DSA February 2010 by Defence and Security Alert

editor-in-chief

The power of a king lies in his mighty arms…

DSA is as much yours, as it is ours!

—Chanakya

campaign against certain General Officers of the Army is one of the more tragic episodes to have struck the only institution that makes us Indians proud. From the very nature of its naissance, to the manner in which it has been thrust down the throats of a largely ignorant nation, the Sukhna land matter is a campaign. Alas, unlike campaigns with a military purpose, this one seeks to destroy from within, rather than defeat on the battlefield. Because it is a campaign, and a deliberate one at that, some simple facts are conveniently glossed over, to serve the odious and iniquitous designs of the aggressors. It is a well-known fact that the land in question does not belong to the Army, never did, and never will. It adjoins a cantonment, and as with every military station, all construction activity within a certain distance of the perimeter is barred sans clearance from military authorities. This distance may vary depending on the nature of what is inside the cantonment. Such a rule was instituted given the sensitivity of certain cantonments. Clearances, therefore, are a matter of routine, all over the country. No conspiracy need be read in the process, or the implementation of the procedures. Where the conspiracy does exist, in fact, is in the nature of the campaign against the Army, as an institution, and certain General Officers, as individuals. The manner in which this routine matter has been extensively dissected by extraneous actors smacks of a hugely interested crusade. And one in which the credibility of the institution can be put at stake as long as the beneficiaries of the campaign

The

benefit in their little game. What else could possibly explain the disproportionate space, print and electronic, that has been made available to those participating in this campaign! The errors committed, if errors were committed in the first instance, hardly merit the hours and reams of news space spent on disparaging the functioning of the Army. A General Officer is well within his right to reverse the observation of his predecessor, just as Colonels do as a matter of routine once they take charge of a battalion. Wisdom did not simply reside with the predecessor. Each officer has his own quantum of it, and the authority to exercise it. Which then begs the question about the manner in which Army top brass has handled the entire episode? There is clearly something amiss within the hierarchy of the Army, for this campaign wouldn’t have seen so much space had there not been some within the institution making merry with facts. For facts have most obviously been played around with. All of this reflects very poorly on the brotherhood of officers, for some are obviously playing games at the cost of others’ integrity. It also reflects very poorly on the country where an institution that has always pulled the nation’s chestnuts out of the fire, and frequently at that, gets to be maligned in one short stroke. Venal politicians and bureaucrats are committing greater crimes, everyday, with little or nothing in terms of a crusade against them. And the silence imposed by the Army Act is taken as a license to smear the institution that sheds blood to ensure India celebrates Republic Day, every year.

publisher’s view

Vol 1 Issue 5

February 2010

chairman shyam sunder publisher & ceo pawan agrawal editor-in-chief manvendra singh sales & advertising shishir bhushan corporate consultant k j singh consultant yogesh srivastav art consultant divya gupta central saint martins college of art & design, university of arts, london international business (uk & europe) shrey agrawal manager corporate communications monika kanchan communications sweta sehgal correspondent rohit srivastava correspondent (europe) dominika cosic art & graphics vipin choudhary dilshad & dabeer photographers subhash, deepak circulation & distribution ranjeet, prakash, sandeep systems vikas e-mail: (first name)@dsalert.org info: info@dsalert.org articles: articles@dsalert.org subscription: subscription@dsalert.org advertisement: advt@dsalert.org editorial & business office 4/19 asaf ali road new delhi-110002, india t: +91-011-23243999, 23287999 f: +91-11-23259666 e: info@dsalert.org advt@dsalert.org subscription@dsalert.org www.dsalert.org

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let’s celebrate a real Republic Day

new responsibilities NEW CHALLENGES

WELCOME !

, one more Republic Day was celebrated by our country with the same pomp and show we all have been observing for the last so many years. The same way of march-past by our forces in their impressive uniforms, glittering dressed-up folk dancers and in the chilling winter morning the same students in their school uniforms performing drill exercises.Nothing new at all. Now the question is, are we really celebrating this National day of the State involving every Indian Citizen or we are just going through the motions of a Ritual? Are we aware of the importance of this Date - 26th January which made this country the most popular democratic State in the world? How many of us are aware that this day is celebrated in the memory of the day when the people of this country gave themselves a written Constitution and India became a democratic Republic?

DSA Welcomes New NSA ! Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary, after an illustrious diplomatic career has assumed new responsibilityasNationalSecurityAdvisorinthePrimeMinister’soffice.Hebringswithhimtheexperience and scholarship of three decades in different capacities as a diplomat. “It is a great responsibility and I will do my best,” Shivshankar Menon. WearesuretodaywhenIndiansecurityisbeingchallengedfromdifferentquartersacrosstheregion,hisexpertise as ambassador to our immediate neighbours, China and Pakistan will be of great help. Our heartiest congratulations and best wishes for an exciting and rewarding tenure.

Why are all the Government, private and public offices, schools and colleges closed on January 26th? Why this day is celebrated a day before in schools and colleges across the country? Is there any valid reason for it? Why can’t our Governments think to convert this ritual into a mandatory mass celebration where every Indian has some role to play and we really feel that we are a democratic Republic and our basic rights as citizens are secure as guaranteed by our Constitution? People wait for this day of rituals and just fly or drive out of their homes to enjoy the holidays. DSA is committed to disseminate wider awareness in the Indian society not only about defence and security but also on subjects which are equally important - that we have to inculcate the feeling of nationalism, patriotism and high morale among all Indians so that soon India leads the world. DSA is being welcomed and appreciated by discriminating readers in India and overseas. Team DSA is confident to bring you a better magazine which will gradually create awareness among our people. I welcome my new team members Mr. KJ Singh, Mr. Yogesh, Ms. Monika Kanchan and Mr. Rohit Srivastava who will be adding new dimensions and dynamism to take DSA to greater heights and make it the most regarded magazine in the defence and security arena. I also appreciate the efforts of our creative team, especially Mr. Vipin Choudhary’s imagination in concieving and developing a unique cover page for this issue. Kudos to our cartoonist Mr.Utsav for creating such fascinating and insightful cartoons and enlivening the ambience of the magazine. I am sure that our readers will be inspired by their ideas to think positively about the sacrifices and contributions of our great freedom fighters who got us our freedom and laid the foundation of democratic Republic of India.

DSA supports women’s empowerment Letika Saran has assumed the office of DGP of Tamil Nadu. She is the second woman IPS officer to head any state police organisation. Prior to this she was the first woman officer to become Police Commissioner of Chennai. She is 1976 batch IPS officer and took charge on 13 January, 2010. We are confident that she will set benchmarks as DGP as she has done in the past.

Dear reader in the coming months we have planned special editions focusing on important and most topical issues, and the March issue will be Afghanistan special. We look forward to your continued support and encouragement. As always your comments and views will be most welcome and highly appreciated. Stop Press

defence and security alert is printed, published and owned by pawan agrawal and printed at graphic world, 1686, kucha dakhini rai, darya ganj, new delhi-110002 and published at 4/19 asaf ali road, new delhi (india). editor: manvendra singh

It means that Shiv Sena is trying to compete with the Maoists and Jihadis in creating a feeling of insecurity among the citizens of India by advocating its Marathi Chauvinism forgetting that India has a Constitution, guaranteeing every citizen the right to live and work anywhere in India. And also forgetting that India has always believed in the concept of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam* since Vedic times. * Maha-Upnishad, Chapter-6, verse-72

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

content

ISSUE FEBRUARY 2010 TRANSMIGRATION

A R T I C L E S

36 February 2010

contents

Vol 1 Issue 5

INTERNAL SECURITY

India today: socio-economic solutions

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) V. R. Raghavan

Maj. Gen. (Retd.), Sheru Thapliyal, SM

cover story

YOUNG INDIA

policing with the don!

Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Afsir Karim

F E A T U R E S GALLANTRY AWARDS

maha vir chakra

GALLANTRY AWARDS 2010

know our heroes

13 23

SECURITY TIPS

THE VICINAGE

secure your online banking

30 64

REPUBLIC

POLICE AWARDS

national recognition NEWS

defence and security

Brig. (Retd.) Rahul Bhonsle

INSIGNIA

Indian navy

46 61 71 73

O T H E R S

JOKES CARTOON

for online edition of Defence And Security Alert (DSA)

log on to: www.dsalert.org 6

Vice Admiral (Retd.) Arun Kumar Singh

state of the nation: INDIA-2010 shining, struggling or surviving?

Ronen Chatterjee

MILITARY SYNERGY

G. Parthasarathy

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) O.P. Kaushik

security and development 64

Indo-Pak engagement: mind games? 18

Indo-Bangla accord: welcome ascent

Cas-India combo

INTERNAL SECURITY

NEIGHBOUR WATCH

joint services command

Rohit Srivastava

CENTRAL ASIA

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;71 WAR

saga of myths and reality

unwelcome immigrants: a security threat

February 2010 DEFENCE AND ND SEC EC CURIT U ITY ALE URITY ALERT AL RT

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info@dsalert.org Thanks for sending me the journal ‘Defence and Security Alert’. I find the articles by experts and specialists very educative and informative.

Kalim Bahadur Professor of South Asian Studies, (Retd.) Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi.

I found Defence And Security Alert an excellent publication with good material. Its informative.

Ved Marwah (IPS) Former Police Commissioner, Delhi New Delhi

The cover page conveys significance and seriousness about the matter, and other so many things about defence and security alert in life as title of the magazine says. Similar kind of cover pages will definitely make it a brand. The magazine contains the combination of old and new national issues. Really, now it’s high time for all of us to be aware about internal and external security of our country. I appreciate that one can create humour in such a serious matter. I like the lively graphics and photographs of the magazine. The magazine has vividness in many forms - content wise, page lay-out, design wise, beautiful and colourful photographs, fine quality paper, nice cartoons, and selection of font size according to contents. Actually it makes the magazine more cheerful. Although you have already given indoor and outdoor security tips in the magazine. It is my suggestion that you can also cover new burning topics like security and alertness in case of cyber crimes, health and hygiene, natural calamities, security in the office / home etc. Congratulations to the whole team for excellent contributions and thanks for giving such a marvellous magazine in our hands. Keep it up.

I am sure that the DSA would fill the blank to some extent. But more important is that the Alert sounded should really alert the policy and decision makers. Let us hope for the best. With warm compliments to you and your team for breaking the ice. Please keep it up.

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Amitabh Gupta Former D. G. Police, Rajasthan Jaipur

This is the third of the Defence And Security Alert in my hand. It has become a more impressive and thought provoking magazine. The contribution of articles by the distinguished Defence and Police Personnel with their rich and valuable expertise is praiseworthy. Your magazine has opened a new defence and security sector in Indian Journalism. The article “Counter Terror Payback Time” written by Lt. General (Retired) V.G. Patankar is very relevant, which gives the ideas and views regarding plan of counter terrorism. Mr. Jaideep Saikia has covered the other areas of counter insurgency in his article ‘counter insurgency managing ceasefires. Shri S. Banerjee, IPS has touched all the aspects and reasons behind the nepotism, favouritism and close nexus between politicians, powerful mafias, bureaucrats and police in flourishing the net of corruption in the Country.

Raj Kumar Gupta Advocate Supreme Court New Delhi

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

internal security

DISJOINTED PERCEPTIONS

India today: Socio-economic solutions While there is a large measure of foreign inspiration and instigation in the many insurgencies that afflict India there is no gainsaying the fact that socio-economic deprivation and marginalization are the cause of the most widespread manifestation of the “internal threat”. The governments at the Centre and the states are just beginning to realize the magnitude of the problem but their responses remain disjointed. Attempts at a military solution alone will only compound the problem in the long term.

he shift in Indian security focus from traditional military threats to internal security is a signiﬁcant change in recent years. India’s security focus since independence has been on external military threats. Its armed forces have been structured and equipped to meet trans-border military threats. The need for the traditional military apparatus still remains relevant to Indian security requirement. Nevertheless, the major security threat to India comes more from internal than from external sources. Internal security has become the dominant strategic discourse in policy circles.

Spotlight inward India has never been free from internal security challenges. The insurgencies in the north-east, ethnic and communal conflicts, the secessionist conflict in Jammu and Kashmir and conflicts related to demands for new states have been a regular, albeit sporadic feature of the Indian scene. These were, however, secondary to the real military threats from across the borders. The shift in focus from external to internal security requirements is of recent origin, even if its reality was in the making for a long time.

The emergence of internal security to primacy is not unique to India. Even after the end of the Cold War, the security emphasis remained strongly linked to external military threats. Military conflicts were a feature of the international scene, even if they were limited in scope and intensity. The wars against Iraq, other military engagements in the Middle East, the European conflicts in former Yugoslavia, in Chechnya, and recently between Russia and Georgia demonstrate that military conflicts confined to geographic boundaries will continue. However, the real insecurity to vast segments of populations now comes from conflicts the origins and resolutions of which rest in social, political and economic conditions. The terrorist attacks in New York and later in UK, Spain and in India, followed by the continuing attacks within Pakistan demonstrate the new strategic dimension of internal security. All these attacks are linked to real or imagined internal discontentment within national populations. Even as they are linked to a perception of injustices in some global communities, the attacks themselves have mostly manifested through indigenous populations. In other words they are internally conducted even if they are through external inspiration and assistance. India has been witness in the last decade to increasing numbers of terrorist attacks conducted through extensive internal participation and assistance.

Naxal-Maoist phenomenon The equally dangerous but more lasting manifestation of the internal dimension in India is the emergence in large swathes of Indian territory of disaffected population segments willing to take up arms against the state which is perceived as the oppressor of peoples. The

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

internal security DISJOINTED PERCEPTIONS incipient armed uprising can certainly be attained but it will be at the cost of a more lasting movement which would arise as a consequence.

remains the central provider of security in ideal circumstances. The approach does, however, take into account the reality of security as traditionally defined - the defence of territorial integrity by military What is required is a deeper understanding of means - not correlating with the critical the fundamental causes of the socio-economic dimensions of the security of the citizen. An uprisings rather than viewing its armed overemphasis upon statist security has been content as the essential problem. Addressing to the detriment of human security needs. the military symptom as the malady through Therefore, while traditional conceptions of a military response by the state will be selfthe state security are a necessary condition, defeating and also perpetuate the conflict they cannot be a sufficient one for human through permanently alienating substantial survival. segments of the population. The government The narrow definition of security also The risk of the purely internal disaffection and in Delhi plans to induct tens of thousands of presents a falsified image of the policy paramilitary forces in the conflict zones to disruption to governance and the externally process. The military is only one of crush the armed groups. That is undoubtedly inspired and funded terrorist threats coming the several interest groups, alongside a legitimate means to restore law and order together is a serious one. Its consequences environmental and social groups, competing can be serious to Indian economy and growth. in the affected states. However, post such for a larger share of the collective goods massive operations the paramilitary will The Indian economic growth pattern can being allotted by the government. Rational be withdrawn leading to two predictable be impacted upon by such a development. policymakers will allocate resources to security only so long as the Governments in the states and in The narrow definition of security marginal rate of return is greater for Delhi have recognized the damaging “security” than for other uses of the potential of this internal threat and also presents a falsified image of resources. new measures are being put into place the policy process. The military to meet the menace. The Ministry The citizens of states that are is only one of the several interest of Home Affairs in Delhi under its “secure” according to the abstract dynamic Minister has set into motion and remote concept of traditional groups, alongside environmental a series of measures to develop a long and social groups, competing for a security can be perilously insecure in terms of the threats to the lives of term action plan to cope with the larger share of the collective goods individual human beings in everyday threats. reality. A number of countries being allotted by the government in Asia are cases in point. The non-traditional security approach is a multiconsequences. First, it will be followed by The pattern of Indian government responses disciplinary and comprehensive approach the return of the same, which had caused the to the internal security scenario is indicative to critical welfare issues and questions uprising. Second, it will in its turn bring back of the recognition of the seriousness of the of survival. These issues become security the armed uprising in a more virulent form. situation. However, the responses are still concerns when they reach crisis point, by rooted in the traditional methodologies of threatening the stability and integrity of use of armed force and suppression of the society, and destabilize the State itself. The challenge for Delhi and the Indian militant groups. It is also affected by the The internal security dimension of states is one of developing a long term, inability or unwillingness of all affected to international terrorism is closely linked with least ten year long, concept of military at combine their responses into a cooperative the reality of communal and stability and socio-economic reconstitution endeavour. Indian states view the problem caste-based political management of of the affected areas and its population. more as a state-related rather than as a the Indian political scene. This needs to national one. Even more tragically the Centre The challenge is not made any easier by the change and is unlikely to happen soon. governments in different states adhering and the states involved continue to view the Nevertheless, a policy which includes a multi to different internal security priorities and threat in a law and order perspective, even tiered strategy of empowerment of affected political agendas on ways to deal with the as the problem is more a socio-economic population elements will be necessary to problem. The best solution will be for phenomena. meet the threats. This will be best obtained the states and the Centre to create a joint by developing an alternate national narrative The Naxal-Maoist movement in India is a security and developmental mechanism in based on a pan-Indian identity which product of long neglect, marginalization and the affected areas. includes but subsumes narrow communal, even deprivation of population segments Such a mechanism can be backed by language and sectarian identities. Every in remote but natural resource rich areas. parliamentary and legislative measures and Indian today is proud of India’s growing These societies have had traditional rights supported by a financial outlay shared by the global stature. Yet many Indians still find to land and its produce enshrined through Centre and the states. States will continue greater comfort in the emotional ghettoes Constitutional provisions. These rights have to retain their rights and authority in such of parochial groups. There is a greater than been denied and large population segments areas but these will be subordinated to the ever responsibility on all of us, and no less left at the mercy of exploitative commercial security and developmental mechanism. on the governments, to nurture the Indian This will ensure continuity of security and elements. The extraordinarily large amounts narrative of security instead of an internal economic policies and a lasting solution of money misappropriated by political security alone. to marginalization and deprivation of leaders in a small and otherwise poor state *See Delhi Policy Group publications: indigenous peoples of the area. like Jharkhand are indicative both of the Verghese and Comsec. economic potential and of its deprivation to the populace. The problem, as indicated The writer is Director, Delhi Policy Group and by scholars and numerous studies, is clearly A non-traditional security approach is President, Centre for Security Analysis, Chennai. one of social exclusion and economic not necessarily in opposition to state deprivation*. A military suppression of the sovereignty and national security; the state

Naxal and Maoist armed uprising in large and connected parts of more than one state is part of this new internal security threat to the well being and unity of the Indian State and its citizens. The threat is serious enough to be termed by the Indian Prime Minister as the most serious security threat India is facing. The reality of half a dozen Indian states being affected by this challenge to authority, the police being attacked regularly, and train and road communication being affected over long periods has now been recognized as one requiring serious correction.

Disjointed perceptions

Joint security mechanism

gallantry awards MAHA VIR CHAKRA - NAVY The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) established on 26th January, 1950 is the second highest Indian military decoration and is awarded for acts of extra ordinary gallantry and bravery in war on land, at sea or in the air. The medal is circular and is made of standard silver. Embossed on the obverse is a five pointed heraldic star with circular center-piece bearing the gilded State emblem in the center. The words “Maha Vira Chakra” are embossed in Devanagari and English on the reverse with two lotus flowers in the middle.

Lt. Arvind Singh was Officer-in-Charge of Indian Marine Special (MARCOS) team which along with 10 Para Commandos was given certain specific tasks as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force operation in Sri Lanka. Lt. Singh, leading a team, broke out from Jaffna Fort at 1430 hours on 19 Oct 1987. During this operation, the team had to negotiate a heavily mined road with booby traps laid by militants. The team was under militant’s fire from buildings and roof-tops. Lt. Singh by his personal example of bravery motivated his men to secure the area which resulted in link up of 41 Brigade with 1 Maratha Light Infantry on 20 Oct 1987. On the night of 21 Oct 1987, the team under his leadership was tasked to destroy Guru Nagar Jetty and the militant speed boats in the Jaffna Lagoon. The team successfully placed and detonated explosive charges and extensively damaged the Jetty and destroyed six militant speed boats. In order to destroy the remaining militant speed boats, the team reached its destination by swimming over a mile under water and successfully planted demolition charges in 11 speed boats, kept ready for the escape of hard-core militants. Before the charges could be exploded the team came under heavy firing from the militants. Lt. Arvind Singh once again took charge of the situation effectively and provided a diversion by exposing himself to militants’ fire without any regard for his personal safety. This act inspired his men who accomplished the task of destroying all the speed boats. Lt. Arvind Singh thus displayed exceptional devotion to duty and gallantry in the highest traditions of the Indian Navy. The officer is now serving in the rank of a Commodore.

Te a m salutes the Officer!

State vs human security

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

Source: PRO, Indian Navy February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

’71 war ENDURING MYSTERIES

saga of myths and

he lightning campaign launched by the Indian Army in December 1971 which resulted in the birth of a new nation – Bangladesh is surely the greatest feat of arms in our history. As happens in any war, many issues become controversial with differing perceptions and opinions. The ’71 war was no exception. It has its fair share of issues which have retained their mystery over the years. With most of the participants dead, these mysteries will perhaps continue to remain so.

Did Sam actually tell Mrs. Gandhi what he claimed? Sam is universally credited for withstanding pressure from Mrs. Gandhi and her cabinet colleagues to march into Bangladesh in April ’71 itself. In an interview to Quarter Deck, a publication of “The Ex-Servicemen’s Affairs Cell” of the Indian Navy in 1996. Sam recounts

verbatim, what transpired at the cabinet meeting. Gen. Jacob, who was Chief of Staff, Eastern Command in ’71 puts it differently. In his book “Surrender at Dacca – Birth of a Nation” he claims that in April ’71 Sam rang him up and said Eastern Command needs to march into East Pakistan immediately which Gen. Jacob refused to do. Gen. Jacob, however gives credit to Sam for standing up to Mrs. Gandhi and not marching into East Pakistan in April ’71. Impression conveyed is that Sam was initially keen to march into East Pakistan in April as directed by the government but later was put wise by Gen. Jacob of the disastrous consequences such an action will have and then changed his stance in the famous cabinet meeting. Gen. Jacob also claims that knowing Mrs. Gandhi nobody dare to talk to her in the manner Sam describes in his interview to Quarter Deck. As to why Sam would

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

by-pass the chain of command and tell Gen. Jacob, who was Chief of Staff that Eastern Command should march into East Pakistan and not speak to Lt. Gen. Jaggi Aurora, the Army Commander is a little far fetched.

Was Dacca* the terminal objective at any stage of the War? Gen. Jacob, in his book claims that he always maintained that Dacca, being the geopolitical and geostrategic heart of East Pakistan must be the terminal objective of the Indian offensive while Sam felt that by capturing the entry ports of Chittagong and Khulna, Dacca would automatically fall. Army HQ Operation Instruction for ’71 war in the East issued in Aug ’71 did not mention Dacca as the terminal objective. In this context what late Lt. Gen. Inder Gill, then Director Military

REALIT Y All military anthologies have an element of self-aggrandisement and are intended to serve the self-interest of the author. All books on the Indo-Pak war of 1971 by the principal actors in higher echelons of military command suffer from this affliction in varying degrees. It is, therefore, not surprising that what is myth to one is reality for the other. February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

’71 war ENDURING MYSTERIES Operations, has to say may be relevant.

without informing Sam?

“Operational Instruction given to Eastern Command speciﬁed areas upto main river lines. Dacca was not included as an objective. This was because it was considered at the time planning was done that Eastern Command would not have the capability of capturing the whole of East Pakistan before a Ceaseﬁre was forced on us”. It is to the great credit of Indian Army leadership that once Pakistani defences started crumbling, they were able to quickly switch gears and head for Dacca with dash and elan.

The government permits the Army Chief to move a certain number of divisions from one theatre to another in a war situation without reference to the government, Gen. Jacob in his book “Surrender at Dacca” has mentioned that between him and Maj. Gen. (later Lt. Gen.) Inder Gill, the Director Military Operations, they ordered move of three brigades from the Chinese front to East Pakistan front without even informing Sam. It appears rather far-fetched that Army Chief can be kept in dark about move of three brigades. The only other person who could verify this was late Lt. Gen. Inder Gill who is no more. So this intriguing aspect would also remain a mystery forever.

Did Mrs. Gandhi really tell the Border Security Force to march into East Pakistan in April ’71 after Army indicated its unwillingness to do so? Gen. Jacob, in his book “Surrender at Dacca” recounts an interesting tale. According to him, sometimes in April ’71, Mr. K. Rustomji, then Director General Border Security Force came to meet him. Mr. Rustomji told Gen. Jacob that since Army was reluctant to move into East Pakistan, government had ordered Border Security Force to do it. Mr. Rustomji said he would be able to do it in two to three weeks and wanted Gen. Jacob to keep an Army contingent ready for the victory parade. This sounds incredible. In the event the paramilitary force’s plans of a victorious march into East Pakistan were doomed to failure. Since apart from Gen. Jacob, all other participants are no longer alive, it shall remain a mystery.

Did Sam really decline to be part of Indian delegation to Shimla? It is a matter of conjecture whether deliberations at Shimla would have taken a different turn had Sam been a part of the delegation

Why was Northern Axis from Shillong to Dacca not exploited? As would be seen from the following map, the shortest axis to Dacca is the Northern Axis from Shillong to Dacca. The biggest advantage of this axis is the fact that no river crossing was involved while in all the three axes, a major river crossing was involved. It is indeed a mystery that allocation of forces to the Northern Axis was just HQ 101 Communication Zone Area with one brigade. In the event they had the last laugh since they were the first to reach Dacca!

Did Gen. Jacob and Gen. Inder Gill really move three brigades from China front to Eastern Front 16

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

Did Sam really decline to be part of Indian delegation to Shimla? A story does the round from time to time that Mrs. Gandhi wanted Sam to be a part of Indian delegation for Shimla conference in June 1972. Sam felt that an Army Chief

was too high an appointment for such a delegation. He accordingly earmarked a Lt. Col. from Military Operations Directorate as a member of delegation which was turned down by the government. It is a matter of conjecture whether deliberations at Shimla would have taken a different turn had Sam been a part of the delegation. One thing is sure. He would not have agreed to return all captured territory and all prisoners without getting something substantial in return – perhaps solution of Jammu and Kashmir problem. Alas we would never know.

Why was the Line of Control not delineated North of Pt. NJ 9842 after ’71 War? The 1949 Karachi Agreement between India and Pakistan mentioned the delineation of the Ceaseﬁre Line upto map reference NJ 9842. Thereafter the Ceaseﬁre Line was to run Northward to Glaciers. This was vague enough but was accepted by both India and Pakistan because no one could visualize any armed

Did Sam actually tell Mrs. Gandhi what he claimed (that April 1971 was not the right time to attack the then East Pakistan)? Gen. Jacob, who was Chief of Staff, claims that in April ’71 Sam rang him up and said Eastern Command needs to march into East Pakistan immediately which Gen. Jacob refused to do. Impression conveyed is that Sam was initially keen to march into East Pakistan in April as directed by the government

conflict in this high altitude wilderness. However not to mention specifically the alignment of Ceasefire Line / Line of Control right till the India-Tibet border is an act of omission which has cost us dear. “A simple fact remains that commanders of both sides did a disservice to their nations because map point NJ 9842 was not identified on ground and LC not delineated North of it both in 1949 and 1972”- Pravin Sawhney, The Defence Makeover. Pakistan launched cartographic warfare after ’71 war and showed the Line of Control joining Point NJ 9842 to Karakoram Pass. Soon many world Atlases started showing this line on their maps. We had not shown any line on our maps and it is only after our occupation of Siachen Glacier that we started showing a line from Point NJ 9842 to Indira Col and calling it the Actual Ground Position Line to distinguish it from the Line of Control. Since all ‘dramatis personae’ are no longer alive, the reason for this costly mistake will forever remain wrapped in mystery. And finally the mother of all mysteries. Why did Gen. Jaggi Aurora, the Eastern Army Commander abdicate his operational responsibility and allow Gen. Jacob, his Chief of Staff to not only plan but also conduct operations in East Pakistan? *Dacca: Now known as Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh. The writer is working for a multinational information technology company after his retirement. He is PhD in Sino-Indian Relations and contributes regularly to magazines, periodicals and newspapers on Strategy, Security and Defence related issues.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

neighbour watch ABSENCE OF REALISM

Indo Pak Engagement: Mind Games?

Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence appears to be working better than ours. They have managed to circumvent our nuclear capabilities by using deeply indoctrinated jihadi terrorists as their first military echelon. Currently the jihadis have turned against the State of Pakistan. So let us just let it stew in its own juice. Any military action by us will only help to coalesce jihadi support for the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence. That is why attempts are being made to provoke India by firing across the border and trying to increase infiltration across the Line of Control.

he persistent intelligence reports that Al-Qaeda-Lashkar-e-Toiba combine are planning Mumbai-like attacks on sensitive Indian targets have created alarm and the talk of a military confrontation between India and Pakistan has been revived. The statement of the US Defence Secretary, Dr. Robert Gates that LeT wants to destabilize the entire South Asian region and aims to provoke a war between India and Pakistan has conﬁrmed India’s own assessment of threats posed to India and the region by Pakistan-based terrorist groups. It is necessary to examine the nature of terrorist threat from Pakistan and India’s options for dealing with it in the present environment. First, we brieﬂy look at the concept and possible consequences of the most frequently discussed and oft-suggested option of a limited war to bring Pakistan to heel, and then examine other possible alternatives to limit Pakistan’s capability of continuing proxy war and terrorist attacks against India. The concept and the conduct of a war with a limited scope against Pakistan has often been under discussion in the various circles recently but most Indian military thinkers mainly focus on attaining limited tactical objectives that according to them would not provoke Pakistan to use nuclear

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

neighbour watch ABSENCE OF REALISM weapons against India. The after-effects of the so called limited war and unforeseen consequences that may follow have seldom been discussed in detail. The civilian thinking on this kind of war has never been spelled out clearly, although the national leadership must lay down the objectives of war against Pakistan including the national objectives in a limited war. The aim and timing, overall strategy, scope and conditions of termination of a limited war must be decided by the national leadership and not by military brass that tends to lay emphasis on operational imperatives in terms of success on the battleﬁeld, victory and glory.

Indo-Pak conflicts It should be noted that all wars fought by India and Pakistan so far have been basically limited in scope, but as the scope was never quite clearly defined they resulted in stalemates, except in 1971 when clear-cut political objectives were laid down by the government of the day which allowed the military to adopt suitable tactics to select and achieve military and national objectives. The limiting factors during these wars, however, were quite different and not related to nuclear scenarios as they are now. The idea of limited war was first mooted in the California Institute of Technology in 1948 once the nuclear weapons were acquired by the Soviet Union. Later the concept of limited war was developed further by writers like Robert Osgood and Morton Halperin. It was predicated on the premise that war must remain below the nuclear level as a nuclear war will lead

to unacceptable destruction of both the adversaries, restraint on means rather than ends which was central to the notion of ‘limited war’ was advocated during the cold war era. Some writers maintained that aim should be to bring the adversary to the negotiation table as soon as the limited objectives have been achieved.

Untested theories All these theories were never really tried out since the danger of a nuclear war prevented any kind of hot war between America and Russia; arguments in the theories of limited war in that era generally pertained to an all-out war designed to keep it below the nuclear threshold and not to a ‘limited war’ designed to inhibit use of nuclear weapons by the adversary. In our case the so-called limited war will come to a screeching halt once it seems imminent that Pakistan is likely to resort to the use of nuclear weapons. A band of military writers who have advocated the idea of a limited military confrontation with Pakistan have mostly used American or NATO terminology, bending and reshaping it. The modiﬁed terms have obscured the original concept and perhaps generally led to under-estimating the enemy capability to counter our offensive. The political and economic consequences that would inevitably follow the so-called limited war against Pakistan and the way it will affect our international standing have been generally glossed over by enthusiasts of limited war. The bitter lessons learnt by the Americans in Iraq or nearer home by President Musharraf

in Kargil have not been given due attention by the ardent advocates of limited war against Pakistan. Most writers have not fully analysed Pakistan’s conventional and sub-conventional capabilities that could stop Indian forces short of their military objectives, and thereby deny India achieving its political and military objectives in a time-bound programme. The argument in favour of waging a limited war under the nuclear umbrella has been generally in the context of continued terrorist attacks on Indian targets from Pakistan.

Absence of realism The objectives and the chances of success of a limited war against Pakistan that have been enunciated by various writers of military background may be summarized as under: s 4HE TREMENDOUS POLITICAL ECONOMIC costs, and the large scale human suffering would prevent use of nuclear weapons by India or Pakistan hence there exists a space to achieve national objectives through a limited war. s )NDIA WILL BE AWARE OF THE LIMITS TO WHICH Pakistan should be pushed in a limited war and therefore can plan a successful campaign under the nuclear umbrella. s /UR AIMS CAN BE WELL ACHIEVED THROUGH restrictive use of force in the form of reprisal that will compel Pakistan to stop terrorist attacks on Indian targets. s 4HE BATTLElELD WILL BE CONlNED TO A LOCAL geographical area that will not pose an existential threat to Pakistan hence Pakistan would have no reason to risk a nuclear

Most Indian military thinkers mainly focus on attaining limited tactical objectives that according to them would not provoke Pakistan to use nuclear weapons against India. The after-effects of the so called limited war and unforeseen consequences that may follow have been seldom discussed in detail. In our case the so called limited war will come to a screeching halt once it seems imminent that Pakistan is likely to resort to the use of nuclear weapons war especially as its economic, social and political patterns of existence will not be threatened. A restricted military operation without destroying the enemy vital areas or military capabilities is the best option open to teach Pakistan a lesson. s "ASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF +ARGIL WAR these advocates believe that India could ﬁght such a war and win it. s ! LIMITED WAR WOULD INCREASE THE COST OF supporting militancy by Pakistan beyond acceptable limits besides sending signals to militant groups operating out of Pakistan that they would not go unpunished. Indian security analysts, in particular former military ofﬁcers, have generally talked of limited wars in terms of rapid manoeuvres to capture selected parts of Pakistani territory for use as a bargaining counter; their analysis is mainly focused on cold start and aggressive employment of pivot corps, integrated battle groups, air and naval forces.

Between the lines A rather frivolous reaction by a senior Pakistani Air Force ofﬁcer is produced below. His observations point out Pakistan’s military assets that would stop our offensive in its tracks. These observations may be taken with a big pinch of salt but should be noted nevertheless. These are produced below partly paraphrased. ‘The new Indian strategy calls for rapid movement across Pakistani rivers, and have a “chota peg” in Lahore Gymkhana, before the Pakistanis can say “Allah Ho Akbar”. Superhuman Indians believe that by a rapid offensive: s 4HEY WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE ACROSS HEAVILY mined terrain under the watchful eye of more than 200,000 soldiers and satellites without detection or resistance. s .EITHER 0AKISTAN RADARS NOR THE !7!#S (The Pakistani hawks in the sky: Y-89 AWACS) nor the half a million eyeballs will be able to see them as they waltz across the border. s $URING THE HOURS THAT IT TAKES TO MOBILIZE

the Indian Army, the Pakistanis will be asleep, and will not get disturbed by the noise and movement of entire tank divisions across the border (Pakistani made UAVs are: Uqaab and Jasoos). s &OR HOURS 0AKISTAN WILL NOT lRE A single Hatf and Shaheen missiles at the advancing enemy (Pakistani defence is based on missile nuclear deterrent: Hatf, Shaheen, Ghauri, Babar and Abdali which are far more advanced then previously believed). s !CCORDING TO THIS COCK AND BULL THEORY as the Indians advance, the Pakistani Air Force, made up of up F-16s, Mirages, and JF-17 Thunders will not strike at the slow moving tanks and artillery (PAF: Nuclear armed deterrent to hegemony). s !CCORDING TO THE ;)NDIAN= DOCTRINE THE Rapid Force will be able to “pulverize” the Pakistanis, and “evaporate” the Pakistani tank divisions like clouds (Pakistan’s 500 Al-Khalid tanks have been in production since 2001. Next generation tanks exported via IDEAS). s 4HE TANKS AND ARTILLERY WILL SIMPLY disappear into thin air allowing the advancing Rapid Thrust Force to get to the Gymkhanas and have “chota pegs”.

All-out war The above Pakistani hyperbole notwithstanding, the question is whether there is sufﬁcient time and space for India to wage a limited war against Pakistan in which it would occupy a large slice of Pakistani non-vital areas and yet cripple Pakistan military machine to an extent that not only will Pakistan sue for negotiations but agree to all our conditions. In my view such an outcome in a limited war is not possible, such an outcome is only possible if Pakistan is engaged and defeated comprehensively in an all-out war. This kind of war, however, can be ruled out due to the availability of nuclear weapons to both the countries. The question is will a conventional war, whether limited or with no holds barred force Pakistan to stop proxy war and terrorist attacks against India and sue for

neighbour watch ABSENCE OF REALISM

gallantry awards 2010 gallantry ll awards d

HEROES ASHOK CHAKRA

lasting peace. A limited war according to its advocates would punish Pakistan for heinous crimes it has committed against our country; but punitive action will only have a short-term impact on Pakistan and leave its capability to carry on proxy war and terrorism against us intact. A limited war by India on the other hand may help Pakistan unite all the jihadist and nonjihadist factions against us, a situation Pakistan cannot hope to create on its own in the present circumstances. The Indian mobilization in 2001 named Operation Parakram was a direct threat of a war intended to signal to Pakistan that India will certainly go to war if terror attacks continue. The message to Pakistan to dismantle the terrorist outﬁts operating from its territory and stop terrorist attacks went unheeded. Pakistan was not deterred and terrorist attacks continued; the threat of a war breaking out between two nuclear armed countries bothered the international community more than Pakistan.

Kargil failure If Kargil war by Pakistan is taken as an example of a limited war below the nuclear threshold, it obviously failed to achieve both its military and political objectives. In response India achieved its immediate objective of forcing the enemy out of Kargil heights but no more. India gained only a limited tactical victory and the strategic stalemate continued. A conventional war even when limited in time and space will impose severe economic costs on us and will fail to deter Pakistan as discussed in the foregoing paragraphs. It would therefore be better to take recourse to non-conventional methods of warfare to deal with Pakistani belligerence. Imaginative thinking, innovative methods, highly specialized troops, equipment and training will be required

to wage a prolonged non-conventional war to accomplish our aims. An assault on the economic, socio-cultural and political structure of the adversary while weakening its military capability should form an intrinsic part of our long-term strategy.

Target terrorists In the present circumstances instead of using conventional methods the immediate focus should be on targeting centres of gravity of Pakistan’s terrorist set up through political and multifaceted action plans. Our ﬁrst assault should be on the terrorist organizations and their supporting infrastructure in Pakistan or other countries with a view to cripple their offensive capability. Selective elimination of terrorist and fundamentalist groups and their leaders, attacks to destroy terrorist hideouts and bases, besides degrading their political base will form part of this war. To achieve our objectives we will require innovative methods, highly specialized quasi-military forces, specially equipped and trained to accomplish these tasks. In this kind of war air, land and sea power will not play a major role as unconventional methods and asymmetrical strategies will be used to destroy institutional support of terrorism from within.

Covert operations A quasi-military force should be trained to develop covert capabilities for harassing, disrupting and destroying the logistic support facilities of the terrorist groups operating from Pakistan. This force could operate in small mission-oriented groups equipped with high technology weapons to destroy material and human assets of terrorist groups operating from Pakistan and PoK. The aim would be to cause inordinately large number of casualties among the terrorist groups to demoralize them, disrupt

their logistic support systems and means of communication. Sophisticated technology can radically alter the concepts and pattern of operations against terrorist organizations operating from Pakistan. Robotics, remotely piloted vehicles and artificial intelligence can radically change the ways of tackling jihadi terrorists operating out of Pakistan. Directed energy may permit small elements to destroy multiple fleeting targets. Remote, “smart” assets with preprogrammed artificial intelligence can greatly assist in locating and destroying terrorist groups.

1 The Ashok Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for the “most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice” other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel and may be awarded posthumously.

Psychological warfare Well planned psychological operations can play a decisive role in destroying terrorist support bases within our own country rather than conventional methods. A special organisation should be raised, trained and equipped for psychological operations for degrading socio-political bases of fundamentalist organizations supporting militancy and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Conventional forces have generally been rendered obsolete or ineffective against shadowy terrorist groups. There is requirement of comprehensive study to understand the future patterns of terrorism and organising suitable forces and systems to defeat terrorism. We cannot depend on quickfix solutions like a limited war to ensure long-term security and integrity of our country. y The writer is a well known retired Indian Army general and a military scholar who has authored several books on strategic affairs & military studies. He is a graduate of the Defense Services Staff College, Wellington and the National Defence College.

The medal is circular gold gilt, 1-3/8 inches in diameter. In the center, the chakra (wheel) of Ashoka, surrounded by a lotus wreath and with an ornate edge. Suspended by a straight bar suspender. The medal is named on the edge.

This year ASHOK CHAKRA was awarded to the following:

1. M MAJOR R MOHIT SHARMA A (POSTHUMOUS) 2. HAVILDAR R RAJESH KUMAR R (POSTHUMOUS) 3. MAJOR M R D SREERAM KUMAR 3 February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

gallantry awards 2010 KIRTI CHAKRA

NATIONAL BRAVERY AWARDS FOR CHILDREN – 2009

The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacriﬁce away from the ﬁeld of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. The medal is circular silver, 1-3/8 inches in diameter. In the centre, the chakra (wheel) of Ashoka, surrounded by a lotus wreath and with an ornate edge. Suspended by a straight bar suspender. The medal is named on the edge.

This year KIRTI CHAKRA was awarded to the following:

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh gave away National Bravery Awards for 2009 to twenty one children on January 21, 2010. These children - 8 girls and 13 boys - have been selected by a high powered committee in recognition of their outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service. Two Awards were given posthumously.

Bharat Award 13 year old Master Gaurav Singh Saini, Haryana Sanjay Chopra Award 11 year Master Karan Nishad, Uttar Pradesh Geeta Chopra Award 10 year old Km. Maibam Prity Devi Manipur Bapu Gaidhani Award Late Km. Ranu Mishra 10 years, Uttar Pradesh Master Vijith V. 16 years, Kerala

MAJOR SURESH SURI (POSTHUMOUS)

Master Narendrasinh Natvarsinh Solanki 17 ½ years, Gujarat

MAJOR PUSHPENDER SINGH

Other Awardees Along with courageous acts there are instances of bold decisions and revolts against prevailing social-evil. The three girl

SHAURYA CHAKRA

childs from West Bengal -- Km. Rekha Kalindi (11 years), Km. Sunita Mahato (11 years 4 months) and Km. Afsana Khatun (12 years 5 months) refused to get married at early age and wanted to continue their studies. Ultimately, parents of these

The Shaurya Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacriﬁce while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, sometimes posthumously. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Vir Chakra. It is generally awarded for Counter-Insurgency operations and actions against the enemy during peace-time. This is circular bronze, 1-3/8 inches in diameter. In the centre, the chakra (wheel) of Ashoka, surrounded by a lotus wreath and with an ornate edge. Suspended by a straight bar suspender. The medal is named on the edge.

brave hearts gave in and the girls were allowed to continue their studies. The other recipients are: Master Uddesh R. Ramnathkar (Goa), Master Dijekshon Syiem, Km. Thoi Thoi Khumanthem (Manipur), Master Zonunsanga, Master Lalrammawia (both from Mizoram), Master Sujith R., Master Amal Antony, Km. Krishnapriya K., Master Sujith Kumar P.(all from Kerala), Late Master Dijekshon Syiem (Meghalaya), Km. Vaishaliben Sambhubhai Solanki (Gujarat) and Master Yogesh Kumar Jangid (Rajasthan).

Source: Press Information Bureau

This year SHAURYA CHAKRA was awarded to the following: MAJOR AKASH SINGH MAJOR JUGMAL SINGH VAGHELA CAPTAIN TUSHAR DHASMANA LIEUTENANT SATBIR SINGH COLONEL SANJAY KAUSHIK RIFLEMAN SURAJ PRAKASH PETTYY OFFICER R CHANDRASHEKAR

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

F br Fe bru ruary uar u ary y2 20 2010 01 0 10 0 DEFE EN NCE AND NC ND SE SEC CU UR RIIT ITY Y AL ALERT ALE T

military synergy TURF WARS

joint services

command

The Government of India has been waiting for the evolution of national consensus among political parties to take a decision on the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff. While learned suggestions are emerging from among personnel of the three Services their inability to rise above turf wars and inter-se seniority has had deleterious effect which may not be washed away by Government diktat.

t is a well known fact that some 66 nations (including USA, Russia, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) have a Chief of Defence Staff system in some form or the other. It is obvious that synergy is essential for not only successful warﬁghting but also for reasons of common sense. Inter-Service rivalry in most countries has meant that the Government had to take a “top down” decision by simply imposing a Chief of Defence Staff system. The American government introduced this system some six decades ago, and sacked the then Chief of Naval Operations for not falling in line. The Australian Government introduced a similar system 15 years ago. In India of course, inter-Service rivalry and turf wars, along with the misperception of the political leadership (fuelled by the bureaucracy), have resulted in no decision being taken.

Andaman experiment A couple of tri-Service Commands (the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command) have been created and a couple of “joint doctrines” have been promulgated, to pay lip service to jointness. Having served as DirectorGeneral Indian Coast Guard, Commanderin-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar and Flag Ofﬁcer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, it is my opinion that we have a long way to go, and this process should be an evolutionary and gradual one, rather than “revolutionary” and needs to be tailored to our environment. I have had occasion to visit the USA,

Russia, China, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to name a few, where I have seen this process working in a mature manner. I have had the good fortune to discuss this model, with some of the serving and retired Chiefs of Defence Staff and invariably the answer was that its initial implementation was opposed by the Services, but was implemented by a “top down” Government order. The process, once started, did have initial teething problems, and took a decade or two to mature, but ﬁnally, was in the national interest. My personal assessment is that while we all vigorously support jointmanship publicly, the Indian Air Force has reservations about the concept of Chief of Defence Staff. Similarly, the still growing Indian Coast Guard, a para-military force under the Ministry of Defence, and a part of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, has reservations about any form of integration. The 7000 strong Indian Coast Guard, fears being swamped by the much larger three Services, as also worry that as a paramilitary force they can never aspire to a Joint Services Command (the US Coast Guard, though recognised as one of the ﬁve Armed Forces in the USA, cannot command any joint Services institution or task force).

“Top down” enforcement The sum of my experiences in India and abroad has convinced me that the time has now come for the Indian Government to take the bull by the horns, and implement

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

military synergy TURF WARS the creation of Chief of Defence Staff in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;top downâ&#x20AC;? approach, in two distinct, time bound phases. Phase 1: Create a four-star Chief of Defence Staff (in rotation), by 2012. The incumbent will be the single point of advice to the Government for nuclear weapons cum delivery systems, and Out of Area Contingencies. He will head the present Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters, and have the following under his direct Command, along with a seperate budget for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Capital and Maintenanceâ&#x20AC;?. s4HE EXISTING !NDAMAN AND .ICOBAR Command and Special Forces Command. s4HE LIKELY FUTURISTIC #OMMANDS VIZ !ERO Space Command and Special Forces Command. s!LL TRI 3ERVICE )NSTITUTIONS VIZ .ATIONAL Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College, College of Defence Management, National Defence College. Phase 2: By 2015, the Government should consider the following: s2ETAIN THE NEWLY CREATED #HIEF OF Defence Staff organization. s4HE 6ICE #HIEFS OF THE THREE 3ERVICES and the Vice Chief of the Chief of Defence Staff should be elevated to 4-star rank. s#REATE lVE FOUR STAR 4HEATRE Commanders, heading ďŹ ve Theatre Commands. These ďŹ ve new Theatre Commands would be as follows: s4HE 3OUTHERN #OMMAND HEADED BY a Naval four-star, who will have under him all existing operational Service and Coast Guard Commands in the Southern / Coastal regions. The existing Commanders-in-Chief would be under the four-star Theatre Commander, who would be answerable to the Chief of Naval Staff. s4HE #ENTRAL #OMMAND TO BE HEADED BY an Air Force four-star ofďŹ cer who will wear two hats. In addition to defence of central India, this Theatre Commander would be responsible for the air defence (including Anti-Ballistic Missile defence) of mainland India, counter-air operations, strikes on foreign enemy targets, and also provide any additional ďŹ ghters or helicopter gunships, which may be required by other Theatre Commands. Given the additional requirements of air power for this integrated set up, the sanctioned strength of the Indian Air Forceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assets and manpower would need to be increased by about 20 per cent. This four-star ofďŹ cer

would be responsible to the Chief of Air Staff. In addition, all heavy lift transport aircraft and heavy lift helicopters, would be under him, and made available to other Theatre Commands, on orders of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Apex Committeeâ&#x20AC;? comprising the three Service chiefs and the Chief of Defence Staff.

Theatre commands Three Army four-star Generals, will have three Theatre Commands, covering all our land borders on the mainland namely Eastern, Northern and Western, encompassing all existing operational Army and Air Force Commands, and their Commanders-in-Chief. These three Theatre Commanders would report to the Chief of Army Staff. With a view to integrating the Indian Coast Guard and meeting its aspirations, it would be essential to allow it to grow to its full potential to combat the growing menace of maritime terrorism. The Indian Coast Guard, must have a three-star Flag OfďŹ cer each on the staff of the Chief of Defence Staff, and also on the staff of the four-star Theatre Commanders of Southern Command and Central Command. In addition some more suitable Flag posts in the training establishments would need to be made available. However, like the 2000-ship US Coast Guard (which is actually the seventh largest Navy in the world), the Indian Coast Guard cannot command operational joint force operational units. The existing IAF Maintenance Command, would continue under a three-star Commander-in-Chief (as hitherto), and would be responsible directly to the Chief of Air Staff. Similarly the existing Army and Navy Training Commands (each under a three-star Commander-in-Chief) would continue to report to the Chief of Air Staff and Chief of Naval Staff, respectively.

Intelligence The existing Integrated Intelligence set-up would report to the Apex Committee comprising the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service chiefs. The Chief of Defence Staff would be the â&#x20AC;&#x153;ďŹ rst amongst equalsâ&#x20AC;? in this Apex Committee. It is essential, that the Chief of Defence Staff, three Service chiefs, the DirectorGeneral Indian Coast Guard, and their key staff are co-located in the same building, operate from a common Operations Room,

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

have a common Signal Centre to send and receive signals on a common format and ďŹ nally have a common electronic plot. Similarly, it is essential that each Theatre Commander, has an appropriate integrated staff, co-located in the same building and functioning in the same manner as the Chief of Defence Staff organisation in Delhi. So how will this organisation function? We need to consider the following: At present each Service chief is also the de facto Commander-in-Chief of his respective service, and will be fully answerable to the Government in case of defeat or a military debacle. In the American system,(where all the four Services are roughly of the same strength), each four star Service chief is responsible only to â&#x20AC;&#x153;raise, equip and trainâ&#x20AC;? his force, while each American four-star Theatre Commander, is responsible for operations to the Chairman Joint Chief of Staff (i.e. Chief of Defence Staff), who is ďŹ nally accountable. In our scenario, it would be naive to expect such an option, specially given the overwhelming disparity in manpower between the Army and the rest, and this aspect has been taken into account in this article. One of the other worries is â&#x20AC;&#x153;domain knowledgeâ&#x20AC;?. While in the proposals for the Theatre Commanders, this has been roughly catered for, the worry of each Service chief, is that should the CDS, be from his Service, he may over-ride his proposals (specially with regard to acquisitions), due to domain knowledge, without accountability. To dispel this aspect, each Service chief, (and the Chief of Defence Staff), is made accountable for speciďŹ c activities, with his own budget.

Military synergy Ideally, the Chief of Defence Staff, should be in rotation from the three Services, on a two or three year tenure basis. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the whole idea of creating a Chief of Defence Staff, in over ďŹ ve dozen nations so far, is to optimize synergy in the modern age and have a single point military advisor to the Government (In this proposal, the Chief of Defence Staff will advise the Government only for nuclear weapons and any out of area contingencies). So, how do we achieve this and why have other nations taken 10 to 20 years to achieve integration? The answer lies, in the need, to select and groom, a few

To achieve integration we should select and groom, a few bright young officers, on a yearly basis for jointness, by deputing them to inter-Service appointments, where they get exposure on operations, training, tradition and ethos of every Service by the time they reach Flag Rank, and then they mentally discard their Service loyalties and think in the national interest rather than fight for their respective Service turfs bright young ofďŹ cers, on a yearly basis for jointness, by deputing them for approximately two to three tenures to inter-Service appointments, where they get exposure on operations, training, tradition and ethos of every Service by the time they reach Flag Rank, and then they mentally discard their Service loyalties and think in

the national interest rather than ďŹ ght for â&#x20AC;&#x153;their respective Service turfsâ&#x20AC;?.

Strategic culture Our ancient rulers had no strategic culture till the brief invasion of Alexander the Great in 326 BC, led to Kautilya writing the Arthashastra, which included a CDS

equivalent. Various rulers followed the ďŹ fteen volumes of Arthashastra from about 300 BC to 640 AD, after which it was discarded. The ďŹ rst Arab invasion of Sind occurred in 711 AD and next 12 centuries were spent in subjugation and misery. Post 1947, also, India disregarded the need for a strategic culture and broke up an integrated command which was inherited from the experience of World War II. Now as India integrates with the global economy, and strides towards economic prosperity, the time has also come for reforming our military structure and making it relevant to the twenty-ďŹ rst century. The writer retired as Flag OďŹ&#x192;cer Commanding-in -Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Vishakhapatnam. He was Director General of the Indian Coast Guard during the Tsunami of 2004 and Commander-in-Chief of the Tri-Service, Andaa man and Nicobar Command. He is also a proliďŹ c writer on maritime, strategic and nuclear issues.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

the vicinage NEW SYNERGY

There has been a magical transformation in IndoBangladesh relations ever since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the man who broke the shackles that chained far-away “East Pakistan” to its western metropolitan centre of gravity, led her Awami League to absolute majority displacing anti-India Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Begum Khaleda Zia. She has acted against the United Liberation Front of Asom and her message is clear: No Safe Havens.

INDO-BANGLA ACCORD:

WELCOME ASCENT

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

the vicinage NEW SYNERGY India can now invest in the development of the Chittagong and Mongla ports. It has been agreed that India would provide assistance for the Akhaura-Agartala rail link and undertake actions to meet Bangladesh’s immediate energy requirements, by sale of 250 mw of electrical power

One of the major irritants in relations with Bangladesh has been unresolved differences on demarcating the border. Under the 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement, India is required to return around 111 enclaves to Bangladesh and in return gets 51 enclaves from Bangladesh.

ew Delhi rolled out the red carpet to welcome Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as its ﬁrst State guest of this decade. Overcoming formidable hurdles, Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League swept to a decisive electoral victory in December 2008, winning 230 seats and securing a two-thirds Parliamentary majority. Ever since she was sworn in, Sheikh Hasina has not only faced challenges from right wing parties including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Khaleda Zia, but also the Pakistani-Saudi Arabia assisted fundamentalists of the Jamat-e-Islami who unashamedly backed the occupying Pakistan army during the 1971 freedom struggle. This coalition was reinforced by radical Islamic groups like the Jamat ul Mujahideen, and the Harkat ul Jihad ul Islami, which also enjoy Pakistani / Saudi backing. All these groups are united in undermining efforts to improve relations with India.

BDR mutiny The greatest challenge that Sheikh Hasina overcame in her ﬁrst year was the mutiny by the paramilitary Bangladesh Riﬂes, which erupted on February 25, 2009. The

mutineers killed their Chief, Major General Shakil Ahmed and his wife and dozens of others. While the mutiny started at the BDR Headquarters in Pikhana in Dhaka it soon spread to 12 other towns. Sheikh Hasina acted deftly in getting a large number of the mutineers to surrender and then permitted the army to crack down using tanks and heavy weapons. Evidence soon emerged that the mutineers were being instigated by supporters of the opposition elements led by former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s party and others connected to the Jamat e Islami. All these elements had proPakistani leanings and afﬁliations.

Mutual assistance Complementing the crackdown by Sheikh Hasina’s Government on the mutineers, was immediate and effective action by India, which sealed its borders with Bangladesh and forced back mutineers, attempting to cross over. The depth of anger felt in senior levels of the Bangladesh army was reﬂected when the new Director General of the BDR, Major General Moinul Islam referred to the mutiny as a “most heinous crime”. He added that what transpired during the mutiny reminded him of “the liberation war

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

of 1971”. Referring clearly to Pakistan and its friends in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamat e Islami, Major General Islam noted that “external enemies still exist” for Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina has responded to India’s actions by forcing the surrender of United Liberation Front of Asom leader Arabindo Rajkhowa, its deputy military commander Raju Barua and others operating from safe havens in Bangladesh. It has been made clear to North-eastern separatist groups that they could not consider Bangladesh a safe haven. Sheikh Hasina has also cracked down on the Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh and the Lashkar-e-Toiba and acted to pre-empt cross border attacks on India and on the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

Unresolved issues One of the major irritants in relations with Bangladesh has been unresolved differences on demarcating the border. Under the 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement, India is required to return around 111 enclaves to Bangladesh and in return gets 51 enclaves from Bangladesh. It took us 18 years to lease a small corridor of land near Tin Bigha to

Bangladesh, which we were required to do, under the 1974 agreement. Barely 6.5 kilometres out of the 4096 kilometre land border remain undemarcated. Sheikh Hasina secured agreement in New Delhi to move to expeditiously resolve these differences. A political consensus needs to be built in West Bengal, to resolve the remaining issues of “adverse possessions” and enclaves, which have bedevilled relations through the past four decades. The Farakka Agreement was concluded with Bangladesh largely because of the positive role played by the then West Bengal Chief Minister Mr. Jyoti Basu. India has to show a measure of statesmanship in resolving this issue expeditiously. The most crucial issue for India is “connectivity,” which would involve developing road, rail and river communications facilities in Bangladesh, for promoting access to our landlocked north-eastern states through Bangladesh. By extending a Line of Credit of $ 1 billion for infrastructural development, India has cleared the way for its involvement in the development of road and rail communications linking our landlocked north-eastern states with the rest of the country.

Areas of cooperation India can also now invest in the development of the Chittagong and Mongla ports, whose facilities would be useful, in return for providing access for goods from Nepal and Bhutan to these ports. It has been agreed that India would provide assistance for the Akhaura-Agartala rail link and undertake actions to meet Bangladesh’s immediate energy requirements, by sale of 250 mw of electrical power. Bangladesh presently faces a shortage of around 1800 mw of power and there are indications that in course of time it would need around 1000 mw of power from India. Moreover, Bangladesh’s power deﬁcit is set to increase and there are growing possibilities for Indian companies investing in the development of electrical power plants in Bangladesh. It is, however, important that these agreements are implemented expeditiously, as bureaucratic inertia and rigidity have often exacerbated misunderstandings in our relations with Bangladesh.

Water sharing Two highly emotive issues in Bangladesh

- the sharing of the waters of the River Teesta and the construction by India of the Tipaimukh Dam across the Barak River in Assam - have been addressed during Sheikh Hasina’s visit. The sharing of the Teesta Rivers could be addressed as Bangladesh had earlier agreed to “joint hydrological observations” so that future actions are taken on the basis of realities and not unfounded fears. We should now be able to agree to mechanisms to address mutual concerns on this issue, as we did in resolving the Farakka tangle. Considerable effort will also be needed to convince public opinion in Bangladesh that their fears that the Tipaimukh dam would promote scarcity, silting and floods in the country, are ill founded and politically motivated. Contrary to malicious propaganda by Khaleda Zia and her cohorts, even experts in Bangladesh agree that this project will actually help in flood control, in augmenting lean season flows and assist in de-silting within Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party propaganda is motivated, considering the fact that experts in Khaleda Zia’s Government who were kept informed about the project in 2003 and 2005, raised no

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

the vicinage NEW SYNERGY

A N N O U N C E S MARCH 2010 ISSUE AS

AFG h ANISTAN SPECIAL COVERING ...

History of Afghanistan, last 50 year. Dynamics of Pak-Afghan Relations. US military strategy in Afghanistan. Ethnic and tribal issues of Afghanistan. NATO forces, their role and future in Afghanistan. objections when Begum Zia was in ofﬁce.

Pro-Pak tilt? Radical Islamic groups linked to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, gained considerable strength during the rule of Khaleda Zia, who has, for long, been very well disposed towards Pakistan. Most people in Bangladesh could not help noting that when Lt. General Jagjit Singh Aurora, who commanded Indian forces which liberated East Pakistan, died Begum Khaleda did not honour the memory of Gen. Aurora. She, however, made no secret about her sorrow when Pakistan’s former Army Chief General Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua died when she was her country’s Prime Minister.

ISI network With militant groups like the Jamat ul Mujahideen and the Harkat ul Jihad ul Islami gaining strength under Khaleda’s patronage, the Pakistan Army InterServices Intelligence increasingly started using Bangladesh for inﬁltration of radical

militants into India. Sheikh Hasina has made no secret of her aversion towards militant Islamic groups and has effectively curtailed the ability of Pakistan to use Bangladesh as a springboard for terrorism against India. Pakistan can also no longer count on the support of Bangladesh in regional organizations like SAARC to carry out actions detrimental to India’s interests. India has also assured Bangladesh during the visit of Sheikh Hasina that it would bring down some of its existing nontariff barriers to exports from Bangladesh and assist Bangladesh in ensuring that its exports met Indian quality standards. While Indian exports to Bangladesh are valued at around $ 3 billion Bangladesh exports to India barely amount to $ 358 million annually. Both countries need to take effective steps to ensure that the long delays that are experienced by traders on cross border trade are minimized by trade facilitation measures.

Military ties Sections of the Bangladesh army and

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

its intelligence apparatus have been traditionally anti-Indian and supportive of the BNP and Jamat e Islami. There appears to have been some change in this mindset in the aftermath of the Bangladesh Riﬂes mutiny. New Delhi should strengthen military ties with Bangladesh and facilitate greater participation of the Bangladesh military in international peace keeping, to discourage Bonapartist ambitions. At the present moment Pakistan provides more wide ranging facilities for military training and supplies than India for the Bangladesh military. The political mood in Bangladesh can be volatile and one could well see a return to the earlier era of supporting terrorist and separatist elements which are anti-Indian, if Sheikh Hasina falters and cannot fulﬁl the growing aspirations of her people. The writer was Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. He is presently Visiting Professor in the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.

Dynamics of Indo-Afghan relations; history and future. Investment in Afghanistan and its political and strategic impact. Recent developments in Afghanistan and strategic implications for India. Afghan relations with Iran and other Caucasian region states, Isreal etc. Scenario in the region if American forces leave Afghanistan. Future of Taliban and other jihadi groups operating in Afghanistan and FATA region. SCO, energy resources in Central Asia and Afghanistan, oil pipeline diplomacy.

...specially written by National and International experts on Afghanistan

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Also available at all leading bookstores February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

republic PROGRESS REPORT

State of the Nation:

INDIA - 2010

Shining, struggling or surviving?

Beset

India in the sixth decade as a Republic is beginning to the fullness of

perceive

its potential on the horizon. Even as globalization has taken the world by storm Bharat, that is, India has

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

weathered the recent

recession in a manner that has evoked

admiration and curiosity. With freedom in 1947 we kept one tryst with destiny. At the beginning of the second decade of the new still have

problems

as it is by the myriad within and a periphery pocked with failed states,

promises

millennium we to keep.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

republic PROGRESS REPORT An Open Report on the State Of The Republic to the First President Dr. Rajendra Prasad Dear Dr. Rajendra Prasad ji, Greetings on the 60th Republic Day of India / Bharat, the Republic you heralded on this day in 1950. You would be keen to know the state of the Republic, is it Shining, Struggling or Surviving? Here is a brief review: Your Excellency, you actively participated in the great struggle for Independence. The hard won political freedom earned by your generation against many odds is very well appreciated by us the post-1947 generation but sadly faced with newer challenges we do not cherish the same as much as we should. Today we are looking for new liberties enshrined in the Constitution, freedom from poverty, destitution, hunger and unemployment. We are also looking for the free will of enterprise and innovation,

the hallmark of genius of our great Indian civilization. While you as one of the founding fathers of the Republic very aptly sought independence for our sacred land, Bharat, the singular yearning of the Post Freedom generation is to take forward the dreams of resurgence of our forefathers.

Inbuilt stability Dear President, a tour of the geopolitical landscape would reveal that your Republic is one of the few nations in the world in the past six decades which has not seen a revolution or a major convulsion. The United States of America, a democracy cherished by all has had to pass through the turbulence of Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan. It faced the perils of an economic collapse in 2008-09 just as it did the Great Depression of the 1930’s which you may well recall. The long period of Cold War between the United States and the now recessed Soviet Union, held hostage to the doctrine of Mutually Assured

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

Bangladesh whose people rebelled against the despotic rule of the Pakistani Generals is gradually moving to be a responsible democracy albeit after many hiccups which was not unusual given the manner in which it came into being. We hope the current regime in Dhaka under the liberal, secular Sheikh Hasina emerges as a model for other States in our neighbourhood

Destruction (MAD) by nuclear weapons is now a part of global political history. Europe once divided by the Iron Curtain is now increasingly uniﬁed, but has possibly lost much of the political power of the large nation States, France, Germany and Great Britain. An economic powerhouse and India’s largest trade partner the European Union (EU) may be, but despite recent efforts to form the European Parliament and activate the Commission, the EU remains politically weak. Your Republic on the other hand is becoming increasingly relevant in global polity.

Execrable vicinage Closer home we have our northern

Against this backdrop of dissonance, your very own Republic, Sir, is seen today as a beacon of democracy in an international comity of nations where states are under varying stages of one party rule, despotic monarchs or religious authoritarianism. Democracy has suited our country well assimilating the many castes, creeds, religious and ethnic groups in a single national whole

neighbour China, which you would recall Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru befriended in the 1950’s only to be rudely shocked by the border war of 1962. China had to pass through much turbulence during the Cultural Revolution leading to the purge of millions. While enlightened leaders like Deng Xiaoping succeeded in pulling the country from dregs of economic penury, political freedom to the masses and particularly ethnic minorities remains a key area of concern. There is no respite from our vexatious boundary issue with Beijing as despite many pronouncements of peaceful intent and 13 rounds of talks of Special Representatives have not yielded any fruitful results. On the other hand reports of intrusions both land and air have marred the relations of late, with the Chinese even taking recourse to asymmetric cyber attacks on the security heads in New Delhi. Then we have our western neighbour Pakistan fractured due to the political follies of its Generals in 1971, the risk of fragmentation continues to wrack the State now ﬁghting on multiple fronts of terror, sectarian and ethnic conﬂicts. Their only claim to fame appears to be the nuclear arsenal concerns of safety of

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

republic PROGRESS REPORT terrorism campaign has led to some peace today, though sporadic incidents of violence continue.

Pak malignancy We have undertaken many initiatives to resolve our differences with Pakistan. In a historic bus journey, then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee went to Lahore and was greeted with much joy and enthusiasm by the people and then Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif. Alas! This could not be taken to a successful culmination as the Generals in Rawalpindi affected by the, “GHQ mindset” remained allergic to any rapprochement and were to launch the infamous operation in Kargil in 1999. While failing completely in their mission, this has become a permanent cause for distrust between the two countries, which was rubbed in with an attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 followed by the one in Mumbai in 2008. Surviving these strikes today an attempt is once again being made to settle the differences internally in Kashmir with moderate separatist groups through a process of quiet dialogue. You would agree this will be a long and difﬁcult process, but we hope would lead to permanent peace and tranquillity in Kashmir and eventually with Islamabad.

Naxal progression

which are being often expressed these days. Then there is the dubious infrastructure of non-State actors bred by Pakistan whose expertise in terrorism was used by Islamabad in Punjab in the 1980’s and in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990’s and 2000 onwards. Today these very own extremists are holding the Pakistani State to ransom, the hydra-headed monsters are nibbling at the very hand that fed them all these years.

Bangladesh converted? Bangladesh whose people rebelled against the despotic rule of the Pakistani Generals is gradually moving to be a responsible democracy albeit after many hiccups which was not unusual given the manner in which it came into being. We hope the current regime in Dhaka under the liberal, secular Sheikh Hasina emerges as a model for other States in our neighbourhood as well as the larger Islamic nations across the globe. India is investing heavily into the wellbeing of the people of Bangladesh and hopes to reap the harvest of stability in its eastern neighbour. Sri Lanka has suffered the pangs of

separatism and after a long and bloody civil war may see some stability with Sinhala and Tamil communities both yearning for peace. Our northern neighbour Nepal as you well know has passed through many phases of turbulence. Today it is moving towards a democratic republic after a bloody spell of left-wing insurgency. The Maoists in Nepal have hopefully become benign after enjoying the fruits of peace for some time now. Against this backdrop of dissonance, your very own Republic, Sir, is seen today as a beacon of democracy in an international comity of nations where States are under varying stages of one party rule, despotic monarchs or religious authoritarianism. Democracy has suited our country well assimilating the many castes, creeds, religious and ethnic groups in a single national whole. But the process has neither been smooth nor is it expected to be so in the future

Insurgencies Over the years, India has been a land of a thousand mutinies. In your own time you had seen the Nagas rebelling against the

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

State then came the Mizos, the Meiteis, the Ahoms, the Bodos, the Cacharis and so on. The north-east known as Assam then is now carved into seven states, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. While militancy in the region is largely controlled, the states of Manipur and Assam continue to pass through spasms of violence in varied forms. These rebellions are being addressed through multiple strategies as ceaseﬁre, suspension of operations, talks and counter militancy operations. Hopefully there would be some peace and tranquillity in the years ahead though there is no such expectation in the immediate future. Jammu and Kashmir was, Your Excellency would recall, a cause of concern in your times as well, but had been deftly managed politically by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, despite criticism over his actions to go to the United Nations, promises of a plebiscite and so on. The state spurned the Pakistani inﬁltrators in 1965 as well as in 1971, but in the 1990’s was to fall prey to a vicious proxy war launched from across the borders. A protracted counter insurgency and counter

Even as we were grappling with these problems, another grave challenge of Naxalism or Left Wing Extremism has emerged in Central India spanning your very own state of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhatisgarh and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. These so called revolutionaries while highlighting the neglect of the tribal, agrarian communities, have also taken to wanton violence, beheadings and kidnappings, which have given an ugly twist to the movement. Today Your Excellency, India is certainly challenged by this rebellion as there is no ﬁrm strategy emerging. Some leaders are approaching the Naxal problem with kid gloves, while others seek a military solution. It will take some time for the State to understand the challenge and ﬁnd the right answers.

a function of public response to fear. This was very much evident with the large turnout in the Naxal areas in the general elections in April-May 2009 as well as state elections in Jharkhand in NovemberDecember 2009. This is no doubt a challenge which has to be addressed not just in security but also in terms of land reforms, tribal rights, economic downstreaming and other development measures. Lack of ideas appears to be the bane of the State response and the Naxals are once again taking advantage of the dilemma by operating on the borders of social and political rectitude. This rightly brings me to the state of our people, for the many mutinies are

manifestations of the neglect of the masses misrepresented by the catch-all phrase, “aam admi”, a beguiling twist in political rhetoric. Sadly Mr. President, over 70 per cent of our masses are living below Rs.100 and over 40 per cent even below Rs.60 per day. India’s Human Development Index remains abysmally low at 134 out of 182 countries, the same status that we had in 2006. Counted amongst the Medium Development bracket, it is obvious that there are miles and miles to go Your Excellency before we can come out of the dregs of poverty and distress for millions of those who have a difﬁculty in eking out a decent meal.

The Naxal leaders on the other hand are adept political strategists who have been taking up varied causes of the people, with an ear to the ground mobilizing the masses to advantage, be it land acquisition in Singur or lack of development in Lalgarh. While there is discontentment in the masses their support to the extremists is also

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

republic PROGRESS REPORT Yet all is not lost Your Excellency. You gave us political freedom and our generation hopes to give the country economic freedom from poverty, hunger and want. This is the dream that we cherish, the hopes with which we march forward and the steely resolve with which we see every tomorrow.

Rosy prospects

cent of the population in the economically active group, India has maximum potential in human capital globally. While China is only marginally lower at 91 per cent, the powerhouses of yesteryears like Japan today have ﬁgures as low as 78 per cent. Converting the potential of this mass into economic goods however remains a challenge.

These signs of hope are everywhere, be it in the strong economic growth rate which has been sustained over eight per cent, the large Gross Domestic Product ranking of fourth in the World on Purchasing Power Parity and twelfth nominally, we have the capital that can pull our people from the bottom of the pyramid to the rightful place that India has always occupied in the comity of nations over the millennia. We also have the mass of youthful power, with 95 per

Our problems of plenty in terms of people have to be rationalized to advantage. We have over nine per cent youth who are unemployed but that is a huge ﬁgure of over nine crore or 90 million and there may be millions more who are under-employed. Then there is a skewed distribution of labour force as the mass is mainly engaged in agriculture, over 60 per cent as per current count which produces only 17 per cent of our gross domestic product. While

those in the industry have a better ratio with 12 per cent work force producing 29 per cent of GDP. The services sector produces the maximum that is 54 per cent of the GDP but employs only 28 per cent of the working population. There is a lateral shift required from agriculture to services for industry is getting increasingly mechanized and jobs will become scarce. This is easier said than done, for this would require re-skilling a huge mass of population, over 300 to 500 million which is obviously impossible in the short term. What we need is the march of our youth as you did from Siwan to Presidency College, Kolkata at the young age of 18 when there were no trains, no motor cars, no mobile phones and no internet connectivity. Your march from the ﬁelds of Bihar to the urban landscape of Kolkata is inspiring many today.

What we need your Excellency is a second “freedom struggle”; building skills to bring the fruits of prosperity to our people, free them from the vestiges of poverty, illiteracy, lack of jobs at an unprecedented scale never seen in the history of mankind

Another freedom struggle What we need Your Excellency is a second “freedom struggle”; building skills to bring the fruits of prosperity to our people, free them from the vestiges of poverty, illiteracy, lack of jobs at an unprecedented scale never seen in the history of mankind. Unfortunately we do not seem to be up to the challenge, at least not the current generation of our leadership which though aware of the problem is unable to think solutions and even when answers stare them in the face is not able to implement due to sheer apathy, lethargy and lack of sense of direction and public good. They are immersed in problems of day-to-day management of crises arising from political fragmentation of states to divisions on ethnic and sub-ethnic lines growing across the country. Thus crescendo of demand for smaller states, development councils and funds for communities that somehow never reach the grassroots has become the catchall panacea to assuage feelings. Such band-aid

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

solutions have become the order of the day in your great Republic.

Dangerous trends Your Excellency, with 28 states and 7 union territories the demand for more is being voiced across the country. While smaller governable entities are no doubt required, the logic of formation of states based on ethnicity is a dangerous trend which may divide rather than unite our federalism. Regional satraps looking for the fruits of power are increasingly turning the economic and development aspiration of masses into political struggles which are mushrooming across the country. The other challenge facing us is governance, rule of law, control of corruption and responsible citizenship. The once strong steel frame of Civil Services has been weakened to an extent that delivery to the grass-roots has become a problem, some say this may be a mere 15 per cent or lower, there has been no reality check. Thus transferring the plenty with the government to the man in the ﬁelds or in the factories who continues to suffer from

poor infrastructure, lives in urban slums or in village ghettos separated by caste hounds us to this day. Yet Your Excellency, we shall overcome this misery and morass and stake our place in modern history as a young and vibrant Republic. There is hope in our youth, the blood of the young who took up the call of Mahatma Gandhi for Satyagraha and the Dandi march in 1930 ﬂows in our veins. Today we are reaching out to the world, seeking greener pastures away from homes. There is a great transition despite the ill-will created through regionalism in afﬂuent parts of the country, the movement for betterment will continue and will see a rising India, for the youth are taking the destiny of this nation in their hands, just as they did for Freedom many decades ago.

Great potential This new “satyagraha” will be for education, for jobs, for opportunities and for growth and is happening every day, every hour in the country. This gives us new hope. Ironically Mr. President, it is others who

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

republic PROGRESS REPORT

Your Excellency, with 28 states and 7 union territories the demand for more is being voiced across the country. While smaller governable entities are no doubt required, the logic of formation of states based on ethnicity is a dangerous trend which may divide rather than unite our federalism see the potential of India far more than we ourselves. Thus you will be happy to know that India has become a much sought after destination for world leaders as a stream of Presidents and Prime Ministers comes to Delhi and Mumbai seeking the formula of success of our growth story in niche sectors as information technology, pharma, bio-technology and the rest. This is again the story of thousands of youth toiling to keep the world moving, literally, for without our BPOs possibly global businesses, travel and even leisure may come to a stand still!. This is the new power of India, the expanding soft power of information taking off from the strength of our culture and tradition in knowledge over the millennia.

Military ethos Our armed forces are the cynosure of all eyes and there is a beeline of international militaries wanting to train with our

soldiers, work with our ofﬁcers and join the classrooms of military education. The uniformed soldiers, the modern Cariappa’s and Thimayya’s have proved their mettle both in war, asymmetric conﬂicts in the jungles of the north-east or the urban hubs of Punjab and Kashmir and will continue to do so despite the new socio- economic environment where they are feeling economically marginalized and politically irrelevant, the dedication to the nation nurtured over the years continues. Yes, there are many voices of dissonance but these are transformations from a closed to a more open system of military governance, the yearning for modern acquisitions and a new culture driven by transparency and propriety. This will once again attract our youth to the uniform. So what picture do I present you, Excellency on this 60th Republic Day, of an India on the verge of another revolution, a nation

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

in transformation, social, economic and military based on the rock solid foundation of nationalism, pluralism and unity in diversity provided by our millennial history and the lessons of the recent past, regaining its lost position in the world based on culture and values rather than power of the muscle, a “smart” power in the making? We understand that the challenges are many as I have outlined before, but we have the gumption and the guts to overcome them. Jai Hind! For and on behalf of India’s Second Generation of Freedom Fighters. The wrter is an army veteran presently Director of Sasia Security-Risks.com Pvt Ltd, a South Asian security risk and knowledge management consultancy. His most recent book is, “Securing India: Assessment of Security and Defence Capabilities”.

security tips ONLINE BANKING

SECURE

YOUR ONLINE BANKING sweta sehgal

Convenience is the key reason why millions of people are opting out of traditional banking for online banking. Online banking is one of the core technological advancements today. More and more users are getting attracted to this facility every day. Banks also enjoy providing the option of online banking because they can save on operating costs. Even though online banking provides many beneﬁts, if utmost care is not taken, can turn to be a disaster. Most market researchers have attributed the increase in the number of bank frauds to online banking. Most internet banking frauds occur in a two-step process. First, the offender gets the customer’s account information, like their username and password. Second, the offender will use that information to move his victim’s money to another account or withdraw it to make fraudulent purchases. All technologies have associated risks which can be avoided or reduced by general awareness about its safety and security. Adopt the following practices to help protect your online banking and conﬁdential information from fraud and identity theft. 1. Use strong password construction by adopting the following principles: s #HOOSE A PASSWORD THAT IS AT LEAST characters in length if the application allows.

s #HOOSE A PASSWORD P that contains at least one upper pp and one lower case alpha p character (e.g., a-z, A-Z). s #HOOSE A PASSWORD THAT CONTAINS AT least one digit and one special character if possible. s #HOOSE A PASSWORD THAT IS NOT BASED on personal information, family names, pet names, the bank’s name or geographic location, etc.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

2. Change your password regularly, at least once a month. 3.Never write your password down or store it online. 4.Never use the “Remember my ID and Password” option on your computer. 5.Use your own computer when accessing online banking systems and never leave it unattended if you have logged-in. Always log-off your on-line banking session and close your browser once you are done with it. Internet kiosks, cyber cafés and other public use computers are not as secure as your computer and should not be used for this purpose.

looking at the website address. Look for an “S” to follow http (i.e. https ://). Also many web browsers show an image of a padlock to indicate a secure connection. You can verify secure sites by “double-clicking” on the padlock icon located at the bottom of your browser application and reading the site information in the box that appears.

6. Conduct ﬁnancial transactions only with trusted and secure sites. When shopping or banking online, it is important to make sure you are using a secure connection. You can check for a secure site by

7. Never give your passwords even if you receive any unsolicited emails or calls asking you to disclose any personal details or card numbers. Contact your bank immediately. Never disclose your personal information to individuals you don’t know. Banks will never ask for any conﬁdential information such as password, customer ID, credit card number or PIN, CVV, DoB over email. 8. Phishing email will normally have a tone of urgency like- “Your account will be temporarily suspended” and therefore please “Log-in to keep your account active”.

9. If you are doubtful about the credibility of the email, please DO NOT click on any links provided in the email. This may prompt malicious codes being installed on your PC. 10. It is important to check your statements regularly. A quick check will help identify any criminal transactions that might have been performed on your account without your knowledge. These safety measures are of utmost importance and one must ensure extra precautions while making transactions online. This will help save you from becoming a phishing victim.

Spread the awareness at home, ofﬁce and among neighbours to create a Safe, Secure and Strong India.

“Security is not a product, but a process.” A DSA initiative February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

transmigration IMPLICATIONS

Unwelcome immigrants:

a security threat Rohit Srivastava

Bengalis from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Tamils, Gorkhas and several ethnic groups from both portions of Pakistan have either been systematically encouraged to migrate in keeping with the German concept of lebensraum or living space or forced out by majority ethnic and communal entities. India has become the repository of such migration and some of it is dangerous in its intent and purpose. February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

transmigration IMPLICATIONS

he history of mankind has been the history of migration and settlement. Human settlement has never been constant and permanent; communities have migrated to places in search of better living during primitive and ancient times. In the medieval era human migration happened to safeguard from famine and war. The rise of nation-State as an institution divided the population in clear lines of friends and foes. Citizenship led to restrictions of travel and settlements. Today the world is facing the problem of migration, legal and illegal, and migration is from underdeveloped to developed societies. India is facing this problem over the last few decades in its north-east. India is an oasis of growth in the region of despair and underdevelopment. The inﬂux of illegal migrants from its smaller neighbour has been going on for one reason or the other. Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka to Tamilnadu, Bangladeshis in north-east, Gorkhas from Nepal into north of Bengal have been major migrations into India.

Imported problems Every migrant population brings with itself a set of problems, political and economic. Tamil migrants have been a security problem for India with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre taking shelter and support. Migrant camps have long been the hiding places for the Sri Lankan

militants. Camps have also been used as transit stations for weapons and money. The militants have used the migrants to network with the Tamilnadu leadership to exert political pressure on the Indian government.

could jeopardize the restive north-east. The Gorkha population is restricted to a very small region, not large enough to inﬂuence in a big way, but it would still be considerable.

During the last leg of Sri Lankan civil war last year, there was immense pressure on the Government of India from Tamil parties, undermining the national security. Their whole focus was on collateral damage to the militants during the war but ignored the implication of a military organization in India’s backyard with pathological hatred for India.

The most dangerous migration to India is the continuous inﬂux of Bangladeshis in large numbers to the north-east. The current population of illegal Bangladeshis in India is estimated to be around 20 million almost two percentage of our country. The concentrations of Bangladeshis are mostly in Assam and Tripura. The other states in north-east have also signiﬁcant populations of Bangladeshis.

Darjeeling hills Similar protest has been witnessed in north Bengal by Gorkha people living in Darjeeling hills demanding separate state. Gorkhas were brought from Nepal to work on railway lines construction and tea garden work by Britishers. They continued to seek employment in the region thereafter and have now a majority population in the hills of Bengal and with political aspirations of a separate state.

The plains in Nagaland have large Bangladeshi population. This inﬂux has been continuous and uniform for a long time. India has been victim of the inefﬁciency of the government and geography of Bangladesh. The high population density with abject poverty forces people to migrate to India. What is most disturbing about this is the complete rejection of Bangladeshi government in acknowledging the migration.

Security implications

“Grand Bangladesh”

Darjeeling hills is a sensitive region, it is situated at a trijunction of India, Nepal and Bangladesh. This region is critical for connectivity to north-east with rest of India. Any disturbance in this region

Illegal migration from Bangladesh into Assam should be viewed against the backdrop of past history, present realities and future designs. Migration into Assam has been taking place from the dawn of history. However, after the British annexed Assam, large scale population movement from the south (Bengal, East Pakistan and now Bangladesh) has been an ongoing phenomenon for over a century. Initially, this movement was for economic reasons only but with the approach of Independence, it started developing both communal and political overtones. After Independence, it acquired an international dimension and it now poses a grave threat to our national security.(1) Tea gardens established by Britishers imported labour from Bihar and other provinces.The Assamese who were not interested in working in tea gardens, were producing one crop in upper Assam region. The large labour population required additional food which was not being produced by Assamese. British started bringing Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh (then Bengal) to cultivate virgin land in lower Assam. This process continues till date. When the demand for Partition was raised, it was visualised that Pakistan would comprise Muslim majority provinces in the west and Bang-e-Islam comprising Bengal

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

Every migrant population brings with itself a set of problems, political and economic. Camps have also been used as transit stations for weapons and money. The militants have used the migrants to network with the Tamilnadu leadership to exert political pressure on the Indian government

and Assam, in the east. Mr. Moinul Haque Chowdhary the Private Secretary of Jinnah, who after Independence became a Minister in Assam and later at Delhi, told Jinnah that he would “present Assam to him on a silver platter”. Jinnah conﬁdently declared at Guwahati that Assam was in his pocket. The Cabinet Mission Plan placed Assam in Group C with Bengal. Both the Congress High Command and the Muslim League accepted the grouping plan but Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi vehemently opposed it. He was supported by Mahatma Gandhi. The grouping plan was foiled and Assam was saved from becoming a part of Pakistan.(1) This was considered as a loss by Muslim league and the policy to integrate it was formed. This sense of loss has remained in the psyche of Bangladesh and even after its separation from Pakistan they think that north-east of India is theirs and Bangladesh must annex it.

Induced migration Even during partition talks there was a concerted effort to make Assam part of Pakistan. The migration was used to make a demographic change in Assam, to make it a part of Pakistan. During Sir Mohammad Sadulla’s Muslim League Ministry, a concerted effort was made to encourage the migration of

Bengali Muslims into Assam for political reasons. The Viceroy, Lord Wavell wrote in the Viceroy’s Journal, “The chief political problem is the desire of the Muslim Ministers to increase this immigration into the uncultivated Government lands under the slogan of Grow More Food but what they are really after, is Grow More Muslims.”(1) Millions of Hindus fled from East Pakistan to India due to communal violence following the partition of India in 1947. Similarly, about 10 million Bengalis took refuge in India during the liberation war of Bangladesh (March-December 1971). These people left East Pakistan for shelter in the neighbouring Indian states of West Bengal and Assam due to political and religious suppression. And again, thousands of Chakmas fled to India on account of ethnic conflicts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) during the 1970s and the 1980s. The exodus of population from Bangladesh to India has often been sudden and instantaneous. These types of forced migrations have taken place in response to specific incidents at a particular point in time. However, sustained and uninterrupted movement of population from Bangladesh to India has been taking place for reasons other than political, religious and ethnic. One of the major driving forces behind this type of movement of people seems to

be environmental crisis in rural areas of Bangladesh. (2)

Land hunger Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his book, Eastern Pakistan: Its Population and Economics, observed, “Because Eastern Pakistan must have sufﬁcient land for its expansion and because Assam has abundant forests and mineral resources, coal, petroleum etc., Eastern Pakistan must include Assam to be ﬁnancially and economically strong”. This view has today changed into a state policy of Bangladesh. The ever growing population of Bangladesh needs land to expand and the low population density in the north-east especially in Assam and Tripura provided much required space. Land constitutes the most important natural resource of Bangladesh and agriculture is the most important activity using this resource. Land use pattern shows that more than 53 per cent of the land is under agriculture. Agriculture is the principal source of food and income in rural areas of the country. Of the total rural employment, about 63 per cent is in agricultural and allied activities directly or indirectly. It contributes to about 30 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.

Food deﬁcit Notwithstanding the importance of land

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

transmigration IMPLICATIONS as the principal means of production, Bangladesh presents a Malthusian nightmare, with too many people on too little land. The man-land ratio at 0.15 acre per capita is already very unfavourable for sustainable food grain production. At the same time, there is very little scope for bringing new land under cultivation. The main reasons for the scarcity of productive agricultural land in the country are rapid population growth, land degradation, unequal distribution of land and land use conflicts. The population of Bangladesh has increased at a brisk rate over the last fifty years. According to the 2001 Census, it has reached 129.2 million from 42.16 million in 1951, a net addition of 87.04 million people. (2) Illegal migration from Assam has been taking place primarily for economic reasons. Bangladesh is the world’s most densely populated country with a population density of 969 per square kilometre. The growth rate of population in that country is 2.2 per cent and its population is growing at the rate of 2.8 million per year. Each year nearly one third of Bangladesh gets inundated by floods, displacing 19 million people. Seventy million people constituting 60 per cent of the population live below the poverty line.

Illegal migration from Bangladesh into Assam should be viewed against the backdrop of past history, present realities and future designs. With the approach of Independence, it started developing both communal and political overtones. After Independence, it acquired an international dimension and it now poses a grave threat to our national security

The per capita income in Bangladesh is 170 dollars per year, which is much lower than the per capita income in India. (1)

Relative decadal percentage growth of population of Assam, All India and Bangladesh is as follows:

The porous border between India and Bangladesh can’t be guarded effectively. The terrain is riverine and with dense vegetation, it becomes almost impossible to guard. To check migration fencing of border is being done but due to geographical factors it has not been completed and immigration is still going on unabated.

(i) 1901-1911

16.99

5.75

9.1

(ii) 1911-1921

20.48

-0.31 ??

5.4

(iii) 1921-1931

19.91

11.00

7.06

(iv) 1931-1941

20.40

14.22

17.6

(v) 1941-1951

34.98

21.51

0.1

(vi) 1951-1961

34.95

24.80

29.83

Political fallout

(vii) 1971-1981

23.8

24.66

31.83

The migration has given birth to many different problems. To stop migration of Bangladeshis into Assam, Asom Gana Parishad, All Assam Student Union was formed. United Liberation Front of Asom, a militant group, was formed to take military action against Bangladeshi migrants but in due time it turned its gun towards non-Assamese living in Assam. Their top leadership is functioning from Bangladesh. The migrant population created a psychosis of fear among tribal population of north-east, which transformed into different insurgent groups.

(viii) 1981-1991

23.8

23.85

22.00

The violence thus started has become an industry in itself function with support of corrupt ofﬁcials in India and Pakistan Army Inter-Services Intelligence and Bangladeshi government. The Bangladeshi population has started migrating from Assam and north-east to different parts

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

Years

Assam

of India. The region along Bihar-Bengal has turned into Muslim majority. There have been numerous terrorist sleeper cells functioning among this population. Bangladesh has been functioning as the transit route for terrorists from Pakistan to enter India, using the same route and channel in disguise of migrants. There are groups like HuJI which have been created in Bangladesh with sole purpose of jihad against India. The Bangladeshi migrants have formed clusters around major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. These clusters get support of local Islamists and have also been sheltering jihadi sleeper cells. The change in demography of these areas has started to inﬂuence local population in negative way.

All India

Bangladesh

There is a particular section of Muslim politicians and clergy which is providing support to migrants Bangladeshi, from inﬁltration to settlement, across India. They are using them as vote bank. The support of national parties to garner votes has allowed this business to go on.

Siliguri corridor The high density of Bangladeshis in Chicken’s neck of India, i.e. around Sukhna, West Bengal, can have very dangerous implications. If the migrants rise up and block the communication lines with north-east, it will get isolated from rest of India. Similarly, there are intelligence analyses which suggest that Bangladeshis are waiting for certain demographic threshold to be

Source: Report on Illegal Migration Into Assam, The Governor of Assam, 8 Nov, 1998. achieved when they can start uprising to annex the north-east. Bangladesh sees it as the “Grand Bangladesh”, proposed during Cabinet Mission. The scattered Bangladeshi population simultaneously will create riots and violence across India. The chaos will not allow india to take punitive action and marshalling of support from across the Muslim world, by Bangladesh, will help in subduing Indian voice in International arena. Thus the objective of “Grand Bangladesh”, would be achieved.

References: 1 - Report on Illegal Migration Into Assam, The Governor of Assam, 8 Nov, 1998. 2 - Environmentally Induced Migration from Bangladesh to India Sarfaraz Alam, IDSA.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

central asia STRATEGIC IMPORT

CAS INDIA

The land beyond the Oxus (renamed Amu Darya) retains even in the twenty-first century all the allure and intrigue of the Kiplingesque â&#x20AC;&#x153;Great Gameâ&#x20AC;?. For the British Empire the Grand Trunk Road served a vital purpose as Tsarist Russia crept closer to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. Today new roads and national interests are converging on the Central Asian States but none is as benign as the traditional linkages that have endured with the secular, democratic India.

Lt. Gen. (Retd.) O.P. Kaushik PVSM, AVSM, VSM

COM O

entral Asia comprises of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan -- collectively called the Central Asian States (CAS). These states were part of Soviet Union and became sovereign independent nation States on 21 December 1991 when Soviet Union dissolved. Previously known as Turkestan, they were conquered and annexed by Tsarist Russia from 1550 to 1902. Geo-strategically, these States are vitally important in an international scenario. They have mighty Russia in the north, powerful

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

China on the east, aggressive and volatile Islamic and fundamentalist States of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the south and trans-Caucasian States in the west providing contiguity to Eastern Europe. In terms of geographic location, the region is a focus of attention for world powers. Geo-economically, their oil and gas reserves are next only to those of Saudi Arabia. Their immense mineral wealth and high agricultural productivity are great attraction for world markets. However, they are marred by great shortage of skilled and technical manpower and inadequate monetary

resources to exploit their potential. Hence, the region is future centre for industrial and commercial rivalry among the big and rich powers. Geo-politically, they are attractive target for the west as well as the east. Whereas the western block, led by the US, has its eyes set on the vast economic potential and a possible strategic gateway to Russia and China, Russia is not ready to abandon its traditional stronghold and tie-up. China is concentrating on developing a trans-Asian trade route (old silk route) through these States. Southern neighbours

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

central asia STRATEGIC IMPORT of CAS are largely interested in bringing in mullah culture. Hence, the region is constantly under pressure from varied and divergent potential influences.

Oil, gas, geo-location Internally, CAS are afflicted with ethnic conflicts. Kazakhstan has a total population of approximately 17 million of which 42 per cent are Russians and Kazakhs are 38 per cent. Ukrainians are 6 per cent and others 14 per cent. The Russian portion of the population claims northern Kazakhstan as a part of Russia resulting in regular ethnic tension. Uzbekistan with a total population of 25 million is the most populous Central Asian republic and lies on the ancient silk route between Asia and Europe. It has ethnic mix of Uzbeks 72 per cent, Russian 10 per cent, Tajik 8 per cent, Kazakh 4 per cent and others 6 per cent. There are constant violent riots between Uzbeks and Turks, Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and Tajiks. Turkmenistan, poorest state among the former Soviet republics, has an ethnic mix of Turkman, Russian, Uzbek, Kazakh and Tatars. Tribal conflicts in a population of approximately 5 million, specially among Turkman, Uzbek and Russians are a source of strife. Tajikistan has suffered a civil war between the supporters of government and Tajik Islamic rebels. The conflict between Tajik 62 per cent and Uzbeks 24 per portends of another civil war lurking round the corner. Russians who are approximately 8 per cent of the population have started leaving to escape discrimination. Kyrgyzstan suffers from considerable tension between Kyrgyz and other groups, particularly the Uzbeks.

A large Russian community, which at one time wielded great influence because of its technical skills, is feeling isolated because of growing trends towards Islamization. In short, ethnic chauvinism is leading to friction between and within the States in Central Asia.

extend Afghan highway to link with these States. The USA and NATO intervention in Afghanistan has temporarily thwarted their designs but in the long run Pakistan looks at the CAS as its cherished strategic depth and, if successful in her attempt, it will have direct military implications for India.

“Big three” interests

Iran rich in oil and economic resources, has the capacity and desire to extend to the CAS. A Shia Islamic Republic, Iran cherishes a desire to become leader of Islam and, therefore, is constantly indulging in spreading fundamental Islamic ideology in the CAS. With their economic assistance, hundreds of new mosques and religious schools have been constructed in the CAS. However, because of Sunni and Shia divide the risk of Islamic proliferation does not exist at present. Great balancing act is being played by Saudi Arabia which is funding Sunni culture in the CAS vis-a-vis Shia Iran - an outside player with inside support.

Economic potential and strategic location of CAS have attracted intervention from the USA and all neighbours particularly Russia, Turkey and Iran. Russia considers CAS as its extended frontiers and is aiming to have a collective security system with the CAS – within a tight framework like the erstwhile Warsaw Pact. Russia, therefore, will not allow any other power to acquire strategic access in CAS - the underbelly of Russia. The USA has three broad interests - oil, counter Iranian influences in the CAS and strategic location of CAS. The CAS has Europe in the west, Russia in the north and China in the east. The USA wants to be the fourth in the south through surrogate Afghanistan / Pakistan where efforts are to acquire a permanent presence which will give USA an Afghan route for Central Asian oil. Turkey, Iran and Pakistan are trying to create influence in the CAS for their own purposes. Turkey and Iran have the advantages of geographic contiguity and ethnic affinity with the CAS. Pakistan had plans to open land routes to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan via the Karakoram highway and

to develop trans-Asian silk route through these States to gain a direct approach to the Mediterranean. The land-locked Central Asian countries also have a vested interest to get an outlet to the sea through the Pakistan ports of Gwadar and Karachi to eliminate their dependence on Russian and Iranian ports. Karakoram highway, a joint venture of China and Pakistan, will be the natural land route to Tajikistan and Khyrgyzstan. Pakistan and China are also jointly considering a route of about 20 kms through the Wakhan corridor from Chitral to connect with Tajikistan. The quid pro quoo that Pakistan and China would demand would be that they distance themselves from India. Turkey, assisted by the west, is making steady inroads propelled by the ancient ties.

Indian interests Where does India come into all this and what are our strategic interests in the CAS? Central Asia is a vital region on our north-western flank. Historically, India was attacked by invaders from the Central Asia and demographic migration of Aryan culture to India also had its Central Asian origin. Mohammed Gauri, Gazni and later the Mughals came from these areas. This area, therefore, is a natural corridor and an approach to enter the Indian sub-continent. Our having a good equation with the region can generate a stable strategic security environment for us on our northern and north-west flanks. India, thus, has a vital security stake in the CAS. The region is rich in natural resources but lacks in skilled manpower, technology and

China shares geographical contiguity with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. With the growing chaos in the CAS, China will be deeply interested to prevent the emergence of regimes in these countries which either could be pro-Moscow or highly nationalist. Beijing is greatly apprehensive about the spread of Central Asian Islamic activity across the border into the volatile Xinjiang. Hence, destabilization of governments in these States, with sponsorship from the Pakistan ISI, but serving Chinese interests, are likely to be the design of China. Economically, China will be interested

With no particular vested interest, unlike deep rooted and well designed interests of Russia, China, the USA, Turkey and Iran, India is being seen as a friend providing equilibrium in a competitive environment. They have come to realise that India can be a very useful partner in their efforts at national reconstruction and diversification and restructuring of their economies 58

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

central Asia STRATEGIC IMPORT economic resources to exploit their potential. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are sources of oil and valuable minerals that India needs. Cooperation in the fields of mining, exploration of energy resources could be of mutual benefit to India and Central Asia. Some joint ventures in Uzbekistan for the production of electronic goods, brassware, stainless steel utensils, medicines, tea processing, machinery, and manufacture of bicycles have started and our trade with that country is reaching about a billion dollars. With Kazakhstan we have signed about a dozen agreements on bilateral trade which is now of the order of 80 million dollars. Other countries of the CAS would also welcome India providing investments, power and technologies for their economic reconstruction, particularly in areas where more advanced industrial countries are reluctant to get involved. The CAS is looking for the alternatives to reduce their exclusive dependence on Russians. If India slackens its efforts to operationalise cooperative agreements and lacks in initiatives, the CAS will look towards Pak / China jointness and this will distance them from India. Iran and Turkey are also being seen as natural partners by the CAS but both of them lack in technical manpower.

Marx vs Muhammad With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ideology of Marxism - Leninism is fast disappearing making place for nationalism or fundamentalist Islam. It is a battle royale between Marx and Muhammad. Rise of fundamentalist Islam in the CAS will be detrimental towards developing good relations with the secular India. There is an unprecedented upsurge of nationalist assertion in the CAS and, therefore, the nationalist pull is more likely to prevail over the religious pull. In their religious attitude they are not homogenous. Whereas Shia domination prevails over Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Sunnis dominate over Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is natural that the Shia Republics will tilt towards Iran while the Sunnis may be interested in having close ties with Saudi Arabia. India with Shia population second only to Iran in the world and Indian Sunnis almost top in the world, we should be able to have a more visible interface with all these countries. In the event of fundamental Islamic forces taking over the CAS, Indian interests will naturally suffer great setback. Central Asia is nearer to us than Moscow and our reach to this region should be easy and normal. Till such time situation normalises in Afghanistan and our relations with Pakistan

improve, it could be via Tehran. We have a common historical tradition between us and Central Asia. Babar ruled from Ferghana to Agra. Through this region also passed the silk route by which Hiuen Tsang travelled and carried the wisdom of Buddha on the mule backs. Therefore, merely exploring potentialities of commerce may not be enough. We have to explore a wider range of connections - economic, cultural, political and diplomatic. It is important that our scholars, journalists, artists, business houses, and cultural troupes visit these States extensively and regularly. We are neither a stranger nor a distant neighbour to Central Asia. The visibility of a friendly Indian presence will certainly be appreciated. Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara are emotive names conjuring up interchanges of men and ideas.

ASEAN mistake There is no reason to believe that they will not be economically powerful as they have abundance of wealth which is yet to be explored and exploited. It is also likely that these Central Asian States may in future establish their own common market or economic zone as also a cultural identity which may turn out to be centre of attraction for countries like USA, European Union and China. We faltered when ASEAN was formed by ignoring it as insignificant. Today, it is so powerful economically and politically that it has declined membership to us despite our consistent efforts. For the last one decade we have focused full attention on ASEAN and managed to have an observer’s status. In terms of our strategic and economic interests, we must attend to the Central Asia region with full premium concern. We should consider this region as an integral part of our neighbourhood. All our policies with regard to Central Asia should be guided by the vision that multidisciplinary relations are essential for the security and stability of an integrated strategic region extending from the northern limits of the Central Asian Republics to the southern extremities of the South Asian region, It may be worth recalling that the political department of the British government in India maintained an active policy approach towards Central Asia. Even after the Bolsheviks seized powers in Russia, the British agents were particularly active in Central Asia stirring up local ethnic groups against the new Bolshevik power.

Af-Pak corridor Times have changed. And certainly, India has no interest in such military intervention. What we need to realise is that if an imperial power could be so deeply interested in this region, why can’t

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

police awards 2010

na ona co n on

the democratic republic of India extend its hand of fraternal cooperation to these nascent democracies in our northern neighbourhood? Needless to say, the contours of our policy towards Central Asia, in the long run, will call for abiding amity with Afghanistan as also an enduring cordiality with Pakistan, our old traditional ties, rich cultural linkages and historical commercial exchanges, we need to revive and foster these bonds. Central Asian States are besieged by uncertainties for their future. There are ethnic rivalries within the States as well as between the States - a factor which could be exploited by outside powers like USA, Russia and China as also by adventurist neighbours like the Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. CAS realise that for their economic advancement, industrialisation and availability of consumer goods, they have to depend upon foreign countries. As regards security they all appreciate that Russia is in the best position to provide both internal security as also defence against external threats. For its own security and interests, Russia will not allow any outside power to cause such an influence on the CAS that they become hostile and resentful towards Russia. Therefore, Russia and its armed forces would continue to remain a determining and important pressure group. Even the USA and the European Union will prefer Russia to maintain security in the region against the expanding influence of fundamental Islamic influences. Aforesaid uncertainties will cause substantial influences on India’s relations with them. With no particular vested interest, unlike deep rooted and well designed interests of Russia, China, the USA, Turkey and Iran, India is being seen as a friend providing equilibrium in a competitive environment. They have come to realise that India can be a very useful partner in their efforts at national reconstruction and diversification and restructuring of their economies. These aspirations from them towards India present a challenge and a crisis for us. The word crisis has two components: one danger, the other opportunity. Accepting the challenge and utilising the opportunity are both desirable and necessary on our part. The writer has been the Chief of Staﬀ of the Eastern Army Command and the Vice Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana

DSA salutes the President’s Police Medal awardees of 2009. The dedication and bravery of these men have contributed signiﬁcantly to India’s security. The recognition from the President will inspire them to continue their great work in service of the nation. We hope their sincerity, dedication and courage will inspire fellow ofﬁcers to perform to the best of their ability. To inspire our countrymen especially youth to dedicate their work for service, welfare, development and security of our nation.

The list of state police awardees will be published in forthcoming issues.

Force / State-wise list of medal awardees on Republic Day 2010. S.No.

Name of State / organization

President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG)

Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG)

President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPMDS)

Police Medal for Meritorious Service (PMMS)

Andhra Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh

Assam

Bihar

Chhattishgarh

Delhi

Goa

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

police awards 2010 S.No.

Name of State / organization

President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG)

Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG)

President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPMDS)

Police Medal for Meritorious Service (PMMS)

Gujarat

Haryana

Himachal Pradesh

Jammu & Kashmir

Jharkhand

Karnataka

Kerala

S.No.

Name of State / organization

President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG)

Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG)

President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPMDS)

Police Medal for Meritorious Service (PMMS)

CISF

CRPF

MHA

ITBP

NSG

SSB

Sikkim

NICFS

Tamil Nadu

SVPNPA

Tripura

M/o Civil Aviation

Uttar Pradesh

National Investigation Agencyy

Uttarakhand

M/o Parliamentary Affairs

West Bengal

UTs

M/o Urban Development

Ministry of Railways

A&N Island

Chandigarh

Dadra & Nager Haveli

Total

522

Daman & Diu

Lakshdweep

Puducherry

CPOs / Other Organizations

Assam Riﬂes

BSF

CBI

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

Source : Press Information Bureau

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

internal security DILEMMAS WITHIN

security

and

development 64

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

The threats to national security in both the external and internal aspects are identifiable. The latter casts its shadow on the former. We have long known of Jai Chands and Mir Jafars and their invitations to foreigners to resolve internal contradictions. In modern times the dangers lie in the “isms” that confront us. The mantra for stability may well lie in equitable and balanced development. That would leave little room for the thin edge of external intervention from digging into an internal morass.

oday there is an urgent need for a massive re-awakening of citizens in all walks of life to the various aspects of national security as well as the numerous challenges to it so that people’s active support could be enlisted in meeting threats to the nation that have both external as well as internal dimensions. Our concept of security has involved the preservation and perpetuation of the core values fundamental to the Indian nation-state – democratic norms, secular society, a federal polity, moral and ethical values, fundamental equal

r. San eev hadauria

rights and national strength and power. The change in international perception about India due to its rise as an emerging power posits the question, namely, how to maintain the tempo of India’s transformation and development. Since the primary task of security policy is to ensure an external environment that is conducive to the country’s wellbeing and development, it is necessary to ponder over what are the critical issues and what kind of security policy would enable India to maintain its autonomy in international politics, secure

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

internal security DILEMMAS WITHIN Security and development have a symbiotic relationship. evelopment is an overarching term encompassing economic growth though agricultural improvement and industriali ation, moderni ation, democrati ation, seculari ation, national integration and nation building process. Anything that comes in the way is a threat to national security

out include social, political, economic, democratic set-up, secularism and federalism. The erosion of any one of these is bound to erode the legitimacy of the State and hence constitute a threat to its security. An effort must be made to emphasize the causes of conflict in specific regions of India and then provide analytical tools that could point towards a solution. An attempt has seldom been made to establish a link between general theory of social change and specific policies meant for the orderly resolution of conflict. The objectives could be specified in terms of the following questions: 1. What are the cultural meanings and legal / institutional attributes of legitimate demands of particular states in India? 2. Why has the record of ‘high governance’ registered a sharp decline in some parts of India during the last few decades? 3. How does the organization of the civil service affect the maintenance of law and order and implementing respective policies? 4. How have the policies of ‘economic reforms’ affected the ‘law and order’? 5. How does social mobilization and political organization on the basis of caste, language religions, tribe and region affect political order? 6. How does domestic politics affect the political order in India?

its frontiers, cope with the challenges of cross-border terrorism, eradicate poverty, grow at 8-10% per annum, and transform India into a moderately well-off state where people can realize their potential and so on.

Three challenges Looked at it in this light, broadly speaking there would be three major sets of challenges ahead for India’s security policy, namely, meeting strategic challenges, and secondly, responding to the challenges of globalization and managing non-traditional critical issues such as human security, food, water, energy, environment and WMD, etc., and thirdly evolving a national consensus on what constitutes India’s national interest. India has come to recognize such nonmilitary pressures like trade, intellectual property rights, environment and technology control as a threat to national

security. Trade embargoes, technology control regimes and diplomatic pressures to sign various treaties were growing in recent times. Some of the key threats which can be included in the area of internal security are fundamentalism, communalism, migration and terrorism. In the area of economic liberalization, the adverse impact of globalization and trans-nationalism are on the social order. The political approach to internal security and in turn national security is vital for formulating a total security policy which will optimize the gains for India. Our perception of national security must go beyond safeguarding the borders and maintaining law and order.

Causes of conﬂict In the context of a developing country, like India, the core values which stand

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

The overall objective should be to examine the problem of social disorder and political conﬂict in India not as a ‘symptomatic’ problem but as a ‘systemic’ one brought about by forces of social and economic transition and political conjecture, responding to a speciﬁc set of objective conditions in different parts of the country, and only then can we hope to contribute to rational policies and action and the minimization of the problem, if not complete eradication. There should be a conscious effort to unite the social scientist and the policy maker on a common endeavour and only then we can expect to achieve a synthesis of theory and practice to their common good and will contribute towards the achievement of cooperation and just and humane governance in India.

Other variables Some of the independent variables can be outlined which alone or in combination account for the sorry state of affairs. (1) ‘Law and order’ management: Who are the ‘real’ managers? How are they trained, equipped, paid, supervised and held politically accountable? What are the

methods of conﬂict adjudication at local, district, regional and national levels? (2) Redistributive policies: What kind of legislation is made which makes it necessary for people to believe as they do and sometimes irrationally? Of interest here are labour laws, agrarian reforms, minimum wages laws, welfare legislations, positive discrimination etc. (3) Constitutional sanction for ‘sacred beliefs’: Non-negotiable values such as group identity, ethnicity, shared religious ideals. Communal accommodation as a basis of constitutional solution of different problems in divided societies like India.

There would be three ma or sets of challenges ahead for India s security policy, namely, meeting strategic challenges secondly, responding to the challenges of globali ation and managing non traditional critical issues such as human security, food, water, energy, environment and W , etc., and thirdly, evolving a national consensus on what constitutes India s national interest

(4) Rules of succession, recruitment of new elites and political order: The variables to be investigated would include elections as method of elite recruitment and the effectiveness of election commission in maintaining free and fair elections. (5) Human migration: Mass human migrations and refugees also pose serious problems for Indian security. India has faced several waves of migrations and refugees over the past five decades which need to be checked and if possible reversed. Although, it is a very difficult task because of religious, national and historical patterns which run across boundaries of different countries in different regions and this domestic problem cannot be separated from relations between the countries. (6) Disintegration of institutions: The political institutions of India find themselves under severe strain being weighed down by both old and new problems. The political arrangements of early years dominated by educated nationalist elite are virtually coming apart. The legitimacy enjoyed by those who managed the system has become gradually eroded due to corruption at higher level. The capacity to govern has declined in inverse proportion to the capability to accommodate. It has been pointed out by many that ‘deinstitutionalization’ is the main cause of the decline of orderly rule in India. But it is difficult to conjecture about the policy alternative that could restore a state of ‘orderly rule’ in India at this stage.

The genesis Struggles will continue in all probability under conditions of uneven development, increasing dependence on the centre, and acute scarcity of resources. Lastly, the issue of issues - improving the living conditions and raising the standards of living of the majority living below poverty line even remotely approaching the modern standards which has never really been anybody’s

agenda right through. Security and development have a symbiotic relationship. Without security there can be no development and without development security has no meaning. Development is an overarching term encompassing economic growth though agricultural improvement and industrialization, modernization, democratization, secularization, national integration and nation building process. Anything that comes in the way is a threat to national security which in turn has to contend with law and order problems, proxy war and low intensity conﬂict (LIC) and evolve adequate responses to deal with militancy, insurgency, terrorist violence and irregular warfare. All these maladies are eating into the vitals of Indian nation-state. These evils rather than being causes are actually effects of various psychological, political and social anomalies. The

frequent use of the Army to ﬁght internal disturbances is not a healthy trend and increase in judicial activism which rather than being a healthy sign indicates the ailment of our participative democracy. Corruption in society and particularly in high political ofﬁces is another factor eroding the credibility of the State. Unless these are dealt with security will remain elusive.

The objective The challenges in the post cold war period appear to be less military and more economic and technical in nature. The focus seems to be very much on the human dimension of security. The security problems facing a developing country like India are a reﬂection of the laborious process of nation building. At the root of the problem lies the reality of social inequalities and economic disparities.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

internal security DILEMMAS WITHIN There have been partial efforts made to create a centrali ed ational Security Council that would look at security from a total perspective. Such an institution may be able to provide a holistic perception of security and evolve a strategic doctrine to suit India s needs in future. or this purpose, there is an urgent need to activate effectively the ational Security Council SC set up by the government and to enhance its efficiency

Value erosion The root of the other problems to India’s security lie in the rapidly widening gap between expectation and achievement or satisfaction, especially when society has been rapidly losing its historical roots of family life, spiritual solace and traditional, cultural, moral / ethical values. Technology has created a revolution of rising expectations. Satellite based audio-visual communication systems bring to remotest part of the country images that enhance awareness but they can also be culturally and psychologically very destabilizing. They are also expediting the value erosion and the process of value transition. An assessment of India’s other threats is also desirable. Today, the most pervasive force in our world is globalization. Although globalization is inexorable, its beneﬁts are not. It can expand access to

should have the right to interpret human rights in accordance to their history, culture, polity, and economy. Thus the broad application of Amnesty approach to human rights in India would have to be tempered with the ground situation mentioned above.

Trade embargoes, technology control regimes and diplomatic pressures to sign various treaties were growing in recent times. Some of the key threats which can be included in the area of internal security are fundamentalism, communalism, migration and narco terrorism

The threat posed by the convergence of organized crime, drug trafﬁcking and terrorist acts are no longer insular, distinct activities that can be contained and eradicated through traditional enforcement. Instead they are integrated activities which through their very commission have a reverberating impact on our vital national interests. We are now threatened by self inﬂicted, swiftly moving environmental alterations about whose long term biological and ecological consequences we are painfully ignorant. Dwindling reserves of strategic grade resources like oil and ecological imbalances now threaten the with the Anglo-Saxon representative model called democracy. It needs to be pointed out that the post-colonial world has been experimenting with several versions of legitimacy. Legitimacy though a representative mandate would have to search for roots in the political culture of the state concerned. The Third World reaction to this comes as a cultural resurgence to the convergence cosmopolitan culture.3 These Third World civilizations like India grew in the belief that such values like modernization, westernization, secularization, all adopted at the expense of traditional values, would lead to power and prosperity.

Therefore, along the path of development both ‘freedom from fear’ and ‘freedom from want’ have to go hand in hand. The former is a battle for peace, that is a battle on the security front; whereas, the latter is on social and economic front. It is now widely recognized that ‘State security’ may not lead to ‘human security. In fact over-emphasis on ‘State security’ often endangers human security and in turn human rights.

technology that enriches life and technology that destroys it. It can equalize economic opportunity and accentuate economic disparity. It can make dictatorships more vulnerable to the spread of liberating ideas and democracies like India more vulnerable to the spread of terrorism, disease and ﬁnancial turmoil.

Bary Buzan rightly concludes as follows:

The area that has gained prominence in the era of globalization is that of human rights. There is a need to make a distinction between the approaches to human rights of the developed world and the developing world. The Third World holds that economic development has to precede the full ﬂowering of civil and political rights and that a greater value needs to be placed on community and family than on individual rights. It can be further argued that in the desire to achieve distributive justice there is an undue emphasis on liberty rights and not welfare rights of the people. Countries

(1) That security has a meaning independent of the State at the level of the individual; (2) That individual security is affected both positively and negatively by the State, and that the grounds for disharmony between individual and national security represent a permanent contradiction; and (3) That individual pursuit of security has a variety of inﬂuences on national security, both as problem and as stimulus and constraint.

Civil liberties

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

security of nations. National security cannot be maintained unless national economies can be sustained.2

Mitigating factors Some of the short term mitigations of these dangers, such as greater energy efficiency, rapid banning of chlorofluorocarbons, or modest reductions in nuclear arsenals are comparatively easy and at some level are already underway. But other far reaching approaches will encounter widespread inertia, denial and resistance. In this category are conversion from fossil fuels to a non-polluting energy economy, a continuing swift reversal of the nuclear arms race and a voluntary halt to population growth without which many of the other approaches to preserve the environment will be nullified. The liberal agenda of globalization has also raised the spectre of cultural threats of convergence. Today it is politically incorrect to argue in favour of any system that is at divergence

In reality, these societies suffered problems of poverty and deprivation through rapid and unplanned urbanization and an imbalance in the distribution of wealth. The reassertion of traditional values is visible in the use of religion for social justice and identity. Such a reassertion is not ‘fundamentalism’ as is popularly perceived as fundamentalism can only be an aberration of this trend. India has come to recognize such non-military pressures like trade, intellectual property rights, environment and technology control as a threat to national security. Trade embargoes, technology control regimes and diplomatic pressures to sign various treaties were growing in recent times. Some of the key threats which can be included in the area of internal security are fundamentalism, communalism, migration and narco-terrorism. In the area of economic liberalization, the adverse impact of globalization and trans-nationalism are on the social order.4 A new security policy would have to involve the non-military

sectors and also evolve a coordinated national response to such threats. Although, India in the last ten years or so has adopted its global strategy to meet new challenges and build a reasonably open and dynamic economy, it has not yielded the desired developmental results and the reasons are obvious. It can be well appreciated that India is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual developing country which since independence has been striving to evolve into a composite culture on the one hand and scrambling for modernization and rapid industrialization on the other. It is to be noted that India had been completely de-industrialized in the two hundred years before independence. During the sixty years or so after independence, the country has undertaken the most ambitious and gigantic task of transforming an orthodox society of an ancient civilization into a modern state, from an agrarian economy to an industrialized system though a democratic process. The process is bound to be slower than most of its people wanted and a degree of turbulence was inevitable in such a colossal change.

Acculturation Besides the turbulence and tension that is incidental to the process of development our country has been constantly contending with the problem of ‘regime interest’ versus ‘national interest’. The dichotomy of ‘regime interest’ and ‘national interest’ is manifested variously and hinders the acculturation process by giving rise to minorityism, casteism and communalism on micro-level as well as undermines the federal structure of our polity on macro-level. This is

possible because while the form of Indian politics is secular, its style is essentially casteist and communal. This discrepancy in form and style of politics is a major source of instability in our political system. The economic rights of the people are limited only by considerations of economic development and national security, which take precedence over the individual’s economic rights and consume a lion’s share of the annual budget of the country. While the low priority given to economic rights can be justiﬁed on the basis of national security, in the ﬁnal analysis, priorities are determined by the ideological commitment of the leadership which in turn, depends upon the distribution of political and economic power within the system. Hence, the social and economic development to a large extent and not ideology seems to be the greatest hurdle in the quest for the realization of human rights in India.5

Conclusions Before ﬁnally drawing the conclusions it is conceded as Rosencrance puts it ‘one of the fundamental problems in the international system is the formulation of objectives and policies on a purely domestic basis’.6 But the truth of the matter is that it is ultimately ‘national interest’ and not any utopian philosophy which determines the priority and concerns of national decision making. India like others is no exception to it. In order to cope with the present and future challenges to the internal and external security India needs a dedicated, enlightened and decisive leadership and an efﬁcient agency to look into the security matters and arrange a time bound

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

internal security DILEMMAS WITHIN

DE ENCE AND EC RITY

redressal of the issues. India does not have a tradition of institutionalized planning of strategic policy. Traditionally, India has always made a distinction between home, foreign and defence policies and has also sought to keep Science and Technology along with other sectors in watertight compartments. It is only in recent times that these traditional barriers are collapsing. There have been partial efforts made to create a centralized National Security Council that would look at security from a total perspective. Such an institution may be able to provide a holistic perception of security and evolve a strategic doctrine to suit India’s needs in future. For this purpose, there is an urgent need to activate effectively the National Security Council (NSC) set up by the government and to enhance its efﬁciency.

The agenda A gearing up of the economy is the need of the hour requiring a grand national strategy which is “the part of the decision making process that conceptualizes and establishes goals and objectives designed to protect and enhance national interests in the international environment.” This national strategy is urgently needed to set the house in order, preserve internal harmony, providing for basic human needs and rights without which security is illusory. Indeed, the dynamics of socio-political and economic dilemmas confronting us today have eroded and diluted national consensus on vital issues of India’s

concern along with her sense of self, which acted as a source of our strength for the first two decades or so after independence. Hence it is necessary to develop a consensus about India’s national interests for institutionalized planning of strategic policy and evolution of a strategic doctrine in order to provide a meaningful framework for guiding security policy of the country. It is a settled fact that the best source of security is a general dynamic, equitable and balanced development. When development is not even it inevitably creates turbulence inside the state and endangers security from external sources as well which has been the case in India. Therefore, reduction of the disparities in income and a balanced regional industrial development must be effected. To the millions in the developing countries like India, efforts at ensuring state security make little meaning as long as they are steeped in hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy. When their very survival is at stake and their economic base is severely threatened, their social and political lives are affected almost on a day-to-day basis by strife and unorganized violence and by ethnic, sectarian and domestic conflicts. Hence, national security as traditionally understood loses its importance and salience. Mostly all major conflicts that have occurred in the last decade, nearly all of them have been within countries rather than between nations. The picture is going to be grimmer and challenging in the coming decades if we do not bring about the dawn

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

of “real freedom we have clamoured for, and that real freedom in turn will bring food to our starving people, clothing for them, housing for them and all manners of opportunities of progress” and only then security will have any meaning.

Notes and references: 1. Barry Buzan, ‘People, States and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations’, Wheatsheaf Books Ltd., 1983, p. 107. 2. A.R. Khan, ‘Globalisation and Non-Traditional Security in South Asia’, RCSS News letter, Colombo, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2000 p. 4. 3. Barry Buzan, ‘People, States and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations’, Wheatsheaf Books Ltd., 1983, p. 33. 4. For a brief but well informed note on Islamic Resurgence see Background Brief, (Prepared by the Foreign and Commonwealth Ofﬁce, London, October 1994). 5. V.P. Malik, ‘New Challenges to National Security’, Savarkar Memorial Lecture, 1996 (Pune: DDSS, 1996). 6. Richard Rosencrance, ‘International Relations: Peace or War’, McGraw Hill, New York, 1973, p. 186 The writer is Associate Professor, Dept. of Defence and Strategic Studies, Allahabad Central University, Allahabad

Gen. Deepak Kapoor honoured as Nepal Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor has been given Honorary rank of General of Nepal Army by the President of Nepal Ram Baran Yadav. India and Nepal have special military relations where honorary ranks are given to ofﬁcers on reciprocal basis. During the last visit of Nepal Army Chief Gen. Chhtra Man Singh Gurung, was also given Honorary General Of Indian Army title by the President Pratibha Patil, on Dec 14, 2009, in New Delhi. “We enjoy a special military relationship and we should try to make it exemplary for the rest of the world, in the days ahead.” “Nepal Army and the Indian Army have traditional linkages and this will not be affected by political changes and whoever heads the government,”Gen. Kapoor told Principal Staff Ofﬁcers of the Nepal Army at the Army Headquarters in Kathmandu on 21january.

29 more Mig 29 ks for Indian Navy Indian Navy is planning to procure 29 more Mig-29ks for its naval air ﬂeet. This is in addition to 16 already ordered with Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened as INS Vikramaditya. The deal is going to cost India in excess of $ 1b. India is currently building aircraft carrier of 40,000 tonnes indigenously at Cochin shipyard, in addition to upcoming INS Vikramaditya, to be inducted around 2012-13. Indian navy requires ﬁghter aircraft for its depleting Sea Harriers squadrons. Mig 29 ks will strengthen the much required air power of Indian Navy to increase its force projection and maritime dominance in Indian Ocean Region. Mig 29 ks have air to air BVR capabilities, and large range of air to surface munition for ground attack and antiship missions.

Lieutenant General V.K. Singh will be the next Army Chief Lt. Gen. V.K. Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC, presently GOC-in-C, Eastern Command has been appointed the next Chief of the Army Staff in the rank of General with effect from the afternoon of March 31, 2010. The present COAS General Deepak Kapoor, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC retires from service on March 31, 2010. Lt. General V.K. Singh was commissioned into the Rajput Regiment on June 14, 1970. During his long and distinguished career spanning nearly 40 years, he has February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

insignia INDIAN NAVY Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 50 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 16 Yudh Seva Medals, 2 Bar to Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 38 Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 8 Nao Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 14 Vayu Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 2 Bar to Vishisht Seva Medals and 119 Vishisht Seva Medals . In addition a total of 19 Mention-In-Despatches have also been announced for participating in different operations like Op Rakshak, Op Meghdoot, Op Hifazat and Op Rhino. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh will give away National Bravery Awards for 2009 to 21 children on January 21, 2010. These children - 8 girls and 13 boys - have been selected by a high powered committee in recognition of their outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service. Two Awards were given posthumously.

FORCE

KNOW YOUR

The officer ranks of Indian Navy by and large match with those of

Pallam Raju exhorts defence scientists to come out of cocoon, partner with industry

Western militaries and are replicas of British military ranks.

served in a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. He participated in the 1971 operations and IPKF operations. He is presently serving as the Eastern Army Commander. Prior to that, he commanded a Corps in the Western sector. He has attended Defence Services Staff College, the Army War College and the US Army War College, Carlisle.

India request for information for 6 Refueling Planes India has released request for information for 6 new air refueling planes. India is currently operating Il-76 for air to air refueling. Air refueling increases the range of aircrafts. There have been talks about IAF wanting to discontinue with IL76, and procure newer and larger planes for this purpose.

IAF inducting Akash to safeguard north-east skies To protect critical assets in the north-east Indian air force is planning to induct Akash missile system. The defence of railway lines, bridges, airfields, and power projects is critical for India from Chinese air attack. To ensure their safety after much delay IAF has agreed to induct DRDO Surface To air Missile, Akash. Akash has been one of the much delayed projects of DRDO which at last has been accepted by our forces. IAF has been upgrading the airstrips and stationing its frontline fighters to counter Chinese misadventure, to ensure the safety of these fields a potent air cover was required, with Akash induction this gap will be duly filled.

President gives away Gallantry awards On occasion of Republic Day The President has given gallantry and distinguished service awards to Police and Military Ofﬁcers. Delhi Police has got 11 President’s Police Medals for Gallantry, 3 President’s Police Medals for Distinguished Services, 17 Police Medals for Meritorious Services. The President has approved awards of 442 gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others. This includes three Ashok Chakras, 6 Kirti Chakras, 26 Shaurya Chakras, 3 Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 118 Sena Medals (Gallantry), 3 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry),3 Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry), 28 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, 4 Uttam Yudh Seva Medals, 1 Bar to

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

Sikh Flag Officer’s Turban Badge

Sikh Cdr to Cmde Turban Badge

The Minister of State for Defence Shri MM Pallam Raju has called upon defence scientists to come out of their cocoons. Addressing an MoU Signing Ceremony under the DRDO-FICCI Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialization (ATAC) Programme in Delhi, Shri Pallam Raju asked the private industry to become motivational tools for the scientists. Some of the technologies developed by the DRDO’s 50 laboratories spread across the country have immense applications in industry and everyday life and the ATAC programme has successfully harnessed the spin-offs of defence technology, he added. Dr VK Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and Director General (Defence R&D) said the DRDO has unveiled a robust programme of collaborating with the Industry, both PSUs and Private, and Academies. The Academicians will help in Innovation and the Industry in Delivery while the DRDO would serve as their interface, he added. Over 100 scientists from as many as 26 DRDO laboratories have interacted with with the Industry under the two-year-old ATAC programme, said Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller R&D (Services Interaction), DRDO. In his opening remarks, Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI said 45 technologies including Explosive Detection Kit, HAPO Chamber, Electrochromic Glass, RO-based Mobile Water Purification System and DEPA Multi-Insect Repellant Cream have already been identified for commercial exploitation through the ATAC process.

Officer’s Cap Badge

Cap Badge

Officer’s Beret Badge

Cap Badge

I.S. and below Cap Badge

Six MoUs for Technology Transfer between DRDO and industry houses were signed on the occasion.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

insignia INDIAN NAVY

FORCE

KNOW YOUR

Commodore

FORCE

II Commander

III

KNOW YOUR

I Captain

I) Admiral of the fleet Sle

Shoulder

eve

Admiral of the fleet is an honorary Rank, with ceremonial duties. Till now no officer in Indian Navy has been given this rank.

ieutenant Commander

II Admiral Silver four stars and crossed silver baton and scimitar with ational emblem in old with red outline at above

III

ieutenant

Sub ieutenant

ice Admiral Silver three stars and crossed silver baton and scimitar with ational emblem in old with red outline at above

Junior Commissioned Officers I

Rear Admiral

Silver two stars and crossed silver baton and scimitar with ational emblem in old with red outline at above

Master Chief Petty Officer (1st Class) Master Chief Petty Officer (2nd Class) Chief Petty Officer

Non Commissioned Officers Petty Officer eading Seaman Seaman 1 Seaman 2

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

jokes LAUGH N RELAX!

Jokes of the month An Israeli soldier who just enlisted asked the Commanding Officer for a 3-day pass. The CO says “Are you crazy? You just join the Israeli army, and you already want a 3-day pass? You must do something spectacular for that recognition!” So the soldier comes back a day later in an Arab tank! The CO was so impressed, he asked “How did you do it?” “Well, I jumped in a tank, and went towards the border with the Arabs. I approached the border, and saw an Arab tank. I put my white flag up; the Arab tank put his white flag up. I said to the Arab soldier, “Do you want to get a three-day pass? So we exchanged tanks!”

An Indian army ofﬁcer was shouting at his drunk Gurkha soldier!

February 2010 DEFENCE AND

young India

CONCERN EN

olicing with the

DON!

Even in the aftermath of 26/11, the criminal police nexus is alive and ticking! What is truly disturbing is, of course, the fact that our security interests continue to be compromised with impunity.

hat is our country coming to? Police and Gangsters in the same frame? Will the country ever be safe to live in? In early January, the newspapers and television channels were full of articles and visuals showing some top Mumbai police officers dancing at a Christmas party thrown by a top underworld don, Chhota Rajan. Despite the denials and pleas that the media had misreported, there was no doubt that the cameras were not lying. In the face of damning evidence, heads soon began to roll. The Maharashtra government was forced to take action. Even in the aftermath of 26/11, the criminal police nexus is alive and ticking! What is truly disturbing is, of course, the fact that our security interests continue to be compromised with impunity. This is a gang that is steeped in hawala racketeering, in overseas transfer of funds that find their way into the pockets of drugs and arms dealers, in bankrolling bomb attacks and in sponsoring terror strikes. Yet, some of our top men in khaki hobnob with them unashamedly. This is not to say that there are no honest police officers. Of course there are many, but by and large, they are penalised, pressurised and shunted out whenever they try to break into entrenched criminal activities. Behind all of this is frequently the support of some among our political class – both overt and covert. This is what prevents a severe crackdown and a soft approach towards those who place the country’s security in serious jeopardy. If the security environment in the country is to be improved, then the police force has to be cleansed, better trained, empowered and kept under constant surveillance. Many policemen are recruited by paying huge bribes, as seen in the recent recruitment scandal in Uttar Pradesh. Rather than physical fitness and education, men at the cutting edge of the police force are often selected on extra-merit considerations. What is worse, is that those selected are subsequently made to work long hours, without rest. Their housing facilities are virtually non-existent. Hence we saw the dismal sight of those guarding the Taj Hotel in Mumbai camping under the Gateway of India. This is the treatment we mete out to the saviours of our country’s honour. The other side of the coin is the example of DGP S.P.S. Rathod, who used the might of the service to not only molest a 14-year old girl, but to further misuse his power to terrorise those who were bold enough to try and expose his misbehaviour. The brutality of the police force in the country is exemplified by

Ronen hatter ee

the Bhagalpur blinding and many other such examples. Such behaviour is only to be expected from a force which is ill-trained, ill paid and consequently ill-behaved. How does this compromise the security environment of the country? Well, when top police officials in a metropolitan city, including a deputy commissioner of police are photographed dancing at a party organised by the Chhota Rajan gang sympathisers, the matter requires introspection. Here was his wife, Sujata Nikhalje, celebrating the release of gang members from the jail, including D.K. Rao, who had controlled the gang’s extortion and smuggling operations from jail, and celebrating with her were our men of the police retained by the State to protect our security interests! If the police offer tacit support to those who deal in smuggling, hawala transactions and extortion, how will we as a nation ensure that we emerge victorious in our fight against terrorism and the sinister forces of the Lakshar-e-toiba etc.? This is a breach of security at one level. But at another level, especially in view of 26/11 and our border infiltration from east and west as well as the sea, the situation is a cause for concern, if not alarm. We need a crack police force which will sniff out terrorists, rather than be caught napping by them. The entire country was traumatised by the three day reality footage of the city of Mumbai being held hostage by terrorists. All this goes to show that the “protectors of justice” are lagging behind in basic responsibilities allowing crime lords to have a free run and allowing the citizens to be openly exploited. In such cases the ends of justice will not be served. And the nation will have to pay a heavy price but for how long? The writer is the youngest novelist in the country. His first novel The writer is the youngest novelist in the country. His first novel Fire Within was published in 2007 when he was just 15. His second novel Ready to Rock came in 2009 and was highly acclaimed. He is a creative and proactive individual, eager to explore new avenues and keen to rise to opportunities to pursue a career in the world of writing, journalism and the print and electronic media. Extremely keen to make a contribution to the world around him, improving it in any way he can. He also has interest in the social and security related issues, has appeared for several live and recorded television interviews including NDTV, Lok Sabha TV and Star Plus, has several published interviews in local and national print media including Hindustan Times, Pioneer, India Today, was chosen for the Young Achievers Award 2008 by Career Launcher.

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

cartoon

February 2010 DEFENCE AND SECURITY ALERT

request

We request all academicians, thinkers, policy makers and authors to write for DSA for a safe and secure India and world.

We invite

you to send the synopsis of your esteemed works for book publication related to defence and security.

We intend

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