED P. C. ALEXANDER PROPOSED BY RSS.

      RSS REJECTED KRISHNAKANTH FOR HE WAS A HINDU AND RSS GAME PLAN NEEDED A NON-HINDU, AND NOT A HINDU! KRISHNA KANTH DIED OF MASSIVE HEART ATTACK JUST BECAUSE PRAMOD MAHAJAN TOLD HIM THAT HIS NAME WAS REJECTED BY THE RSS AS HE HAPPENED TO BE A HINDU.

      RSS MAKES SOME HINDUS AND BREAKS SOME OTHER HINDUS, ALL IN THE NAME OF HINDUISM!

  4. Dr. Manmohan Singh was India’s most incompetent Prime Minister who left the country, people and mainly the armed forces in a total state of neglect. Though, he has been perceived to be the honest man, the very fact that as the Prime Minister of the country, he kept his eyes closed and did nothing, speaks very poorly of him. Even his own community of Sikhs make jokes of him. He was the Godfather of all scams and irregularities and took orders from a person, who had no skills worth a name.

    Dr. Singh could not handle Pakistan and did not give any sense of direction to the armed forces and left them in a state of utter confusion. On the contrary, he sent choicest mangoes, sweets, etc. to the highly corrupt Prime Minister of Pakistan.

    Dr. Singh sat on the Prime Minister’s chair in order to enjoy the perks and privileges that go with that position and the free foreign trips he could make with his wife under official capacity, though he could not show any results. He is an utterly shameless and pathetic person.

    Mr. Narendra Modi may not be a perfect leader and he has his faults. However, when it comes to country’s security and the needs of the armed forces he is responsive. Further, in Nepal’s earthquake tragedy, he has acted very, very fast, before China and others could make an entry and take credit. In case of Dr. Singh, he would have done nothing, until he got the nod of his boss.

  5. Nelson, it is great to read your article. Comparing to Israel we lack Political will to bolster our Defenses, while our neighbors bolsters their Offenses. Hopefully under the leadership of Modiji we expect a positive change.

Comments are closed.