Congress promises all on defence front but did little over last decade ( Copy Right @ Times of India)

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From "continued and rapid" modernisation of the armed forces to a strong indigenous defence industrial base (DIB), from a national commission for ex-servicemen to credible deterrence and second-strike capability, Congress promised all on the military front in its manifesto released on Wednesday. 

"India's security preparedness will be based on a comprehensive security doctrine that combines conventional and strategic measures... The Congress pledges to make India's defence forces technology-enabled and equipped with modern weapons, aircraft, ships and delivery systems to repel any threat from land, sea or air," it said. 

Experts, however, were left unimpressed. "There were no systemic reforms either to build a strong DIB, genuinely integrate the Service headquarters with the defence ministry or reform the cumbersome arms procurement procedures over the last 10 years of UPA rule," said a senior Army officer. Yes, the almost 14-lakh strong armed forces did undergo modernisation, but in an extremely muddled manner with no clear long-term policy to systematically build military capabilities. 

Consequently, despite India becoming the world's largest arms importer, the armed forces still have huge operational shortages in fighter jets, submarines, howitzers, helicopters, night-fighting equipment, air defence weapons and the like. The manifesto said it was "imperative to encourage indigenous manufacturing in every way". But the UPA government precisely failed to do just that. Neither could it ensure DRDO and its 50 establishments, five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 39 ordnance factories delivered the goods, not was the private sector encouraged to jump into the defence production sector in a major way. While the combat edge against Pakistan has eroded to a certain extent, China has assiduously expanded its huge military advantage against India, both in the conventional as well as nuclear arenas. 

"The budgeted defence expenditure should be hiked to at least 2.5% of the GDP, instead of letting it remain below 2%, to ensure adequate modernization and requisite deterrence against both China and Pakistan," said another officer. Some even said the Congress was now proposing the national commission for ex-servicemen while its government had opposed it in court in 2011. The last decade, in fact, saw the civil-military divide widen, with one military chief dragging the government to court, another resigning, and ex-servicemen continuously attacking the government for disregarding their genuine demands. It was only recently, before the model code of conduct kicked in, that the government finally agreed to the long-demanded one-rank, one-pension principle.