Indian army looks strong only on paper, says Indian newspaper

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PakistanToday
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33
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To many Indians, their country’s strategic position looks alarming. Its two biggest neighbours are China and Pakistan. It has fought wars with both, and border issues still fester. Both are nuclear-armed, and are allies with one another to boot. China, a rising superpower with five times India’s GDP, is quietly encroaching on India’s traditional sphere of influence, tying a “string of pearls” of alliances around the subcontinent, The Economist reported.

When four heavily armed infiltrators attacked an Indian army base on September 18th, killing 18 soldiers before being shot dead themselves, jitters inevitably spread. The base nestles in mountains close to the “line of control”, as the border between the Indian and Pakistani-administered parts of the disputed territory of Kashmir is known. Indian officials reflexively blamed Pakistan; politicians and pundits vied in demanding a punchy response. “Every Pakistan post through which infiltration takes place should be reduced to rubble by artillery fire,” blustered a retired brigadier who now mans a think-tank in New Delhi, India’s capital.

Yet despite electoral promises to be tough on Pakistan, the Hindu-nationalist government of Narendra Modi has trodden as softly as its predecessors.

There are good reasons for this. India gains diplomatic stature by behaving more responsibly. It is keenly aware of the danger of nuclear escalation, and of the risks of brinkmanship to its economy. Indian intelligence agencies also understand that they face an unusual adversary in Pakistan: such is its political frailty that any Indian belligerence tends to strengthen exactly the elements in Pakistan’s power structure that are most inimical to India’s own interests.

But there is another, less obvious reason for reticence. India is not as strong militarily as the numbers might suggest. Puzzlingly, given how its international ambitions are growing along with its economy, and how alarming its strategic position looks, India has proved strangely unable to build serious military muscle.

India’s armed forces look good on paper. It fields the world’s second-biggest standing army, after China, with long fighting experience in a variety of terrains and situations. It has topped the list of global arms importers since 2010, sucking in a formidable array of top-of-the-line weaponry, including Russian warplanes, Israeli missiles, American transport aircraft and French submarines. State-owned Indian firms churn out some impressive gear, too, including fighter jets, cruise missiles and the 40,000-tonne aircraft-carrier under construction in a shipyard in Kochi, in the south of the country.

Yet there are serious chinks in India’s armour. Much of its weaponry is, in fact, outdated or ill maintained. “Our air defence is in a shocking state,” says Ajai Shukla, a commentator on military affairs. “What’s in place is mostly 1970s vintage, and it may take ten years to install the fancy new gear.” On paper, India’s air force is the world’s fourth largest, with around 2,000 aircraft in service. But an internal report seen in 2014 by IHS Jane’s, a defence publication, revealed that only 60% were typically fit to fly. A report earlier this year by a government accounting agency estimated that the “serviceability” of the 45 MiG 29K jets that are the pride of the Indian navy’s air arm ranged between 16% and 38%. They were intended to fly from the carrier currently under construction, which was ordered more than 15 years ago and was meant to have been launched in 2010. According to the government’s auditors the ship, after some 1,150 modifications, now looks unlikely to sail before 2023.

Such delays are far from unusual. India’s army, for instance, has been seeking a new standard assault rifle since 1982; torn between demands for local production and the temptation of fancy imports, and between doctrines calling for heavier firepower or more versatility, it has flip-flopped ever since. India’s air force has spent 16 years perusing fighter aircraft to replace ageing Soviet-era models. By demanding over-ambitious specifications, bargain prices, hard-to-meet local-content quotas and so on, it has left foreign manufacturers “banging heads against the wall”, in the words of one Indian military analyst. Four years ago France appeared to have clinched a deal to sell 126 of its Rafale fighters. The order has since been whittled to 36, but is at least about to be finalised.

India’s military is also scandal-prone. Corruption has been a problem in the past, and observers rightly wonder how guerrillas manage to penetrate heavily guarded bases repeatedly. Lately the Indian public has been treated to legal battles between generals over promotions, loud disputes over pay and orders for officers to lose weight. In July a military transport plane vanished into the Bay of Bengal with 29 people aboard; no trace of it has been found. In August an Australian newspaper leaked extensive technical details of India’s new French submarines.

The deeper problem with India’s military is structural. The three services are each reasonably competent, say security experts; the trouble is that they function as separate fiefdoms. “No service talks to the others, and the civilians in the Ministry of Defence don’t talk to them,” says Mr Shukla. Bizarrely, there are no military men inside the ministry at all. Like India’s other ministries, defence is run by rotating civil servants and political appointees more focused on ballot boxes than ballistics. “They seem to think a general practitioner can perform surgery,” says Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, who has worked as a consultant for the ministry. Despite their growing brawn, India’s armed forces still lack a brain.

Courtesy: The Economist

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33 COMMENTS

  1. War is not an option but what irks India is why Pakistan brings up Kashmir again and again? When Maharaja HARI SINGH signed & allocated Kashmir as Indian territory then why Pakistan is bringing up Kashmir as an issue?

    • Brother, today if your #PM #Modi sign India as Pakistani territory, what will you say? There is a thing called "people's will". I think, the suggestion should be taken from #Kashmiries not from #Pakistan or #India.

  2. If really Pakistan is militarily capable, they would have captured Kashmir. Mr. Raheel, can you confront with our army men to men without seeking the help of your neighbours. Your own answer is "NO". We captured Siache and Kargil, which was your territory. We captured it instead of POK.

  3. Dear Indians,

    You keep us reminding the war of 1971 and the west pakistan seperated from Pakistan which is now Bangladesh. Trust me all Pakistanis are happy to be seperated from Bangladesh and thank you very much for this Noble Cause. However, I want to again remind you Indians of 1965 War. How was that? Well we will repeat the history of 1965 war and make you all Indians beg for Mercy. Get your Sissy so called army men ready for a war. Your Indian men r just good at raping innocent women. Thats all your men can do RAPISTS. The game is on and we all Pakistanis are ready to get martyred for our motherland Pakistan. Let the history Repeat.

    • Dear

      You cannot play cricket in your own country. Osama was found in your country. First manage your Sissy and then look to others.

      Chale war ladne. Ja nathi to tere Osama chacha ke paas bhej denge….

    • Dear Laiq: You have been living on our mercy the day we going to put tap on Indus water. You all will crawl on your knees so don't test our patience repeatedly. Even you nuke won't help since we do too have nukes too..

    • Dear, why do you expect Indian army to respond for URI. It was never a direct attack in the first place. Pakistan used proxy, well expect much better reply in kind. Moreover remember the fact that whenever your military had involved directly Indian army didn't shy away. Just try and repeat the history of 1965, well can you ??? Your economy can neither support or sustain a war at the given point of time unlike 1965. Come to your senses mate. 😛

    • Dude!!!! just look into the situations every country has her own problems to cope up with: unemployment, infrastructure, education, food and right to live peacefully……. Do we really need to fight or just work towards our betterment???? Dont you have the same problems as we have!! lets work together rather than against…..I know u wont understand all this but atleast im making a sincere attempt!!
      Bless u

    • Living in the fools paradise. This is what Pakistani's was doing all these years. While the world progressed, Pakistani's are still living with a 7th century mindset. Let us all hope , that history does not repeat itself , or else Pakistani's will indeed end up getting martyred for a paradise, which never existed.

    • .Tum Jo atankiyo Ko Apne ghar me rakhte ho kasmiri logo Ko badhkate ho vo , uska kya let me clear you this where good people are more bad people like you also exist so I'm also saying that , #let history repeat itself # atankiyo

  4. Pakistan lives in a illusion and it is true to be so for them as they themselves are in bad shape and beggars can't be choosers , will always be losers. Rest assured this time India will wipe of Pakistan from the world map.

  5. Hey Pakistan Today, FYI The Economist is a London-based newspaper, not Indian – just in case you want to correct your misleading headline.
    Thanks !

  6. We will teach the CRIMINAL MODI’S Sissy Rapist Nation a Lesson this time like we did in 1965 War. Kashmir is Pakistan’s and we will take it back soon. Our each Fauji is equivalant to 20 so called sissy Jawans of Endia. The Indian media and analysts are so scared this time that they are reminding their army of outdated machineries and Incapabilities. Shame on you Rapists Endians.

  9. Despite the fact that Endia has a numeric upper hand, We, The Pakistanis. . . The Muslims . . . are not bothered. Our one soldier can destroy your many. . .. depends upon the power of his faith and the believe in Allah. Read the history. . . . a handful of Muslim armies destroyed opponents with much larger capabilities and numbers. This is the only difference between the Pakistani and the Endian forces. You keep working on your numerics . . . we will destroy all of it with our faith and belief … WhenTruth prevails everything else perishes. . Allah o Akbar

    • 'When truth prevails everything else perishes". Hope your comment becomes true one day and all you folks perish in the name of the unseen God.

  10. @Aftab your " faith and belief " lies in sending terrorists to our military base and killing soldiers, if really you believe in some god who is there head us face to face instead of back strapping. We are more than happy to show your real worth, however you people are worthless in the eyes of the World and think that you are sole owner of Islam..:)

    • Endians are most famous for back strapping whether in Politics or Business. You Endians have been doing this in Balochistan and with our political organization MQM by supporting a Terrorist Altaf Hussain. You Endians have also been involved in funding TTP in Pakistan and in most attacked areas the weapons have been found are Indian Made. So get your facts cleared Son and we Pakistan have always come face to face. Unlike you filthy Endians who back stapped us by separating Bangladesh from us. And after Kashmir, we will be supporting KHALISTAN. So better be ready blackie flithy criminal minded Rapist Nation of Endia.

  11. Actually people of both countries live in a fantasy world where they have the upper hand. Both have a won war against their names to their own satisfaction, but come on guys !!!!! Europe, learned after 2 wars that it is not a solution, but we don’t not seem to learn. None of us has won any war but the arms dealers have won both wars. Wake up and try to spend this hefty money on your people, their health, their education.

  12. Dear Pakis, Distruction is only thing what you know and thats what you are doing in your own country too. You are talking about numerical upper hand and all..actually we dont even compare ourselves with you guys cz its so silly to do so..you dont and cant even stay close to us in any field !! We are constructive people and believe in our Nation and we will keep rising and making progress with our constructive beliefs .

  13. Hello All. Be reasonable. No need of war hysteria. I live in Qatar and daily see how poor Pakistanis and Indians work hard just to earn their living. So before making claims of wiping others from the face of earth, think about poor masses. As a Pakistani I am happy to note that Pakistan has achieved a kind of balance of power and serious minded Indians know that. It is good for both countries. Come and sit together and solve the real problem of Kashmir.

  14. War will never solve the problem of both the country. Economy Will nose dive to rock bottom. The lowest nutritious and highest in number poor people will go where? What 7lac armed force of India are doing for last 24 years in Kashmir. Remember what American couldn’t in Afghanistan in last ten years. Pak Armed Forces did it in Fata. India Don’t think of misadventure???

  15. War will never solve the problem of both the countries. Economy Will nose dive to rock bottom. Where the lowest nutritious and highest in number poor people of India will go? What 7 lac armed force of India are doing for last 24 years in Kashmir? Remember what American couldn’t in Afghanistan in last ten years. Pak Armed Forces did it in Fata in 2 years. India!! Don’t think of misadventure???

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