Geopolitics Nov 14 by Newsline

bsf dg: nobody is in control in pakistan

geopolitics Vol V, Issue VI, november 2014 n `100

d e f e n c e n d i p l o m a c y n S EC U R I T Y

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arming for future

Wars are increasingly becoming high-tech, with rapid improvements in a soldierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance and capabilities

contents

Cover Story (P36)

Technology and War As technology advances, the methods of warfare have also gone a long way from conventional forms to unconventional warfare. Modern technology has led to the invention of faster aircraft, unmanned machines, laserguided missiles and many other hi-tech weapons.

Panorama

(P8)

Fragile borders

Focus

(P10)

Armyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Air Defence

Pakistan is not the only threat that India is tackling; China has been more vigorous in its stance against India and has been making a significant number of attempts to violate the sovereignty of India.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation, in collaboration with the private sector, is firmly on its course to develop various missile systems to neutralise the threats to the Army and its assets from air.

DefBiz (P14)

DefBiz (P23)

DefBiz (P28)

MMRCA Deal

Exporting Arms

Pilatus in India

Negotiations between Dassault and the government of India is almost complete and a decision is likely to be taken soon, for which a voluminous draft agreement of over 15,000 pages has already been prepared.

The vision of transforming India from an arms-importer to an armsexporter indicates a paradigm shift in national political ideals and is symbolic of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire to play a greater role in regional security.

Pilatus is satisfied with the work being done by TASL for the assembly of PC-12 aero structures and electrical harnesses at BEL, says Jim Roche, VP-Government Aviation and Deputy CEO, Pilatus.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

contents

VOL V, ISSUE VI, November 2014 Editor-in-Chief

K SRINIVASAN Editor

PRAKASH NANDA Managing Editor

New wave of Jihad (P52) With peace now prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir, the frustrated foreign extremists supported by global terror outfits are planning to launch a new wave of Jihad in the state.

Fighting the ISIS (P70) The US, with a tentative coalition of 20-odd nations, has launched an offensive against the non-state actor holding large swathes of territory of two sovereign nations (Iraq and Syria) in the Middle East.

TIRTHANKAR GHOSH Consulting Editor

SAURAV JHA Senior Proof Reader

Rajesh vaid Correspondent

naveed anjum, charchit singh Designers

mohit kansal, nagender dubey

(P29)

Face to Face

Photo Editor

H C TIWARI Staff Photographer

Hemant Rawat Director (Corporate Affairs)

RAJIV SINGH

H C TIWARI

Fully Prepared D K Pathak, Director General, Border Security Force, speaks about the challenges faced by his troops and the plans that have been chalked out to counter different adversaries in this no-hold’s barred interview.

RAKESH GERA Legal Advisor

Vasu Sharma Subscription

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DIPLOMACY (P64) Strengthening the SAARC There are widespread hopes and high expectations over Modi’s openness and penchant for reaching out to the neighbourhood with innovative and much bolder projects that could provide a fillip to the erstwhile dormant SAARC.

Director (Marketing)

BSF DG: NOBODY IS IN CONTROL IN PAKISTAN

geopolitics Vol V, Issue VI, NOVEMBER 2014 n `100

DEFENCE n DIPLOMACY n SECURITY

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ARMING FOR FUTURE

Cover Design Mohit Kansal

Wars are increasingly becoming high-tech, with rapid improvements in a soldier’s performance and capabilities

for newseye media Pvt. Ltd. All information in GEOPOLITICS is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear. Owned and published by K Srinivasan, 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar, Phase-I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at Nutech Photolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020. Readers are welcome to send their feedback at geopolitics@newsline.in

The total number of pages in this issue is 72+4

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November 2014

letters



letters to editor

EQUIPPING FOR THE FUTURE

AviaIndra-2014 – illustrates how far the IAF has come. Over the past 15 years, large scale induction of Su-30MKIs, upgrades to the IAF’s MiG-21, MiG-27 and MiG-29 fleets; introduction of net-centric warfare through AFNET and data links; induction of force multipliers like tankers and Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft; and regular exercise with foreign air forces have added considerably to the IAF’s punch. Acquisition of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) (Rafale), planned upgrades to the IAF’s Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fleets and modernisation of airfield infrastructure (MAFI) would continue the trend. The IAF’s re-equipping plans

October 2014 www.geopolitics.in

over the next 20 years seems impressive – with Rafale, Tejas LCA, LCA Mk-2, Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) fighters; Phalcon AWACS, EMB145 AEW&C and Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) force multipliers; and additional C-17s and C-130J transports in the pipeline. This does not mean that there are no challenges. The IAF still has a long way to go in areas such as ISR, UAS and UCAVs. Also, more challenging technological advances in military aviation are around the corner: Cooperative engagements, optionally manned fighters, and hypersonic flight, to name a few. Resting on the oars is not an option for the artistes of the sky!

The IAF needs to press on with its new found nimbleness in adapting to changes. All told, the force is still some way from becoming world class. The future remains replete with challenges, known, predictable and unpredictable; posed by our adversaries, procurement plans and existing shortcomings. We will dwell on some of the known and predictable challenges, the focus being on the challenge of indigenous development. The Tejas LCA Mk-1 is believed to be months away from Final Operational Clearance (FOC) and induction into the IAF. In November 2001, while sanctioning Full Scale Engineering Development (FSED) of the aircraft, MoD stipulated De-

cember 2008 as project completion date. The date has since been revised to March 2015. An eight-year long delay in a sevenyear long project is difficult to condone, but it must be kept in mind that the LCA was initially sanctioned as a technology demonstrator project and its two prototypes were not built to production standards. They were built to be serviced by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) engineers; as a result, many components were not fitted to be line replaceable. Post Full Scale Engineering Development (FSED) sanction, the aircraft needed much internal re-engineering to facilitate flight line servicing by IAF personnel. HAL was to progressively bring the Tejas to production standards while building the

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October 2014

our Cover Story, “Equipping For The Future” (Geopolitics, October 2014) made interesting reading. As the Indian Air Force (IAF) celebrates its 82nd anniversary, the power and enthusiasm it exhibits has never been seen before. The IAF has grown to become the fourth largest air arm in world with a strategic reach. The goal of the IAF is to become a force with a ‘strategic reach’, both in peace and war. The Indian Air Force is undergoing a modernisation programme to replace and upgrade its aging and outdated equipment since the late 90’s to advanced standards. For that reason it has started procuring and developing aircraft, weapons, associated technologies, and infrastructure. Some of these programmes date back to the late 80’s. The primary focus of the current modernisation programme and upgrades is to replace aircraft purchased from the Soviet Union that currently form the backbone of the Air Force. The modernisation policy looks like a long term policy and may require lot of finances but we are expecting that this will help IAF to achieve its goal mentioned above. IAF will soon lead the group of the largest air arm if this concept of modernisation works. I appreciate Geopolitics for the attempts and hard work done to compile all the information. Akash Sharma, Chandigarh

•

Indian Air Force deployed over 125 helicopters and aircraft in the flood-affected regions of Jammu and Kashmir to evacuate stranded people. Operation Rahat-II, launched by the Air Force, became one of the biggest rescue operations in the history of the nation.

•

61 helicopters and 65 transport aircraft were pressed into the service. Heavylift aircraft involving C-17s, C-130Js, IL-76s and AN-32s were used for the rescue and relief operations. Among the helicopters were the newly-inducted Russianmade MI-17 V5 choppers and the world’s biggestlift MI-26 helicopters.

FORCES INVOLVED •

The Indian Air Force (IAF), along with Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Marine Commandos (MARCOS) were seen in the rescue operation. Around 30,000 Army, IAF and NDRF personnel were involved in this massive round-the-clock rescue and relief measures.

•

A total of 224 boats of Army and 148 NDRF’s inflatable boats were actively involved in the rescue operation. In addition, the Armed Forces also established 19 relief camps in Srinagar and Jammu region.

DRDO IN RESCUE OPERATIONS •

IAF TO THE RESCUE

The fateful night of September 6, 2014, saw Jhelum’s water rising unexpectedly. By the next morning, the whole city of Srinagar was flooded. The water, however, kept on rising. With the state administration floundering to save the people from the natural disaster, it was left to the Indian armed forces to take up the rescue operation. The Indian Air Force, known for their heroic services during the Uttarakhand disaster in 2013, went ahead to once again prove to the world that they could be relied upon in times of distress.

Defence Research and Development Organistation (DRDO) also joined the Indian Army in the rescue and relief operation by sending a team equipped with medicines and other medical aid and readyto-eat packaged foods. A Mobile Satellite Services terminal ‘SATCOM’ was airlifted to Srinagar and a link between a CRPF location near Srinagar Airport and the MHA control room at New Delhi was made operational.

October 2014 www.geopolitics.in

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October 2014

efer to “Operation Rahat-2” (Geopolitics, October 2014). The massive destruction caused by the flash flood in Uttarakhand had still not been erased from our memories when nature once again destroyed our beautiful state of Jammu & Kashmir. The whole nation stood together with Uttarakhand and once again the same

ONLOOKER

ASHRAF GHANI’S VICTORY IN AFGHAN POLL

After months of political stalemate, the Afghan Election Commission declared former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani winner of the presidential poll. The announcement came after Ghani signed a power sharing agreement with rival Abdullah Abdullah, who will fill the newly-creat-

ed position of government Chief Executive. The unity deal ended months of political turmoil following June’s presidential elections in which both candidates claimed victory, destablising the nation at a time when US-led NATO combat troops prepared to leave after 13 years of fighting the Taliban.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that human rights were “under attack” throughout the world. “From barrel bombs to beheadings, from the deliberate starvation of civilians to the assault on hospitals, UN shelters and aid convoys, human rights and the rule of law are under attack,” the UN chief told the 193-nation Assembly.

sidered to be a close ally of Army Chief ........has taken over as the new head of the country’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). The position is one of the most important posts in Pakistan, at the intersection of domestic politics, the fight against armed groups and Pakistan’s foreign relations. It is also one of the most controversial, given accusations against the ISI of meddling in domestic politics and having ties to the Afghan Taliban and other groups fighting the US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan. In a 2008 publication while he was at the US

Akhtar argued that Pakistan “must aggressively pursue rapprochement with India”.

RAJAPAKSA AND ‘WAR CRIMES’

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa assailed the United Nations Human Rights Council in his address to the UN General Assembly, calling its probe into Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war disproportionate and politically motivated. His country has refused

to cooperate with the Human Rights Council’s investigation into the deaths of some 100,000 people since it was announced in March, despite the international pressure to issue visas to UN investigators. “Post-conflict Sri Lanka has also become an unfortunate victim of

We will work as a team and we hope we will fulfill the hopes and dreams of our people,” Abdullah told cheering supporters in Kabul. “The people should not have any concerns that (we) will divide the country.”

If Russia takes that path -- a path that for stretches of the post-Cold War period resulted in prosperity for the Russian people -- then we will lift our sanctions and welcome Russia’s role in addressing common challenges.”

Abdullah Abdullah

Barack Obama

Chief Executive of Afghanistan

HUMAN RIGHTS PAKISTAN’S NEW SPY CHIEF UNDER ATTACK Rizwan Akhtar, conArmy War College, Rizwan

HEMANT RAWAT

ir Force is a technology-driven service, more than the Navy or the Army. The last century saw rapid advances in military aviation technology, and the current century is seeing a continuation of the trend. Since independence, the IAF has continually adapted to technological breakthroughs such as jet propulsion, supersonic flight, airborne radars, electronic warfare, Precision Guided Munition (PGM), thrust vectoring, phased array multifunction radars, AESA radars, Network-centric warfare, Optical Sensors, Stealth and UAVs. Not only did the IAF absorb and embrace these technologies, it re-oriented its tactics to use them effectively. Opinion is divided on how effectively and rapidly the IAF coped with past technological changes. Be that as it may, India today is in a unique position – A country that could source its weapons from the best arms manufacturers in the world – from Russia, a time tested friend; from the US, a natural ally; and from Israel, a friend with bonds deeply rooted in history. The IAF took full advantage of India's unique positioning, perhaps more so than the Army and the Navy, blending Russian engineering with western electronics to come up with cost effective and potent marvels such as the Su-30MKI. The service started exercising with friendly countries across the spectrum – USA, UK, France, South Africa and Singapore to imbibe best practices and improve interoperability. The IAF’s recent exercise with the Russian Air Force –

PRAVEEN SUNDARAM

eight Limited Service Production aircraft, but senior IAF officers connected with the project told Geopolitics that early Limited Series production (LSP) aircraft were no different from the prototype. The IAF has now placed orders with HAL for 40 Series Production (SP) aircraft to equip two squadrons. The first SP aircraft is close to delivery as we go to print; another two are scheduled to be delivered before the year-end. Priced around $30 million, the Tejas is a very cost-effective solution to the IAF's need for a lightweight air defence fighter with a credible strike capability. It will be much easier to fly and far more lethal than the MiG-21 Bis/MiG-21 Bison aircraft that it is set to replace in the IAF. HAL plans to initially produce eight aircraft per year and later ramp up production to 16. It has signed Long Time Business Agreements (LTBAs) of 3-5 years with its sub-vendors to keep prices low, assuring vendors of production orders for up to 40-50 aircraft at a time. If HAL production of Tejas SP aircraft meets IAF's quality expectations, and the aircraft lives up to its promise in squadron service, the IAF would likely place additional orders for Tejas, especially in view of the delay in the LCA Mk-2 project. HAL has plans to meet a requirement of 200 aircraft in the next decade! It may be noted that despite being a useful platform, LCA Tejas, which is powered by the GE-F404-IN20 engine, doesn't measure up to IAF Qualitative Requirements. During its development lifecycle, the aircraft ended up being nearly 1.5 ton heavier than its designed weight. It was initially hoped that the weight gain would be compensated by fitting the more powerful GTRE developed Kaveri engine. However, in September 2008, it was accepted that the Kaveri wouldn't be ready in time. The decision to develop the LCA Mk-2 was taken when it became evident to the IAF while testing LSP Tejas LCAs that the aircraft performance was short on certain key Air Staff Requirements including:  Power to Weight Ratio  Sustained Turn Rate  Maximum speeds at low altitudes

PHOTOGRAPHS MOD/IAF

To become truly world class, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has to overcome many challenges, the most important of which is learning to perform with indigenous technology, writes VIJAINDER THAKUR

ill-conceived agendas of some in the Human Rights Council,” Rajapaksa said in his address to the 193-member UN General Assembly, adding that the body was overlooking Sri Lanka’s “substantial progress” since the war ended in 2009.

October 2014 geopolitics

YATSENYUK’S ‘GAME OF SANCTIONS’ ON RUSSIA

Russia has been under economic sanctions from Western nations after its invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk once again called on the West not to ease sanctions on Russia, in his address to the UN General Assembly. “We ask our partners

US President

GENERAL PRAYUTH GAINING POPULARITY In the same paper, he criticised US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Thailand’s Prime Minister General Prayuth may have grabed power by overthrowing the previous government in a coup, but since his four months in the office, his popularity has risen. Opinion surveys show that most Thai citizens support the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the mil-

itary-led government of Prime Minister Prayuth. According to the Bangkok Poll released recently, 67 per cent of respondents across the nation said they wanted Prayuth’s government to stay until the country was peaceful and all its problems were solved – even if it took longer than the year it had scheduled.

not to lift sanctions until Ukraine takes control of its entire territory,” Yatsenyuk said. Yatsenyuk said Russia must abide by “all points” of a peace deal that provides for autonomy in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow rebels have been fighting Kiev since April.

APOLOGIES TO THE QUEEN! “Look, I’m very embarrassed by this. I’m extremely sorry about it. It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn’t have had and won’t have again.” Cameron apologises for saying the Queen ‘purred’ over referendum

TONY ABBOTT’S ANTI-TERRORISM SCOTTISH REFERENDUM AND DAVID CAMERON LAWS

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has sought tougher antiterrorism laws after authorities claimed to have foiled an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) plot. The Australian government is all set to introduce a new legislation in Parliament to tackle terrorism in the country. The ISIL threat has seen a major detention drive in Australia. Federal police had, for the first time, used preventive detention orders to arrest people without charges. But Abbott says

the current legislation is inadequate to fight the threats to Australia from groups such as ISIL, which he has described as the nation’s greatest national security challenge.

www.geopolitics.in

The Scottish referendum result saved David Cameron from a historic defeat and also helped opposition chief Ed Miliband by keeping his many Labour Party legislators in

response was shown towards Jammu & Kashmir. The new Government at the centre tried to do its best for the flood-affected state. The massive relief and timely rescue operations in the state not only saved a number of people but also earned plaudits from around the world. The Indian Air Force, Indian Army, NDRF and MARCOS 13 did their utmost to save the lives and provide them with whatever was necessary for life to continue. The forces proved to be the hero again. The IAF once again led the rescue efforts. Let us all appreciate the work done by our forces and thank Geopolitics for highlighting the heros and their heroic services.

Scotland in place. Cameron’s party would have found it harder to win a national election in 2015 without that support from Scotland. Scotland’s landmark independence referendum has resulted in most voters choosing to keep the 307-year union with England. In the referendum, supporters of the United Kingdom won 55.3 per cent of the vote that worried allies and investors while 44.7 per cent voted for independence.

October 2014

efer to Onlooker “Tony Abbott’s Anti Terrorism Laws” (GEOPOLITICS, October 2014). ISIS can rightfully be termed as the International Society of Intolerant and Sick people of the world. What can one expect from such people? It is a big threat to mankind. How can these people be reformed or stopped from their inhuman thinking and behaviour? This is the question that

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

COMPILED BY NAVEED ANJUM DESIGNED BY MOHIT KANSAL

Prabhat Singh, Gwalior

confronts the world. Till ISIS came into existence, it was felt that till there is a Pakistan on the world map and ‘jihadis’ on this earth (in fact, the word ‘jihad’ is commonly misunderstood by most followers of the religion and people with their own interest in mind use it to exploit the innocent), terrorism would never end in this world. But now ISIS is a bigger threat to the world, no doubt. Like terrorists these people must be dispensed with instantly. Rightly now USA, France and Germany have started a virtual full-fledged war against them. Mahesh Kumar, New Delhi

All correspondence may be addressed to: Editor, Geopolitics, 20, Nizamuddin West Market, Nizamuddin West, New Delhi-110013. Or mail to: geopolitics@newsline.in

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INDIA AND THE DU DUAL-USE AL-USE TECHNOL TECHNOLOGY OGY REGIME

geopolitics Vol IV, Issue VII, DECEMBER 2013 `100

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DEFENCE DIPLOMACY SECURITY

RIDING In order to keep its vital maritime space under control and to promote its national interests, India needs a set of offensive as well as defensive naval assets

ENSURING COASTAL SECURITY

THE IAF AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE

now!

NO EASY WAY OUT OF NEPAL’S POLITICAL IMPASSE FAKE CURRENCY AND THE TERRORIST NEXUS

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panorama

frail borders Ceasefire Violations

414 230

224

2011

2012

2013

2014 (Till October)

INDIA

compiled by : NAVEED ANJUM DESIGN: mohit kansal

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

panorama

The recent increase in the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control by Pakistan Rangers (PR) has led a serious jolt on the efforts of making peace with the neighbours. Pakistan has been known for derailing the peace process many a times. The sudden increase in the shelling from across the border can be seen as an attempt of internationalising the Kashmir issue. Soon after coming to the power, the new NDA government called off the Secretary level meet after the Pakistani High Commissioner’s meeting with Hurriyat leaders in August. The meet was a common practice under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Damaged Fence: A worry This is not the time for empty ‘boli’ (talk), but for ‘goli’ (bullet) by our jawans.” Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India

 The devastating flood in Jammu and Kashmir has damaged a considerable amount of fencing along the LoC that Pakistan is hoping to use for sending terrorists into the state.

China as a Threat  Pakistan is not the only threat that India is tackling, China has been more vigorous in its stance against India. China has been making significant number of attempts in violating the sovereignty of India.

Pakistan’s UN Pitch

Standoff with China

 Pakistan appealed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for assistance in solving the long-running dispute with India over the status of Kashmir.

 Nearly 1,000 armed Chinese troops crossed about five km into Indian territory in September, in Ladakh’s Chumur sector. This all happened when Chinese President Xi Jinping was in India.

New Border Posts  China's defence ministry has expressed concern over reports that India plans to build 54 new border posts along the border, that has been a source of tension between the two neighbours.

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November 2014

focus

Air defence for the SECURING THE AIR: Akash missile seen during its successfull test fire in very low altitude near boundary mission from the Integrated Test Range, Odisha

he Indian Army’s (IA) Air Defence (AD) corps has long been considered the most neglected of its specific arms. However, with the induction of the Akash medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the long awaited modernisation of this arm has now kicked off. Alongside the Akash, Army AD is also inducting a new generation Russian very short range SAM (SR-SAM). These two inductions have meant that the IA now can wait for an indigenous offering in the quick reaction SAM (QRSAM) segment which has begun development in Defence Research and Development Laboratory ( DRDL) rather than procure that from overseas. The AD corps, however, has to make do with interim upgrades of its obsolescent AD guns

via domestic industry and is exploring the possibility of crafting a domestic replacement. Meanwhile, domestic programmes have also yielded sensor spinoffs that have found favour with the AD corps and these are being used to pave the way for greater Network Centric Warfare (NCW) capability. Despite years of criticism by naysayers, the Akash MRSAM has made it to the IA’s stables. The two lead integrators Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) along with 200 other domestic suppliers, are currently executing orders for two Akash Mk-I missile regiments for the IA worth `14,180 crores. And in mid-2014 the IA wrapped up the last round of validation trials for the first-off production units. These final trials included a successful low altitude near boundary intercept of a

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

banshee Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) target at an altitude of 30 metre validating the systems capability against subsonic cruise missiles such as the Babur. A typical Akash battery consists of four launchers carrying three missiles each with a range of 30 km and maximum interception altitude of 18 kms. The launchers built by Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division (SED) are now mounted on 8x8 Tatra trucks supplied by BEML. After years of experimenting with tracked launcher vehicles based on BMP and T-72 chassis, the IA has settled for a wheeled configuration now. Each battery has three radar sensors – one 3D Central Acquisition Radar (CAR), a 3D Rajendra Phased Array Radar also known as Battery Level Radar (BLR) and a 2D Battery Surveillance Radar (BSR) which feed information to a mobile battery C4 control

focus

Army

mod

The Defence Research and Development Organisation, in collaborations with the private sector, is firmly on its course to develop various missile systems to neutralise the threats to the Army and its assets from Air, writes Saurav Jha

centre. In autonomous mode deployment an additional BSR is added to a typical Akash battery for providing point defence to mobile assets. The Akash can also be deployed in group mode where four batteries ‘report’ to a group C4I control centre providing coverage over an area of 5000 sq.kms. Early warning in all modes is provided by the S-band CAR which can track while scan 150 targets simultaneously beyond a range of 200 kms and up to an altitude of 18 kms. The BSRs come into action for targets that are up to 100 kms away. The Akash missile itself, of course, employs a command guided missile with fire control being provided by the Rajendra which can track 64 targets simultaneously while being able to guide up to 12 missiles at a time to engage four different targets. The Rajendra III which is in production is a

slewable Passive Electronically Scanned Array (PESA) that has a tracking range of 60 km against fighter aircraft flying at medium altitude. This order for two initial regiments though seemingly substantial actually represents only the beginning. The Akash was developed to replace legacy ZRK-SD Kub SA-6 systems of which 12 plus regiments still serve in the AD corps. Till, not so long ago, the IA was even looking to bring in MRSAMs from overseas in addition to the Akash and a Request for Information (RFI) was even issued to that end. However, the evolution of the Akash system seems to have put paid to that need and it is clear that the Army will order many more Akash regiments. This also means that US attempts to sell the HAWK XXI is unlikely to head anywhere. The Rajendra has demonstrated track and scan capability on the move and the IA is confident that a distributed Akash battery can both keep and provide adequate area AD to its advancing formations. Moreover, the MK-2 version of the Akash with a range of 37 km possibly mounting an active radar seeker head is also under development. There is constant work underway to improve the Electronic Countercounter Measure (ECCM) capabilities of the Akash system also. Even as the IA settles for the indigenous Akash system in the MRSAM segment, it seems set to receive the Russian Sosna-R which is meant to replace current holdings of the SA-13 Gopher (Strela-10) mounted on a MT-LB. The Sosna-R is meant to counter Precision Guided Weapons (PGMs), low flying aircraft and even ground vehicles at a short range. The Sosna-R two-stage missile has a range of between 1 and 10 km, carries two warheads with a cumulative weight of seven kg and of course two fuses. Each Sosna-R vehicle has 12 ready-to-fire missiles and can be reloaded in 12 minutes, according to the Russian manufacturer KBTochmash. The missile is command guided when in its boost phase and has laser beam riding guidance system for the end game. Several launcher vehicles typically operate together with a command vehicle carrying a surveillance system that provided off-board target designation. The passive optical fire-control system on each launcher vehicle makes the Sosna-R survivable in a dense electronic countermeasure (ECM) environment and can simultaneously track 50 targets while being able to engage one on the move. It remains to be seen if the IA will simply use Strela-10 carrying MT-LBs to now mount the Sosna-R. There are over 250 SA-13

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November 2014

launcher vehicles in the IA’s inventory at the moment. The IA also has a tender underway since 2010 to procure a shoulder launched SAM being fought out between the MBDA Mistral, Saab RBS 70 NG and KBM Igla-S. The order is for up to 1,000 launchers with 6000 missiles procured initially and many more under license production at BDL for a tri-service requirement. The Akash and the Sosna procurements have meant that the IA now has the space to consider the indigenous QRSAM being developed by DRDO’s DRDL to replace the 50 plus OSA-AK SAM units it has in the AD core. In 2012, the defence acquisition council had given the IA the go ahead to issue request for proposals to foreign vendors who had responded to its RFI for a QRSAM with a range of not less than 15 km, altitude capability of not less than 6 kms, reaction time of 6 seconds or less, guidance package consisting of an onboard seeker and the ability to engage targets flying at 0-500 m/s as well as hovering helicopters. Up to eight regiments of this QRSAM were sought to be procured. For this particular tender, DRDO was expected to bid with the Maitri missile that it had slated to co-develop with MBDA. It is believed that the Israelis would have offered the Spyder SR and the Russians the TOR-M2KM mounted on a Tata vehicle. However, the Maitri project is now as good as dead because both the IA and the Indian Air force feel that its specifications would lie more or less within the capabilities of the Akash Mk-I itself and the IA’s fire on move requirements are being met by the Sosna-R. So, at the moment an indigenous QRSAM option is being pursued in earnest with elements of this system already starting to coming together in the form of both new radar as well as imaging infra-red (IIR) seekers under development at DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat Laboratory and a stabilised electro-optical sight (SEOS) developed by DRDO’s Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE). IRDE’s SEOS has two-axis stabilisation and integrated automatic video tracker facility. Three electro-optical sensors- 3rd generation 3-5 μm (640 x 512 FPA) thermal Imager (TI) with optical zoom, colour day TV with optical zoom camera and eyesafe laser range finder (ELRF). The day TV camera and TI are having a narrow field of view (NFOV) of 0.8° x 0.6° and wide field of view (WFOV) of 5° x 4° with additional 2 X electronic zoom in TI. These sensors provide a recognition range of 7 km for a NATO type of target. ELRF provides range of the target from 200 m to 9995 m with an

focus

rafael

AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM: Rafael’s SPYDER system is a quick reaction, low level surface-to-air missile system designed to effectively counter attacks by aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and precision guided munitions

accuracy of ± 5 m. The SEOS will complement the Ka-band radar that will guide the QRSAM in dense ECM environments. The SEOS enables steering of line of sight with an azimuth angular freedom which enables the system operator to carry out independent surveillance over a wide area with target acquisition and tracking from a moving or static vehicle, with wide/narrow field of view in day and night. The sight is integrated with a robust automatic video tracker, to track the aerial and ground targets with the tracking accuracy of ±3 pixels and maximum tracking rate of 0.1 mil/sec to 70 mil/sec. Meanwhile, even as new missile systems begin to find their way into the AD core, there is still no clarity on what exactly will replace the IA’s large holding of the L-70, L-60 and ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns. In the first decade of this century this seemed like a done deal what with the Ordnance Factory Board all set to produce Rheinmetall AD’s Oerlikon-Contaves 35 mm Skyshield system firing the proprietary AHEAD ammunition round to be acquired in both towed as well as vehicle mounted configuration on trucks supplied by Tata. But the OFB scandal which broke in 2009 derailed this plan since it led to the blacklisting of Rheinmetall AD itself. To make the best of a bad situation, the IA is considering various upgrades to the L-70 offered by domestic players such as Larsen and Toubro with optical payload, auto-tracker, fire control computer and an electromechanical gun laying system. Meanwhile, Punj Lloyd is offering

similar upgrade packaged for the ZU-23. Even as IA mulls over its future towed and truck mounted AD gun situation, it is also going ahead with the upgrade of the legacy Schilka ZSU-23-4 with new electrooptical sights, radiation hardened electronics and a new diesel engine instead of old gas guzzling gas turbine. The upgrade is being executed by BEL for over 90 systems and it remains to be seen whether the same route will be used to upgrade the AD cores Tungushka regiments as well eventually. The upgrade is supposed to enable the Schillka to operate in a more networked environment something that both the Akash Systems and Sosna-R obviously are capable of. Indeed, in a boost to bring in more NCW enablers the IA has also several 3D Tactical Control radars (TCR) on order derived from the Akash system’s CAR developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) which are more compact and have a range of about 90 km. TCR is Tatra VVL mounted, mobile stand-alone and all weather. Interestingly, pertinent data can be collected at a Target Data Receiver (TDR), located 20 Kms away from the TCR itself. The radar operates in Sband, its antenna is mechanically rotated in azimuth to provide 360 degrees and 50 degrees elevation coverage upto a height of 10 kms. The AD core has also opted for the low level light weight L-Band 2D Bharani Radar which is a light weight, battery powered and compact sensor which provides 2D surveillance solution to alert AD

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

weapons mainly in mountainous terrain against hostile aerial targets like UAVs, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft flying at low and medium altitudes. The radar can be transported by vehicles, animal transport or group of men or as helislung loads. It can be dismantled into packages to facilitate quick installation and re-location in mountainous terrain. It will act as an early warning element to AD weapon systems employed to provide protection to vulnerable areas or vulnerable points. The Bharani consists of radar, Commander Display Unit (CDU) and messaging unit Target Designation Unit (TDU) and Target Data Receivers (TDR). One radar can service upto 10 TDRs using existing combat radio resources/network. The CDU can be located upto 750 m from the radar. The radar with modular architecture, advanced ECCM features, ruggedness as per Mil standards can be operated in varied conditions including extreme climatic and geographical conditions and in battle field situations, especially offensive EW environment. All of these elements ultimately feed into the Air Defence Control and Reporting System (ADC & RS) developed by the DRDO is “to detect all aerial targets and neutralise the threat well away from the vulnerable area/vulnerable point (VA/VP) by effective integration of all AD Weapon Systems.” This in turn will be an element of the Tactical Command Control Communication and Intelligence (Tac3I) System developed for the IA by DRDO’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

RAFALE DEAL

Two years of negotiations between French firm Dassault and the government of India is almost complete and a decision is likely to be taken soon

D E F E N C E

Exporting Arms geopolitics

The vision of transforming India from an arms-importer to an arms-exporter is indicates a paradigm shift in national political ideals

B U S I N E S S

Embraer rolls out kc-390

stringent evaluation of the Indian private aerospace sector by Airbus Defence and Space, which concluded with the selection of Tata Advanced Systems as the Indian Production Agency (IPA) exclusive partner for this prestigious programme. “We firmly believe that, in the C295, we have clearly the best aircraft to replace the IAF Avro fleet and, in Tata Advanced Systems, we have secured the cream of the Indian private aerospace sector as our partner for this project,” said Domingo Ureña Raso, Executive Vice-President (military aircraft) at Airbus Defence and Space. “The C295 aircraft is a reliable and tough aircraft with outstanding economics, which is proven in the most difficult operating conditions all over the world. It has already been ordered by 19 countries, many of which have placed repeat orders. This year, it has dominated the market with orders for no fewer than 20 aircraft from five countries,” he added. A total of 56 Avro aircraft are to be replaced. In the event of award of contract, Airbus Defence and Space will supply the

mbraer rolled out the first prototype of the KC-390 military transport from the production hangar at the industrial plant of Gavião Peixoto, Brazil on Oct. 21, 2014. Embraer hopes to perform important ground tests before the aircraft’s first flight, that is likely to take place late this year or early 2015. “This significant milestone of the KC-390 Programme demonstrates Embraer´s ability to manage such a complex and high-technology project and to perform it on track,” said Jackson Schneider, president and CEO, Embraer Defense & Security. “It paves the way for the beginning of the ground tests to prepare for the first flight.” As they prepare the aircraft, Embraer will continue with initial systems evaluations followed by the first engine run, and then the ground vibration tests and the other planned ground tests. This aircraft is the first of two prototypes that will be used in the development, ground, flight, and certification test campaigns. The KC-390 is a joint project of the Brazilian Air Force with Embraer to develop and produce a tactical military transport and aerial refueling airplane that is a significantly advanced in terms of technology and innovation for the Brazilian aeronautics industry. Besides the order by the Brazilian Air Force, there are currently options and orders from other countries to purchase 32 additional aircraft. The medium-size, twin-engine

Continued on page 14

replacing the Avro

he ‘they will, they will not’ moment has finally passed. Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) have submitted a joint bid to replace the Indian Air Force’s fleet of Avro aircraft with the market-leading Airbus C295 medium transport. C295 is a twin-turboprop tactical military transport aircraft, a favourite of the coast guard and military in many countries. It could well be the milestone moment that will transform Indian aviation and propel it to the front rank of the aviation business. For years, one wondered whether the Avro replacement programme would take off and would someone partner Indian industry to get going on the ambitious ‘make in India’ programme. The programme had started when the Indian Air Force (IAF) shortlisted five foreign transport aircraft in the weight-class of six to eight tonnes to replace its fleet of Avro aircraft under a three billion dollar project. The companies in the fray included Russian Ilyushin, Ukrainian Antonov, Airbus Defence and Italian Alenia C-27J Spartan. The Tata-Airbus collaboration follows a detailed industrial assessment and

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DEFBIZ

Continued from page 13

first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its own final assembly line. The subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems in India. This will include undertaking structural assembly, final aircraft assembly, systems integration and testing, and management of the indigenous supply chain. This will be a big thrust for the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in defence business. The project is also of strategic importance to the Tata group. S Ramadorai, Chairman, Tata Advanced Systems, said: “The selection of Tata Advanced Systems by Airbus demonstrates the confidence that has been built in our ability to undertake this complex programme.” It was last year when the Defence Ministry had floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) - inviting foreign aircraft manufacturers to co-produce 56 transport planes to replace the Avros. While staterun Hindustan Aeronautics manufactures combat aircraft, including the Sukhois, the Avro replacement programme has opened up opportunities for private companies to build aircraft for the defence sector. Currently, the requirement is of only 56 planes but more orders can flow in future. It will also be a demonstration of its capabilities. The group will have to set up assembly line and facilities for trials. TASL has earlier teamed up with Swiss plane maker Pilatus to develop aero structures for its planes and makes cabins for Sikorsky’s S-92 helicopters. For the record, it may be mentioned that the Public Sector behemoth, HAL that is already executing a whole host of projects was keen to get into this as well.Infact when they were kept out the fray last year, Industries Minister Praful Patel wrote a strong letter to the then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh asking for a level playing field and opportunity for the public sector to also be a part of this process. Many believed he was batting for HAL. But the new government has kept HAL out of the fray and wants the Private sector to bite the cherry. Now that the Tata’s have picked their partner (or vice versa), it remains to be seen where will the others go. The Airbus-Tata combine will be a formidable partnership. India requires a few like this. The only danger is like the HAL, everyone seem to be gravitating to the Tatas. Nothing wrong with it, it only reflects the strength and the bandwidth of the Tatas. But surely the ecosystem needs to grow and other private sector players must perk up.

Curious Case of MMRCA R

ussian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin set the cat amongst the pigeons a few weeks ago when he publicly questioned New Delhi’s decision to go in for the French Dassault Rafale. The Rafales can be “swatted like mosquitoes on an August night” by the Russian-origin Sukhoi-27s, now being inducted by China, said Kadakin. Its the sort of undiplomatic outburst that’s a rarity but maybe Kadakin wanted to make his point forcefully ! The French Ambassador to India, Francois Richier didn’t take long to send a cross court volley. He said Rafale competitors, who had lost out in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition after extensive technical and commercial evaluation, were now mad mouthing the French fighter’s combat capabilities. Rafale’s long-range strike capabilities have been amply demonstrated in conflicts ranging from Afghanistan to Iraq, said Richier. On October 30, the British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon showed the

eagerness of Eurofighter to step in if Rafale deal fails. In an interview with TOI, he said, “we recognise the Indian government has put the French first in the MMRCA project. But we are still part of the competition. If the negotiations with France fail or stall, we are ready to step in.” MMRCA deal to supply 126 MultiRole Combat Aircraft to the Indian Air Force is India’s single largest defence deal. Although Rafale was declared low-

Embraer rolls out kc-390

Magnificent machine: The first of two KC-390 prototypes being rolled out at Embraer’s Gaviao Peixoto facility in Brazil in October

Continued from page 13

jet-powered aircraft is capable of transporting up to 23 tons of cargo and boasts a maximum cruising speed of 860 kilometers (550 miles) per hour. The aircraft is designed to establish

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

new standards in its category, with a lower operating cost and the flexibility to perform a variety of missions: cargo and troop transport, troop and cargo air delivery, aerial refueling, search and rescue, and combating forest fires.

DeFBIZ

est bidder in January 2012, after winning over its rival fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the deal has not been inked so far due to cost escalation. And the cost negotiation committee, which was set up in February 2012 to work out the modalities for the deal, has not reached a conclusion after 30 months of negotiations. With the MMRCA contract still to be signed after almost three years of final commercial negotiations between French major Dassault Aviation and the Indian defence establishment, rival companies still harbour some hopes of

MRO hangar at HAL

he Secretary Defence Production, G. Mohan Kumar laid the foundation stone for the composites MRO hangar during his day-long visit to various facilities of HAL in October. The composites are used in various products of HAL helicopters ALH & LUH

flying back into the competition. But that seems to be a distant dream for the competitors. According to a top official of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) privy to the development, over two years of negotiations between French firm Dassault and the Ministry is almost complete and a decision is likely to be taken soon, for which a voluminous draft agreement of over 15,000 pages between the Dassault and IAF has already been prepared, as reported by The New Indian Express. IAF Chief Arup Raha also admitted that it would take another three to four years before the first squadron of Rafale aircraft could be raised. This effectively means a timeframe of 2015-16 if there is no further delay in signing the agreement. Whatever be the time line, the French seem sure about the Rafale deal. “Negotiations are going well and talks are on. Dassault’s CEO was here in India talking to various officials and the deal will be sealed soon and Rafale will fly safely,” said French Ambassador. But till the ink is dry, one can expect plenty of fireworks. After all it’s a fight for a fist full of dollars.

and aircraft LCA Tejas. Mohan Kumar stressed up on to draw and work upon futuristic plans based on the Company’s strength. “Priority should not be just to take all kinds of business related to aerospace but to work on workable modules in time bond manner. The focus needs to be on the products that company can deliver with ease, cost reduction, establishing of the highest quality standards and business practices that match the best global parameters”, he told HAL senior executives. He suggested HAL to develop products that have unique value, look to develop aero-engines and give thrust on out-sourcing.

HAL’s Iron Bird Facility

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha (top left) seen along with HAL Chairman Dr. R K Tyagi (right) at HAL’s Iron Bird Facility in Bangalore on September 5, 2014.

ir Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Chief of the Air Staff, visited HAL’s stateof-the-art Iron Bird facility at the Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC). He appreciated the joint team efforts of HAL and other agencies that resulted in the completion of more than 14,370 hours of rigorous software testing of LCA -Tejas till date. Iron Bird is the final platform where all the issues of LCA Tejas flight control systems are resolved to ensure safety of the flight. It is a test rig that facilitates ground testing of flight control system (FCS), components and software for LCA in open loop and closed loop modes. Other associated aircraft systems like LCA standard cockpit with necessary controls and displays, hydraulic system, landing gear retraction/extension systems, FCS related Utility Services Management System (USMS) and nose wheel steering systems are also evaluated at the Iron Bird.

Forming Indian Aeronautics Commission

AL Chairman Dr. R K Tyagi has suggested the formation of the Indian Aeronautics Commission and bring various organisations and institutes currently functioning under different ministries under one umbrella. “This will ensure greater cohesion, synergy, understanding and speed-

ing-up of decision making in aerospace related activities,” he said in his keynote address delivered at the 9th International Conference on ‘Energising Indian Aerospace Industry’ organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS).

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November 2014

HAL Chairman Dr. R K Tyagi, addressing the International Conference on Indian Aerospace Industry in Delhi on September 10, 2014. Air Marshal R.K. Sharma, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, IAF, is also seen.

DEFBIZ

Boeing delivers 5th P-8I aircraft

oeing delivered the fifth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India as part of a contract for eight aircraft to support the Indian Navy’s maritime patrol requirements. The aircraft arrived at Naval Air Station Rajali, after a flight from Seattle’s Boeing Field, and joined the four previously delivered P-8Is. Boeing is building India’s aircraft through a contract awarded in 2009. Based on the company’s NextGeneration 737 commercial airplane,

the P-8I is the Indian Navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing builds for the US Navy. The P-8I incorporates not only India-unique design features, but also Indian-built sub-systems that are tailored to meet the country’s maritime patrol requirements. The P-8I features open system architecture, advanced sensor and display technologies and a worldwide base of suppliers, parts and support equipment.

18th P-8A Poseidon MKU’s ballistic to US Navy protection

oeing delivered the 18th P-8A Poseidon aircraft to the US Navy ahead of schedule on October 14, where it joined other Poseidon aircraft being used to train navy crews. The P-8A departed Boeing Field in Seattle for Naval Air Station Jacksonville and was Boeing’s fifth delivery this year. “We’re proud to continue to deliver aircraft on cost and on schedule,” said Rick Heerdt, Boeing Mobility, Surveillance & Engagement Vice President and Programme Manager. “The Navy’s need for the P-8A resonates even more following Patrol Squadron 5’s recent operational deployment.” Based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 commercial airplane, the P-8A provides the Navy anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. The Navy plans to purchase the versatile multi-mission aircraft to replace its P-3 Orion fleet. Boeing is currently under contract for 53 P-8As.

KU has introduced the new 6th Generation ballistic protection technology, Ammoflex-6 and Polyshield-6, that help to reduce the weight and thickness of personal body armour by 40 per cent. This reduction not only increases the agility and speed of the soldiers but also greatly reduces stress and enhances endurance. A personal ballistic vest using 6th generation Ammoflex-6 technology which conforms to the stringent norms as per NIJ 0101.06 Level II weighs 1.5 Kg, and Level 3 of VPAM BSW 2006 weighs only 1.3 kg. An armour insert for rifle protection made using 6th generation Polyshield-6 technology weighs less than 850g. MKU has always been at the forefront of technology and has been striving to develop newer, lighter and more flexible ballistic protection solutions for the modern soldier. The technical team working at MKU in Germany and India has developed Ammoflex-6 and Polyshield-6 technologies after rigorous R&D and trials.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

Honeywell and Tata Power SED’s landmark agreement

oneywell Aerospace has signed a licensing agreement with Tata Power’s Strategic Engineering Division (SED), enabling it to produce Honeywell’s Tactical Advanced Land Inertial Navigator, or ‘TALIN’ in India. This Honeywell-patented technology enables vehicles and artillery to navigate very precisely, even where GPS satellite guidance is not available, to increase troop safety and maximize mission success. Aligning with the Indian government’s objective of organically growing its defence industry and the call for ‘Make in India’, Honeywell will license the design, hardware and expertise to assemble, test and, in the future, build the production kits for TALIN to Tata Power SED. It will mark the first time India has produced inertial land navigation technology, providing the Indian Armed Forces with a locally constructed advanced land navigation technology that is not limited by a reliance upon GPS – an important benefit for vehicles and artillery operating across the country’s mountain, desert and forest terrain where satellite signals can be limited. The initial efforts will begin in 2015 for the TALIN 2000 with production and manufacturing of the system components expected by 2016. At this time the agreement will also be extended to cover Honeywell’s TALIN 3000, 4000 and 5000 products, which offer varying capabilities to suit a wide range of operational requirements.

DeFBIZ

Thales & Bharat Electronics in JV

avratna Defence Public Sector Undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Thales announced that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, had approved the incorporation of their joint venture c o m p a n y, BEL-THALES Systems Limited, in late August this year. This joint venture (JV) Company will primarily focus on the design, development, marketing, supply and support of civilian and select defence radars for India and the global markets. The first board meeting of BEL-THALES Systems Limited took place in September. BEL holds a 74 per cent stake while

Thales appoints Antoine Caput as VP

hales strengthened its leadership team as Antoine Caput became Vice President & Country Director for India, based in Delhi. An accomplished professional with extensive experience in the ground transportation sector, Caput will be responsible for all Thales operations in India. Antoine Caput was, until recently in charge of Thales’s road tolling and traffic control business. Before joining Thales in 2000, he spent 10 years at Alcatel CGA, where he was in charge of export sales for East Asia. At Thales, he has held various senior positions in contract management and later in purchasing.

Thales holds 26 per cent of the equity in the JV company. The initial product portfolio of BEL-THALES Systems Limited will comprise innovative solutions for air surveillance, including Air Traffic Management radars and select groundbased military radars. The ultimate objective of the JV is to expand its scope in fields other than radars, in the defence electronics domain. BEL-THALES Systems will seek to work closely with Government laboratories and the Indian industry and will consequently become a decisive contributor for innovation in various fields of defence electronics.

US approves Saudi PAC-3 sale

he US government has approved Saudi Arabia’s long-expected upgrade to its existing Raytheon Patriot PAC-2 air-defence systems to enable them to fire Lockheed Martin’s more advanced PAC-3. The missile is primarily a ‘hit-to-kill’ weapon that destroys targets with a direct hit rather than a proximity explosion. Its active radar terminal seeker makes it considerably more effective against fast-moving ballistic missiles. Estimated to be worth $1.75 billion, the proposed deal outlined by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency includes the sale of 36 launcher modification kits and 202 MIM-104F PAC-3 missiles.

DOD and LM’s agreement on purchase of F-35s

he US Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin have reached an agreement in principle for the production of 43 F-35 Lightning II aircraft. Officials anticipate the Low-Rate Initial Production lot 8 (LRIP 8) contract to be finalised in the near future. The contract is for fiscal year 2014 with deliveries beginning in 2016. Cost details will be released once the contract is finalised; however, in general, the average unit price for all three variants of the airframe in LRIP 8 is approximately 3.6 per cent lower than the previous contract. The LRIP 8 contract procures 29 US aircraft including 19 F-35As, six F-35Bs and four F-35Cs. It also provides for the production of the first two F-35As for Israel, the first four F-35As for Japan along with two F-35As for Norway and two F35As for Italy. The United Kingdom will receive four F-35Bs. The contract also funds manufacturing-support equipment as well as ancillary mission equipment.

Safran-Bharat Forge in Indian aerospace

afran and Bharat Forge, announced the start of a long-term partnership to supply critical high integrity forged and machined components, for commercial aircraft applications to Safran’s global affiliates. Over the past 18 months, Safran and Bharat Forge have successfully worked on a demonstrator phase for initial trial production of

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November 2014

critical forgings in a variety of materials, including titanium, nickel based and steel alloys, for aerospace. This success is the result of intensive engineering and manufacturing collaboration. Both companies will also seek to explore and address other opportunities in Indian aerospace for civil and military sectors.

DEFBIZ

Saab’s A-SMGCS at five Indian aiports

aab has been selected by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to deploy Advanced – Surface Movement Guidance & Control Systems (A-SMGCS) at five airports in India. The Saab A-SMGCS will enhance situational awareness and runway

safety at these growing airports. Saab will be deploying its A3000 A-SMGCS, Saab multilateration and SR-3 Surface Movement Radars (SMR) to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Guwahati, Jaipur, and Lucknow Airports. The A3000 A-SMGCS will fuse multilateration and SMR surveillance data to provide air traffic controllers with precise surveillance of the airports’ runways and taxiways, along with the identification of aircraft. In addition, the A-SMGCS will feature Safety Logic runway incursion detection and alerting algorithms to provide controllers with advanced warnings of potential runway incursions. The A-SMGCS will also include functionality for AirportCollaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) initiatives.

300th CH-47F Chinook for US Army

MBDA’s MM 40 Block 3 orders

oeing delivered to the US Army, 75 days ahead of schedule, the 300th CH47F Chinook helicopter. The CH-47F has a modernised airframe, Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit that improves crew situational awareness and the Digital Automatic Flight Control System (DAFCS), which offers enhanced flight-control capabilities for the multitude of conditions in which the helicopter is used. Since the completion of the first CH-47F Chinook in 2006, 18 US Army and National Guard units have been trained and equipped with the aircraft.

BDA has revealed that it has now secured orders for approximately 400 MM 40 Block 3 Exocet anti-ship missiles and more than 50 firing installations from nine customers worldwide. Block 3 is differentiated from previous Exocet generations by the adoption of a Microturbo TR-40/263 turbojet (replacing the solid-rocket sustainer used hitherto) to increase range to about 200 km. A new launch booster rocket motor is also introduced. MBDA has also disclosed that three Gulf Cooperation Council navies conducted a joint Exocet high seas firing in March this year, which included the first operational firings of MM 40 Block 3 for the navies involved. Five ships and one helicopter from the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces, the Royal Navy of Oman, and the UAE Naval Forces, deployed in the Indian Ocean off the Oman, coast fired a total of eight weapons -- a mix of air-launched AM 39s and ship-launched MM 40s.

LM’s $124.6 million THAAD contract

he Missile Defense Agency (MDA) awarded Lockheed Martin a $124.6 million fixed-price contract for the manufacture and delivery of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ground components. The contract provides for

the delivery of US government THAAD launchers, support equipment, fire control and communication spares, and launcher spares. Work on the contract is scheduled to begin in 2016 and will take place in Dallas and Lufkin, Texas.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

Saab and Brazil sign contract

aab signed a contract with the Brazilian Federal Government (Ministry of Defense through the Aeronautics Command, COMAER) covering the development and production of 36 Gripen NG fighter aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force. The total order value is approximately Swedish kronor (SEK) 39.3 billion. Saab and COMAER have also signed an Industrial Co-operation contract to deliver substantial technology transfer from Saab to Brazilian industry. Brazil had selected the Gripen NG to be its next-generation fighter aircraft, through the F-X2 evaluation programme in December 2013. Saab and COMAER have signed a contract for the development and production of 36 Gripen NG fighter aircraft, plus related systems and equipment.

18th HC-144A aircraft to US Coast Guard

irbus delivered the 18th HC-144A Ocean Sentry maritime patrol aircraft to the US Coast Guard. The Ocean Sentry is based on the Airbus CN235 tactical airlifter with more than 235 currently in operation by 29 countries. The Coast Guard competitively selected and acquired the HC-144A. The aircraft is effective and efficient in a broad range of demanding maritime patrol missions, including search and rescue, homeland security and disaster response. The US Coast Guard’s Ocean Sentry fleet recently completed its first 50,000 hours of flight. The demonstrated maintainability of the HC-144A aircraft allows the Coast Guard to fly more hours per airframe in a year with the Ocean Sentry than any other aircraft in its fleet.

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h c tiwari

Safran in R&D collaborations in india

afran announced the Research and Development collaborations with Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer (IIT, Delhi), and Society

for Innovation & Development (IISc, Bengaluru) to initiate research and development in the field of advanced avionics systems for the development of next generation aerospace technologies. In the initial stage, the projects are slated to involve the development of advanced, safe and secure multicore architectures and the evolution of advanced machine learning algorithms with low computational requirements. The contribution from these projects is expected to significantly enhance advanced avionics and security applications. Safran is looking to develop long-term R&D collaborations

with Indian academic and research institutes. Alain Coutrot, Deputy Director, Research & Technology, Safran, said, “Safran has always been proud of its association with India’s aerospace and defence programs. With these collaborations, we look forward to a long and fruitful association with two of India’s premier institutes.” The Safran is hopeful of setting a new success story with this R&D collaboration and Safran is also focussing on the future projects. When asked about this, Alain Coutrot, Deputy Director, Research & Technology, Safran, told Geopolitics, “ I am visiting other institutes aswell and after a year or so we will think about new collaborations with some new insititutes. But at the moment, we are banking on this one only.”

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DEFBIZ

Cobham wins $640 million AMSA contract

obham has secured the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) contract to provide an airborne search and rescue capability in Australia for 12 years from 2016, with aircraft modification and mobilisation activity to commence later this year. AMSA utilises aircraft based in strategic locations across Australia to perform search and rescue tasks such as search-

Russian helicopters for UN missions

ing for missing people, locating activated distress beacons, providing communications support at an incident and dropping survival equipment to people in distress. The contract, secured through open industry competition, has a value including estimated flying charges of AUD $640 million over 12 years. If three additional optional years are exercised by AMSA, the full value would exceed AUD $700 million. Cobham will acquire, modify, commission and then operate and maintain four Bombardier Challenger CL-604 special mission jet aircraft to provide a search and rescue capability over land and at sea. These aircraft will be specially modified to Australian requirements and fitted with new generation sensors, highvision windows and air operable doors for aerial delivery of life saving equipment. Much of the modification work will be undertaken at Cobham’s facilities in Adelaide, South Australia.

ussian Helicopters showcased Russian aviation technology’s unparalleled contribution to supporting international humanitarian missions at the Global Humanitarian Aviation Conference & Exhibition. The conference was held under the auspices of the United Nations’ World Food Programme in October in Geneva (Switzerland). Russian Helicopters’ experts estimate that up to 200 Russian-made helicopters are currently involved in UN peacekeeping and humanitarian operations around the world. A large proportion of UN contracts are urgent, thus helicopters needed to be delivered and operational in very tight timelines. Russian-made helicopters are easy to transport: they can be

Euronaval 2014 highlights Euronaval is a worldwide unique showcase for exporters of naval defence and maritime security equipment. The exhibition takes place every second year in the French capital. This year there was a whole lot of new technology to be seen and lots of business deals done. The show was also a bit different from the earlier ones as it hosted an Indian pavilion for the first time.

DCNS’s cooperation agreement with Airbus

irbus Defence and Space and DCNS signed a cooperation agreement in Paris to develop a ship-based helicopter UAS capability. This technological partnership will help to speed up the market release of the TANAN vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) tactical helicopter UAS, as it takes into account the naval sector’s requirements and the aircraft’s efficient integration onto all types of armed vessels from the outset.

DCNS unveils SMX-Océan

CNS unveiled the SMX-Océan conventionally powered attack submarine. The new vessel draws extensively on the design of a state-of-the-art nuclear- powered submarine, with a number of key innovations that give this diesel-electric adaptation truly outstanding performance. It has a 4D firepower: effective against underwater, surface, land and air threats.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

DeFBIZ

Sagem - MBDA’s new infrared seeker

S rapidly disassembled for transportation by plane and assembled on-site. Russian Helicopters’ products do not need to be stored in hangars and can be operated a distance from their service centres. Today, Russian-made helicopters are involved in most of the UN’s important, emergency operations, and have built up an impressive operational record. These operations chiefly involve Mi-8/17 series helicopters, the world’s heaviest lifting Mi-26T, and irreplaceable Ka-32 models. Russian helicopters discharge their duties impeccably in any conditions, and that is why they are irreplaceable in carrying out humanitarian and peacekeeping missions, particularly in countries such as Afghanistan, East Timor and countries in Africa (South Sudan, Somalia, among others).

agem announced a contract with long-standing partner MBDA to develop and produce the infrared seeker for the upcoming light antiship missile, the ANL/Sea Venom, a joint French-British programme launched within the scope of the Lancaster House treaty signed in November 2010. Developed by MBDA, this new-generation tactical missile will be deployed by a number of different heli-

A400M’s maiden German flight

he first Airbus A400M new generation airlifter ordered by the German Air Force has made its maiden flight, marking a key milestone towards its delivery. The aircraft, known as MSN18, took off from Seville, Spain. The aircraft is the first of 53 ordered by the German Air Force and will be known in-service as the A400M Atlas.

Sagem’s Matis thermal imager

agem (Safran) has signed a contract with MBDA to supply several dozen Matis SP thermal imagers for Simbad RC (Remote Control) surface-to-air launcher stations to be delivered to an unidentified navy. The Matis SP thermal imager is based on a matrix detector operating in the 3-5 μm band, particularly well suited to maritime weather conditions. It features a compact design, latest-generation image processing algorithms and both a narrow and wide field of view.

Insitu introduces ScanEagle 2

Super Heron UAV expected next year

nsitu introduced a new version of its ScanEagle Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) with a new-build engine that could facilitate further business in the commercial market. The company tasked Orbital with building a new engine to increase the reliability of the UAV, a feature that will appeal to the commercial UAV market as it ensures a safer system for integration into national airspace.

copters, including the Royal Navy’s AW159 Wildcat, and the French navy’s Panther Marine and NH90. It will replace current missiles such as the Sea Skua and AS15TT. Sagem, as prime contractor for the ANL/ Sea Venom seeker, also chose the British company Selex ES Ltd to participate in its development and production. Sagem’s seeker for the ANL/Sea Venom is based on uncooled detectors.

Thales new range of Sonars

hales is announcing the launch of a new range of compact sonars for surface combatants and patrol vessels displacing 300 tonnes or more. Easy to install and operate, the new products include hull-mounted sonar, the Thales BlueWatcher, and an associated towed array sonar, the Captas-1. Faced with an increasing number of crisis and territorial conflicts, nations are expanding their fleets of patrol vessels and corvettes to defend their sovereign interests in territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones. This is driving demand for the systems these smaller vessels require to detect and deter underwater threats.

srael Aerospace Industries (IAI) has revealed that it expects to complete developmental testing and secure the first customer for its Super Heron Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) by 2015. The larger, maritime, heavy-fuel variant of its Heron UAV was introduced during the Singapore Airshow in February. Since then, it has completed its initial flight-testing phase and is now due to undergo a maturation phase.

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November 2014

DEFBIZ

Airbus A400M airlifter passes key airdrop test inside the cargo hold and released by gravity. This test demonstrates the maximum capacity of the A400M for this type of container and is a key contractual requirement for the A400M.

EASA to consider Atlante UAV

he Airbus A400M new generation airlifter has successfully demonstrated its ability to airdrop multiple containers of the kind typically used in military and humanitarian operations. In tests conducted at Cazaux, France, the aircraft dropped 24 x 1 tonne Container Delivery Systems (CDS) in a single pass. The 48 x 48 inch containers are loaded in two rows

MILAN ER pass first firing tests

the first half of 2014. MBDA will now be able to finalise the production work and deliver the first units in the spring next year, as planned. The system is already chosen by three export customers and is attracting growing interest amongst armed forces which require a highly efficient missile at a highly competitive acquisition and life cycle cost.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

BDA completed the firing campaign to validate the series production of the Milan ER, as jointly scheduled with export customers. Four totally successful firings against fixed and moving targets confirmed the performance capabilities of the firing post, of the missile as well as of the warhead. This final technical step follows the qualification of the Milan ER weapon system that was achieved during

irbus Defence and Space has formally submitted its Atlante Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for civil type certification â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the first ever such application in Europe. The application was made to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the body responsible for certifying all aircraft designed or operated in Europe. The Atlante is a 570 kg, singleengined, propeller-powered UAV with a wingspan of eight metres of which the second example recently made its first flight. It is intended to fulfil a wide variety of commercial roles such as: surveillance of oil pipes, powerlines, railways, natural disasters, forest fires or sporting events. The company and EASA will now work together to develop a certification process for this new type of product, based on the process normally used for manned aircraft, which will set the standards for future UAV certifications in Europe.

Afghanistan to weaponise MD 530F helos

he Afghan Air Force (AAF) is to arm its MD Helicopters Inc (MDHI) MD 530F helicopters to give them a dual role as both training and close-support platforms. The five helicopters currently in service (six were delivered in 2011, but one was lost to an improvised explosive device in 2013) and the 12 recently ordered will be equipped with a Mission Equipment Package (MEP) under a $44.2 million contract awarded by the US Army on behalf of the AAF.

DeFBIZ

The Wannabe Arms Supplier

BrahMos

The vision of transforming India from an arms-importer to an arms-exporter indicates a paradigm shift in national political ideals and is symbolic of India’s desire to play a greater role in regional security, argues Sitakanta Mishra

n the wake of President Pranab Mukherjee’s four-day visit to Vietnam, India confirmed that it was in talks with Hanoi for supply of BrahMos missiles to the South East Asian country. In a media brief on September 12, Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East) of the Ministry of External Affairs, revealed that defence officials of New Delhi and Hanoi were discussing a proposal for supply of BrahMos missiles to Vietnam. Vietnam is also said to have requested India for submarine training and for conversion training for its pilots to fly Sukhoi-30 aircraft. Speaking aboard India’s largest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya on June 14, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly said that “not only we should be

self-reliant, we also should provide them (defence equipment) to small countries. The small countries should feel secure that they have India-produced defence equipment”. India also hopes to export missiles to other countries such as Venezuela and Indonesia. Many Latin American countries have shown interest in acquiring BrahMos as well. This vision of transforming India from an arms-importer to an armsexporter indicates a paradigm shift in national political ideals and is symbolic of India’s desire to play a greater role in regional security, especially in SouthEast Asia. First, India, for decades, has opposed arms exports on ideological grounds. In fact, arms supplies by Super-

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November 2014

powers to countries in India’s neighbourhood have always been India’s concern. During the Cold War and thereafter, US supply of advanced military systems and aid to Pakistan had, in fact, fuelled Pakistan’s sub-conventional warfare against India. However, US Cold War strategy, in a way, succeeded with Pakistan as a base and a trusted ally. Despite Pakistan’s love-hate relationship with US, Washington strove not to lose Pakistan in its pursuit of maintaining its Superpower status. There were instances when India’s small neighbours were looking for arms supplies from India. Former Sri Lankan Army chief Sarath Fonseka was reported to have said in May 2009 that “India had told us they were not in a position to sell or send offensive weapons or even equipment like radars and basic communication equipment to meet our requirements”. Although Bhutan and Nepal rely heavily on Indian military supplies, training, etc. for their respective infantry forces, no major advanced or lethal systems like missiles are given yet. Therefore, some of them have knocked China’s door for their requirements. Moreover, beyond its immediate

DEFBIZ

Exporting BrahMos

ndia is ranked among the top arms importer in the country. But a new paradigm shift is being established after it starts to export arms to other countries. India has got some finest indigenous weapon system for which various nations have shown interest to acquire them. Among these weapon systems is BrahMos missile, jointly developed by Russia and India. The governments of India and Russia have agreed that BrahMos missile will be exported to a list of mutually agreeable countries for defensive purposes. There is also a negative list to which exports are barred. The missile has been showcased in several countries to apprise the potential customers of its capabilities. “If any country approaches us we will look into it on a case by case basis. BrahMos Aerospace has the production capacity, game plan and skilled labour to supply. I would like to state that we are ready and waiting. It is for the government of India to decide”, Sudhir Mishra, CEO and MD of BrahMos Corporation said in October. The countires that are learnt to have approached the BrahMos Aerospace (BA) are:  Submarine manufacturers Amur (Russia)  HDW (Germany) and  Navantia (Spain) All these three submarine manufacturers have approached BA for installing BrahMos on their submarines. They have all been assured that BrahMos can be installed without affecting the quality of the missile or the submarine.

mod

proud moments: T. Suvarna Raju, Director (D&D) with the Maldivian Defence and National Security Minister Mohamed Nazim at ALH handing over ceremony at Kochi

neighbourhood, India has never been involved in military conflicts directly, except its peacekeeping activities under the UN Peace Keeping Force (UNPKF). If US’ Superpower strategy is any guide and India’s emergence as a global power to reckon with, it may assert its global presence through military aid and assistance, but it would mark a paradigm shift in its strategic culture. Second, given its past stance, India has little experience in, and supporting policy framework in place for arms

exports. The first major export of an indigenously designed system were the seven Dhruv advanced light helicopters (ALHs) bought by the Ecuadorian Air Force for $50.7 million in 2008. But this deal proved to be a loss mainly for under-pricing of the system and penalty for delays in delivery. According to Deba R Mohanty, “Despite having 52 scientific laboratories under its belt and strong partnerships with about 40 academic institutions, 15 national S&T agencies, 50 public sector units that include eight large defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), 40 Ordnance Factories (OFs) and 250 plus private-sector industries, both Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and production agencies have largely failed to meet even the basic demands of the security forces.” When the domestic defence production establishment/industry is unable to meet local needs, export of sophisticated items, however, seems unrealistic at this juncture. Third, several procedural and policy hurdles have to be overcome before aiming for an expanded defence industry that could improve India’s export figure: which system and model to be exported; what criteria to be adopted to select the export destination; will there be a common ground between India and Russia to list the “friendly countries” for supply

DeFBIZ

LCA Tejas

of systems?; what would be the export cost and payment methods; any specific mechanism for export of joint-venture systems; how to deal with international reaction; how to deal with the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) lobby, etc. DRDO Chief Avinash Chander has said that “we have to lay down policy norms and methodologies how to work out” and that it would take about oneand-a-half-years to begin supplies once clearance is accorded. This, he was saying in the context of export opportunity for short-range missiles like the IndiaRussia joint venture BrahMos as more than a dozen countries have expressed interest in importing them including Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa, Chile, etc. Though India seems keen to tap the export opportunity with global cruise missile market estimated to be worth around $10 billion in the coming decade, there has been reported opposition from some quarters in Russia.

BrahMos International has participated in many international exhibitions and some countries have shown interest to buy particularly the naval and coastal defence versions of BrahMos. Several countries were also interested in acquiring India’s Akash SAM system, Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, Prahar class of missiles. But it seems no decision has been taken yet by the Government regarding the countries the missile can be sold to. Reportedly, the Indo-Russian InterGovernmental Commission for Military Technical Cooperation has the approval for export of BrahMos missiles. According to Avinash Chander, India and Russia are “discussing the methodology for developing the export potential as well as a policy mechanism for export of weapon systems”. Undoubtedly, Indian weapon systems would be cheaper since local production costs are lower. Chander has said that India could produce longrange strategic missiles that China sells to Saudi Arabia at a third or quarter of their cost. BrahMos is finalising its Mini version (BrahMos-M) to be flight-tested in 2017, and BrahMos Aerospace is confident that this will open a huge market for the company with specifications that very few competitors will be able to match. According to Praveen Pathak, General Manager for market promotion and export, BrahMos is expanding production to meet expected demand for

Naval Vessels for Vietnam

n a significant military transfer, India will be selling naval vessels to Vietnam. The announcement was made by Indian Prime Minister during Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung visit to India. The Naval Vessels will be sold to Vietnam under the recently-announced $100 million Line of Credit. India has agreed to modernise the Vietnamese military as well as raise Indian involvement in Vietnam’s energy sector. Vietnam will deploy these four offshore

patrol vessels in the energy rich-South China Sea to improve its defences where it is locked in competing claims with China. “Our defence cooperation with Vietnam is among our most important ones. India remains committed to the modernisation of Vietnam’s defence and security forces. This will include expansion of our training programme, which is already very substantial, joint exercises and cooperation in defence equipment,” the Prime Minister said.

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November 2014

thousands of missiles for which a second manufacturing facility is ready and additional facilities are coming up. The export plan of BrahMos aims to sell first 1,000 units to “friendly” countries. With this demand, BrahMos aims at creating an order book of $13 billion. To attain this goal, Chander has suggested a “single-window clearance” in a “time bound” manner. However, real export of BrahMos will start once the domestic defence requirements are met. Since 2010, India is one of the largest buyers of arms in the world. But the emerging political desire and enthusiasm of the scientific establishment to transform India into an exporter marks a major shift in India’s strategic discourse. Though India has been involved militarily in the internal affairs of its small neighbours around 11 times since independence, so far it has restrained transfer of arms to other countries for strategic and financial gains, mainly on moral or ideological grounds. The new government, however, wishes to make India “a global platform for defence hardware manufacture” by strengthening the DRDO and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in selected defence industries, India can embark on a “missile autonomy mission” in order to be self-reliant in most missile requirements and tap the global demand for missiles for financial gains. In pursuit of preparing India for the supply side of arms trade, a few prerequisites should be in place before hand. First, judicious use of FDI in defence manufacturing in a phased manner would be the starting point to get broader market access. Second, better technology and indigenising them to costeffective parameters would be the key to bolster this sector. Third, an effective management and fulfilment of off-set obligations arising out of collaborations must be part of the management culture of the defence industry. Fourth, domestic private industries must be given a larger share in design and production of military hardware and platforms in a competitive environment. To foster this, a controlled transfer of technological know-how to them is warranted. Lastly, a fine balancing of India’s deeper engagements with China and India’s strategic interests in the neighbourhood is essential keeping in mind the negative implications of India’s proposed arms supply. Sitakanta Mishra is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi

defbiz

SIKORSKY Believe it or not! You won’t find such helicopter in everyday life. The unconventional rotor placement will help drive the S-97 with exceptional speed. This new Sikorsky prototype military helicopter will be able to fly twice as fast as conventional designs.

affordability

Speed

Design

• Capabilities based on proven technologies packaged in a revolutionary way, leveraging advanced materials and improved manufacturing processes

• The S-97 will be much faster than conventional helicopters, with a cruising speed of up to 220 knots, or 253 mph, according to Sikorsky. The Kiowa, which has been the Army’s primary scout helicopter since the mid-1990s, by contrast has a cruising speed in the area of 120 mph.

• The single-engine Raider has a composite airframe and a maximum weight of a just over 11,000lbs. It will be able to carry weapons and sensors as needed. The cockpit holds two pilots seated side by side and the cabin has room for up to six combat-equipped troops, or additional fuel and ammunition for extended missions.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

defbiz

S-97 Raider Low acoustic signature

Compact footprint

high-hot hover

• Capability to reduce acoustic signature increase survivability

• Provides twice the capability of conventional helicopters in a 15% smaller footprint

• Exceptional hover capability at high altitudes and hot temperature will enable the helicopter to flight in extreme locations

Cost

manoeuvrability

Future

• The privately funded S-97 programme will cost Sikorsky and its partners $200 million (75 per cent from Sikorsky itself) for the construction and testing of two prototypes, the first of which was on display recently.

• The rigid coaxial rotor system and 3G manoeuvrability provide the agility to engage in close air support, operate in restrictive terrain and allow unparalleled hover attitudes

• Sikorsky is hoping to sell the helicopters to the US military for use as an armed aerial scout and also a light assault aircraft. The firm is pitching it as a replacement for the US Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters and for use by special operations troops.

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November 2014

DEFBIZ

‘Key element in Pilatus’ strategy is production in India’ Pilatus is satisfied with the work being done by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) for the assembly of PC-12 aero structures and electrical harnesses at BEL, remarks Jim Roche, VP-Government Aviation and Deputy CEO, Pilatus, in this interview. Excerpts: It’s been a year since the Indian Air Force Basic Flight Training course started using the PC-7 MkII aircraft. The results seem to be very encouraging. Can you share more information on this?

Since induction of the first PC-7 MkII in February 2013, the Air Force has achieved more than 17,000 flying hours and accumulated over 33,000 landings with the most advanced basic trainer aircraft in the world. The proven Pilatus PC-7 MkII, with its modern cockpit, matching performance and exceptional handling, is the ideal platform for training young Indian Air Force aircrew for the challenges ahead. At the time of writing, the 49th aircraft (of a total of 75) has been delivered to the Indian Air Force.

What is the progress made to establish production capabilities here in India?

Pilatus has always considered the estab-

lishment of a production facility in India training of TASL’s personnel at Pilatus’ facilities in Switzerland. The trainas a key element in our strategy ing will enable TASL to supply for the Indian subcontinent and PC-12 NG aero structures for the greater Far East region. The the Pilatus global supply chain. addition of an India-based manufacturing capability allows us to Tata is without doubt a partner extend and enhance our strategic of choice for Pilatus in the continued expansion of its portfolio supplier base and also confirms of international subcontractors. our commitment to India as a Jim Roche Our other offset partnership future major aerospace hub and with Bharat Electronics Limited market. (BEL) has been established for Your partnership with Tata Advanced Syssome time with BEL manufacturing electems assumes significance in the context of trical harnesses for Pilatus’ global supply chain. The production of harnesses comyour offset obligations. Which are the other menced earlier this year after completion tie-ups that you are looking forward to? A major milestone was the recent signof an extensive training programme in ing of a long-term contract between Pi2013. latus and Tata Advanced Systems Limited Meanwhile, the first ship sets of harnesses have already been produced and (TASL) for the assembly of PC-12 aero delivered to Pilatus in Switzerland and structures at TASL’s facility in Hyderabad. have been successfully installed in PC-12 The project includes tooling, jigs and aircraft. In 2015, the production rate will be increased and we are already reviewing our requirements for 2016. Pilatus is very Air Chief Arup Raha flying a pleased with the performance of BEL and Pilatus PC-7 MKII looks forward to continuing this successful offset venture. We will continue to evaluate other offset partnership opportunities in India going forward.

The PC-7 MkII aircraft has the advantage of low maintenance and reliability. Would you be customizing the PC-7 MkII for the Indian Navy, as they are training with the IAF currently? We are aware that the Indian Navy previously conducted elements of in-house pilot training with the HPT-32. We understand that the delivery of the 17 new Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) is ongoing and should the Indian Navy decide to reestablish their own basic flying training capability in the future, we are convinced that the PC-7 MkII would provide them with an optimal training platform.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

face to face

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We are more than prepared to take on the challenges that are posed to usâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

bsf

www.geopolitics.in

November 2014

face to face

D K Pathak, Director General, Border Security Force, speaks about the challenges faced by his troops and the plans that have been chalked out to counter different adversaries in this no-holds-barred interview with K Srinivasan How much of increase is there in the cross border firing When we say cross border firing/violations, the formula of counting is that on one BOP any number of fires that come or are exchanged in 24 hours that we count as one. If five BOPs are involved then we count five. So, this year, it would be over 350 or so.

It is a big number?

In the recent past, in one week only, our 75-76 BOPs were involved from where the fires were exchanged and it went on and on...

What is the standard operating procedure (SoP) in these cases? It is a matter of strategy which I will not like to discuss.

During the recent firing were they taking orders locally? I was present in Jammu at the peak of the problems. I felt I as a leader should be with my men.

Can you make any sense of this pattern?

Why it happens it’s very difficult to say. They are the ones who start; they are the ones who stop. We respond to them, we respond to them in more measure, that’s the only difference but we never initiate the fire. We never target a civilian area. They not only target the BSF, they also target the civilians. It’s a failed state. No

single agency is in control of affairs in Pakistan which is not so in India. Here we know we all work under one command. We are an established democracy where a system works and we have policies, we have doctrines. I don’t think any single agency is in command there.

What is the present state of preparedness?

We are more than prepared to take on the challenges that are posed to us by different adversaries, be they state players or non-state players, absolutely no problems at all. In all respects – manpower, resources, equipment and armaments – we are more than prepared. In fact, we have never felt that we are in any kind of crunch in taking them on.

What are the new complexities at the border considering the most diverse terrain you face?

So far as movement across the border is concerned, certain stretches of our border is not fenced, they are quite porous. And they are not fenced because of geographical reasons… majorly because of geographical reasons and to some extent because of non-acquisition of land because land disputes are going on, court cases are there. So, land has not been acquired. Fencing is not complete… majorly it is because of the geographical conditions and we do take all precautionary measures – whatever we can – to see to it that no infiltration, no crossing over, no

movement takes place. We are looking for technological solutions for an area which is geographically difficult to fence and is vulnerable, we are trying to plug that gap. So, we had invited expression of interest by global and national companies and they have come and participated, visited the area. They have done the demonstration of their technology. We have shortlisted which area would be suitable to which kind of technology. That is because we have all kinds of terrain: from the mountainous regions in J&K to desert in Rajasthan to the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to the Sunderbans and rainforest areas in the North-East. So, all kinds of geographical difficulties, most varied, are faced by us. Different areas will have different kinds of technological solutions.

What are the innovations you are looking at?

We are looking at some kind of an alarm system that if somebody is crossing the zero line then we should get an alarm. We should get audio as well as visual pictures of whatever is happening, so that we know who is coming, how many are coming. At times alarm is caused by movement of cattle and wild animals also. (We need) To distinguish between a genuine infiltrator or is it a false alarm. Accordingly, we prepare for our response because this has to be coordinated with the response mechanism. You may get alarm, you may get intelligence, you may get information that some crossing which is going to take

How have the floods impacted the order? Has the tact. And when the floods came, we did vacate some of the fence been damaged? Some reports suggest almost posts because the flood waters had come 4, 5 to 6 feet – it became unlivable, but still no post was absolutely vacated. 50 kms of fencing... You see it’s a misconception. In certain areas, the fence – I won’t say it was washed away – fell. Two lines of fence are there. Some fell on that side, some fell on this side. But it can’t be washed away – a 50-kilometer thing can’t be washed away unless the entire land mass is washed away. It fell down.

Uprooted, bent, etc…

The barbed wire and concertina coil, in fact, even though they fell, but they still posed obstacles because instead of remaining vertical, they were bent at 30, 40, 50 degrees or maybe 180 degrees. But the obstacles were there in-

So, some people were placed on the rooftops just to keep observation and logistic support was provided to them like dropping of food packets, water, medicines and those sort of things. A major part of the deployment came 2,3,4 kilometers behind the area which was not affected by the flood, on high ground and from there they were dominating because we had our boats and other equipment. So, we were dominating the area. So, at no point of time… even at the worst time of the flood, the border was never unguarded, though fencing was disturbed; but it’s not that our guards were down.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

face to face

place but you are not able to respond to the situation then your alarm or your surveillance system is of no use. So, both have to be integrated. Since we have not finalised, it will be premature for me to say what we are going to use where. We are examining. Over 50 companies have participated in this kind of an exercise. They have shown their innovations, they have gone and demonstrated in the field. We are in the process of reconciling all these things. Once that process is over, then we will be able to say for sure.

In the next 12 months…

Oh yes it should happen. That will give a big boost to surveillance and the border management.

What about your air wing and the possibility of using drones? Our air wing is for multiple purpose. For Adm support to air maintained post. This is also to assist the troops in (LWE) LeftWing Extremist (The air wing is) areas also.

What about UAVs?

In our modernisation plan, we intend to acquire a number of different varieties of UAVs but nothing has crystallised so far. Some operational issues are being coordinated with Air Force – which to a great extent has been sorted out because Air Force is the master of the skies. And that is quite right also because there should be only one agency which should be controlling the air space. We may fly our UAVs but that could be falling in the flight path of some chopper or something that is going on. We are working in conjunction with the Air Force.

is befriending the border population. The border population should be on our side. It should not be inimical to us because you can’t have a hostile population on our side. Then, border management becomes very difficult. If we have a friendly neighbour, a friendly population around you then half your job is done. So, we are giving a lot of emphasis on warm relationship with them for which we have launched so many civic action plans. We have also taken – in conjunction with some NGOs – programmes to correct cleft lips, etc. This is basically to tell the people, ‘Look we are there with you, we are there for you’. And we have to be here because this is the border: that is the basic objective. So we have various types of civic action plans. So far as knowing what the strategy of your adversary or enemy is, they are very dynamic. Strategy is a dynamic process, the preparedness of the adversary is a dynamic process, how they take you is a very dynamic process because a lot depends upon political and international factors. The geo-political factors are there. So, that determines our response. But our effort is always that we should be able to meet the challenges whenever and in whatever form it is posed to us so that our border is secured, people living in the border area are secure and no infiltration of any kind takes place. That is the whole approach.

You continue to be as you are… Yes, it continues as it is.

Is it settled?

It’s in progress.

Will you own and run the UAVs? Yes.

You intend to use them everywhere

Yes wherever. We will be acquiring a number of UAVs of different sizes, different capabilities.

What is the status on the border? Have you changed your strategy post the new government? You see we have two/three approaches to this. Let us not link it to this government or that government because managing the border is our mandate and we do have to manage it. The most important component of border management

“In our modernisation plan, we intend to acquire a number of different varieties of UAVs but nothing has crystallised because the QR formulation is still going on.” www.geopolitics.in

November 2014

BSF in Peacekeeping Missions

he Border Security Force has been deployed in various United Nations Peacekeeping Missions in addition to its primary role of Border guarding. India is one of the largest contributors of troops as UN Peacekeepers in various Countries out of which BSF is the second largest force after Indian Army, sending troops on U N Mission. The first BSF Contingent was deployed in DR Congo in the year 2005 at Lubumbashi and thereafter at Goma. Recently, Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) D K Pathak flagged off the contingent for the ninth United Nations Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The BSF Peace-Keeping Mission which is the ninth consecutive contingent to Congo holds a total strengthen of 135 personnel which comprises seven officers, seven subordinate officers and 121 members of other ranks. As per the UN Peacekeeping mandate to provide essential security and support to millions of people as well as fragile institution emerging from conflict, the BSF troops have been trained with specific reference to combat the menace of civil war and assist the local police in maintaining Law & order. A specific capsule was designed to train the men and address the situation on the guidelines of UN. In training programme, they were taught French, mob dispersal, riot control, protective patrolling, driving, aid to civilian, human right etc. The BSF has been trained to fight challenges of the troubled nation, the menace of civil war and assist the local police in maintaining law and order.

face to face

Any policy tweaking?

We are the first line of defence. So, if you are the first line of defence and if you are on the zero line you have to straightway see that the enemy should not be able to alter the zero line: that is our primary objective and no person should cross over. In order to achieve this we have the full support of the government. I would not like you to link up that the previous government was soft, this government is hard. I would not like to go into that because that is not my domain. My mandate is clear: ‘Protect the border’ and I am doing it. To that extent I have the liberty to take whatever action is required to be taken.

What are the lessons learnt from the Kashmir floods?

You see because of the change of the river course and other small streams, last year a different area was affected, this time a different area was affected. We do try to construct our defence in such a way that floods or any kind of natural calamity do not disturb them. Yet you see we cannot fight against nature. After all nature’s fury is nature’s fury.

Basically you have to be prepared at all times to handle such issues.

It is not that the border can be secured only by being along the fence or at the Border Outpost (BOP). You have to be present in such a manner and see to it that no undesirable movement is there and that kind of domination, that kind of surveillance, that kind of vigilance can be maintained and continue to be maintained. There are so many other means of doing it. We have surveillance equipment…we have so many other ways of securing the border. We don’t like only one mechanism. There are multiple mechanisms.

The lack of immediate evacuation led to causalities in Chhattisgarh in a tragic episode two years back. Helicopters are critical for your armoury. What are you doing about it ? We are acquiring some new choppers. The first delivery is expected to be of two choppers in November. You see we have to re-deploy our existing and the new ones. We have a deployment plan and it would be done accordingly.

What about your responsibility of the Myanmar border?

It has not come so far. The government has yet to take a final call. What stage it is there I am not aware. But so far as we are concerned we have not been notified as yet. We have submitted our plan.

We have submitted our comments on infrastructure and manpower.

When is it likely to happen? No idea.

There seems to be a high attrition in the BSF?

this at times becomes a factor when people think that is there something else that I can do where I don’t have to undergo all these things? They think whether they can also spend time with family; friends and wether he can also live a normal life. All along the border, these are non-family stations. So, a major part of their lives they don’t get to stay with their families. The job requirement is such. Some people feel that they can get better prospects – they try to leave. And it goes on throughout the year and I think probably it happens in all the organisations, not only paramilitary forces or only armed forces. Somehow hype has been created that a lot of people are leaving. Some people who assess their calibre and capability and feel that they have better prospects outside (the force), they do shift. Nobody talks when somebody changes his job in the corporate sector but when somebody changes his job in uniform, people do talk about it. Why?

Not really. If you look at the figure, after the 6th Pay Commission when the salary went up manifold and those who had completed 20 years of service and yet thought they had age on their side, that they could do a better job and get a better living, they took the package and left. This trend continued for about two years after the report came and it happened in one or two particular ranks like You are not alarmed? It is not a matter of any head constable serious concern. Statisor sub-inspector who visutics do not indicate that alised that and as I said when people they did not change their jobs in corporate (sector), nobody talks have much about that. of a future. The pension that How are you building leadership in the BSF? they would Our academy is a very well be getting was good, they were accomplished academy getting a good amount as arrears of the salary. Same thing and besides our own faculty we also get a number we expect when this 7th Pay h c tiwari of distinguished visiting Commission report comes – who give talks. After all, for about two years there may be people no institution of this kind who will be leaving. runs entirely on their own faculty. Even The level of hardship in any security the best of universities, the best of instituforce will be very high. Everybody celebrates festivals with their family members tions in the world have visiting (faculty). (but) the security forces, security personSo we also have this system. Very eminent nel do not get much of such opportunity. people from the paramilitary and from Festival means extra duty hours for them. outside they come and give lectures. We Civil offices are generally closed, everyalso send our people for leadership trainbody goes home or wherever they want ing. We have tied up with various institutions like MID, Gurgaon etc. It’s a manto be. But you can’t close the borders. So,

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

face to face

datory pre-promotion course for senior command. At the senior level, a senior level, one has to go through that course. We also keep on sending our officers to IIMs’ for leadership courses. BPRD (Bureau of Police Research and Development) sponsors that and we do send our officers at at regular intervals. We invariably have a couple of seats in all these courses and BPRD also manages the vertical interaction course where a cross section of the Services and Affairs come and interact. So it’s not that you have to have an exclusive institution and only then leaders will be produced. I just say that we have a very well recognised institution that has been declared as a

How is your relationship with Bangladesh’s BGB? It is very good.

The bad blood of yore has been sorted out?

Yes. It’s an excellent relationship. It is good that most things do get sorted out at the local level only. There are very few cases that come to the IG level in the frontiers and the rarest of rare cases come to me. Oth-

bsf

Border Security Force jawans seen vigilant along the border region

Centre of Excellence by the Government. BSF always gives very high importance to training and to get posted to the training institution, you have to be empaneled as a trainer. Not that you get posted just like that. You have to be really good. You have to secure good grades in different courses. Then only can you qualify to be posted as an instructor at a training institution. We have a system which is very robust. And people love to go to the training institutions: first of all they derive a satisfaction in imparting training. Number two, one gets an assured peace posting where they can stay with their family. So, people vie with each other to get into that and the route to that is not easy. You

erwise they do get sorted out at the local level.

How is it on the Western Front?

Not that kind (of warmth and camaraderie). That is lacking.

But a mechanism is in place…

Yes, there is a mechanism-sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work so well when it is required the most!

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November 2014

have to display your competence. You have to be the best of the best. And when the selection is made it is a very tough selection. You have to acquire a certain grade in your training courses. Then only you get qualified to appear for interview for selection process. So it’s a very robust and very good procedure that we follow.

Would you like to talk about numbers (personnel) on the ground? That is a matter of strategy. I wouldn’t like to (comment) but enough- enough to deal with the adversaries. It is always impolite to talk of numbers…

Final thoughts…

I would say that we would always want to be better prepared than what our adversaries think we are capable of. Always battle ready; always moving ahead, BSF should always be able to discharge their mandated duties. It is said if you sweat hard in peace you bleed less in war. So, we are in constant upgradation, constant preparedness mode for which we organise various kinds of training programmes at all levels whether it is constable, whether it is sub-inspector, whether it is officers – they keep on upgrading their skills. So, they are always battle-ready and always prepared to face the challenges, whatever and wherever.

numberS game

`1,200

crore for Aadhaar

The Union Cabinet has sanctioned `1,200 crore to the Unique Identification Authority of (UIDAI) to meet the target of enrolling 100 crore residents by the end of 2015. The financial support will help UIDAI speed up enrollment in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand which are lagging behind as they came under

50,000

the mandate of the Home Ministry’s National Population Register (NPR). Around 67.38 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued by UIDAI while in UP, only about 4.62 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued against a population of 19.95 crore. In Bihar, around 1.41 crore numbers have been issued against a population of about 10.38 crore.

central paramilitary personnel for Jammu & Kashmir polls

The Jammu and Kashmir will get over 50,000 personnel of central paramilitary forces for the upcoming Assembly elections. These paramilitary personnel will assist the Jammu and Kashmir police in ensuring free and fair polling. As many as 520 additional companies of central para-military forces including CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, CISF and RPF will be sent to strengthen the security grid in the state.

Navy warships on Africa, IOR deployment

Indian Navy has deployed its four warships in East Africa and South Indian Ocean Region. The warships include destroyer INS Mumbai and frigates INS Talwar and Teg. These warships are on a two-month overseas deployment to strengthen ties with the countries of the above regions.

9,000

phones tapped every month

A report released at the Internet Governance Forum in Istanbul on India’s surveillance laws and mechanisms stated that the Union Government issued 7,500-9,000 telephone interception orders on an average each month. The statistics were taken from a May 2014 RTI reply from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

50km

of LoC fencing damaged

The recent flood in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has damaged over 50 km of the three-tier border fencing and flood-lighting along the Line of Control (LoC) and International

`2.67

crore reward on Maoist chief

The state governments have increased the reward on CPI (Maoist) chief Mupalla Laxman Rao alias Ganpathi to `2.67 crore making him one of the most wanted in India. In fact, over `21 crore has been announced recently on all central committee members, making CPI (Maoist) the outfit with the maximum bounty. That is not all: the government is planning to ask the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to increase the reward on him further.

270%

increase in crimes

The racial discrimination against people from the North East living in the national capital is on the rise. According to Home Ministry data, in the past three years, crimes in which people from the northeastern states were victims had gone up by 270 per cent. Data shows that crimes against people from the northeastern states increased from 27 in 2011 to 73 in 2013. The crimes that witnessed the highest increase were on expected lines: moles-

numberS game

1,00,112 `25,000 The National Human Rights Commission got the highest number of complaints in the Asia-Pacific region. J S Kochhar, joint secretary of the panel, said, “The NHRC gets about one lakh complaints every year.” Official data show NHRC registered 1,01,010 cases in 2012 and 1,00,112 cases in 2013. Up to July 31, 2014, the number stood at 61,790 cases. These cases belong to various categories, including rights violations by police, defence and paramilitary forces, violations against women and children and also violation by mafia/underworld.

tation, rape and armed attacks. While molestation increased by 177 per cent in the period, rape cases increased from one in 2011 to 17 in 2013.

crore Navy tender

The Defence Research and Development Organisation is working on a plan to export weapons in the lucrative global arms market. Efforts are being made to turn India from the world’s biggest weapons importer into an export powerhouse. The military hardware shortlisted for export includes Astra beyondvisual-range air-to-air missile, Prahar surface-to-surface missile, Akash missiles, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, sonars, Arjun Mk-2 tanks, Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C), a variety of unmanned systems and battlefield radars.

The `25,000 crore naval project to construct four amphibious warfare vessels will be open for tender to only private sector shipyards. This was made clear by the Defence Ministry after rejecting the plea of a state-owned shipyard to participate in this project. This means that only Pipavav, ABG and L&T, along with their foreign partners, would be allowed to take part in the project for building the four Landing Platform Docks.

100

mod

ITBP men down with psychiatric illness

The force guarding the India-China border – the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) – has decided to compulsorily retire over 100 of its serving soldiers after they were found to be suffering from various types of psychiatric disorders, including the incurable Alzheimer’s disease. The cases in the mountain trained paramilitary has sent alarm bells ringing after it was found that troops who have largely served over a decade in the force could become a “serious risk” for their colleagues or could turn “maniac” while rendering sensitive duties. www.geopolitics.in

November 2014

itbp

NHRC cases in 2013

weapon systems for export

æ hemant rawat

Border (IB) in J&K. Security forces are racing against time to repair it to prevent cross-border infiltration ahead of winters. J&K has 734 Kms of LoC running through Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions from Kargil to Malu (Akhnoor) in Jammu district, while it has 190 Kms of International Border from Malu to Punjab belt running through Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts.

COVER STORY

When Technology

beckons Outcomes in wars invariably depend on the technological breakthroughs in the weapon-systems, argues Sitakanta Mishra

he assertion that ‘war’ is permeated and governed by ‘technology’ may seem paradoxical; nevertheless, their intrinsic link is indubitable. Successive evolutions of weapons technology have pervasive influence over the nature of combat and the shape of war, and vice versa. Many even view that technology is the predominant cause that lead to war; “it is the goal for which wars are fought, the blows with which campaigns open, and the victories or defeats with which they end”. Starting from the age of Peking man’s use of fire (the beginning of technology), the discovery of gunpowder, till the age of automation in vogue, the degree of access to most advanced (weapons) technology determined the chances of victory or defeat. Van Creveld in his famous treatise, Technology and War, demarcates four stages in the evolution of technology vis-a-vis war: first, the Age of Tools, started from earliest times to 1500 AD during which most technology derived its energy mainly from physical strength; second, the Age of Machines (1500-1830) heralded with the discovery of gun powder and firearms, paved the way to harness energy from inorganic

defense.gov

War-technology intrinsic

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

COVER STORY

FUTURE WARFARE: US Navy special warfare members testing the capabilities of a new night vision target system

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November 2014

COVER STORY

The watershed

However, all these technological innovations did not take place in a vacuum. “War is a product of its age, and the tools and tactics of how war is fought always evolve along with [contemporary] technology.” Innovative operational concepts and organisational arrangements have been undertaken always to nurture the scientific evolution and demand of contemporary warfare. For example, the Revolution in

Radar Guided Destroyer: The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun system designed to defeat anti-ship missiles and other close-in air and surface threats

us navy

sources that dominated the battlefield for more than three centuries. Subsequently, the Age of Systems spanning from 1830-1945 is characterised by integration of technology into complex networks, initially by the railways and the electromagnetic telegraph, and subsequently through many other more complex linkages. Quantum leap was achieved in shaping systems with the infusion of ‘artificial intelligence’ and some sort of decision making power in the machine in the Age of Automation (1945 to present) in vogue. Today, technology has reached to a level where machines can themselves detect changes in the environment and react to those changes. Conversely, the requirements of modern warfare has propelled the evolution of weapon systems and technology in many ways. The first generation warfare relied on massed manpower, whereas the second generation used dumb systems like rifle, breech loading weapons, and indirect fire. To overcome the constraints of time and space, options for fastest systems were attempted leading to the invention of stand-off systems. The fourth generation of warfare that is decentralised and diffused in nature needed specific weapon systems. Today, war is fought between a state and an individual or a group (asymmetric war), not necessarily near the deserted borders. In this context, specific weapon systems are required to target an individual or a building, sometimes on the other side of the globe; sometimes within the state’s own territory, not easy to find and pin down. Therefore, long-range, precision strike, and smart weapons are in demand. Also, the new generation warfare is linked to moral and cognitive spheres, where even “physically strong entities could be victims of shock, disorientation, and loss of confidence and coherence.” In this generation, attacks would be directed at the sources of social cohesion, shared norms and values, economic management, and institutional structures. This genre of war fighting cannot be contained in time or space, as it spans the entire spectrum of human activity.

Military Affairs (RMA) “stresses the doctrinal, operational, organisational changes as well as technological innovation”, but short wars. This has led to the strategy of ‘overwhelming the enemy physically and mentally as quick as possible’. Especially after World War II, the ‘military industrial complex’ truly began to produce amazing technological breakthroughs. Many weapon systems, technology, and war concepts that have evolved during the last seven decades have shaped and continue to shape the contemporary war fighting discourse. The sections that follow enquire the contours and nuances in the evolution of seven systems and their phenomenal impact on the generation of war strategy in vogue.

Atom bomb

Nothing that man has made is bigger than the atom bomb and this bomb was not just a weapon rather ‘a tool for reshap-

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

ing the world’. It is believed that any war involving nuclear weapons will have no victor and vanquished. Therefore, many hoped that fear of atom bomb would destroy war itself. But, in course of time, it has been argued that the best protection against an atom bomb is another bomb of such type. This has led to the proliferation of nuclear know-how the world over. So far, two bombs have been used, many are piled up, some are in the process of replacement, and a few have also been dismantled. But, the nuclear genie is out and it will continue to shape war strategies of nations, until a more lethal weapon is invented. Over the decades, the atomic weapon has become increasingly lethal and sophisticated. Beside the thermonuclear versions, Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNWs) or battlefield nuclear weapons are more challenging. TNWs have alarmingly lowered the nuclear threshold. More

defense.gov

COVER STORY

Robot Patrol: 1st Marine Regiment serving in Iraq using a remote-controlled robot to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)

importantly, the chances of slippage of nuclear weapons to terrorists’ hands are believed to have increased and this would be the worst nightmare for the entire world. The traditional notion of ‘nuclear deterrence’ that perceived to work well between nuclear adversaries or state actors would not work in case of non-state actors having nuclear capability.

Stand-off weapons

Projectiles, starting from the Mysorean iron-cased rockets to today’s supersonic/ hypersonic missiles, have lifted the notion of war-fighting to greater heights. In fact, except for gunpowder and the atomic bomb, no weapon has threatened a greater effect on war and peace than the missiles. First, they have helped overcome the constraints of time and distance. Second, owing to their stand-off-ness, manoeuvrability, and versatility, missiles have been proved effective for ‘selective en-

gagement’ and ‘precision targeting’. This has brought down the scale of collateral damage drastically. Satellite communication, GPS, advanced navigation systems and stealth technologies have made today’s missiles more intelligent and robust. Starting from Operation Crossbow (1944) till Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003), the number of missiles used in various conflicts exceeds 25,000. Around 130 types of cruise missiles are currently available among 75 countries. Around 31 countries currently possess varieties of ballistic missiles. The proliferation trend shows that while ballistic missiles are developed with greater range, cruise missiles are moving from subsonic to supersonic and hypersonic versions. The latest US effort is to develop high precision conventional weapons capable of striking targets around the globe within “minutes or hours” – the Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS).

Today, technology has reached to a level where machines can themselves detect changes in the environment and react to those changes www.geopolitics.in

November 2014

UCAVs

Aerial combat strategy has travelled a long way from the ‘line-of-sight attacking’ towards the ‘beyond-visual range’ targeting. This has been possible generally for the RMA, and specifically for the phenomenal upsurge in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) technology that provide real-time information and sensory imagery of the target area. As a step ahead, The Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), often referred to colloquially as drones, carry the concept of ‘indirect fires’ altogether to a new level. Compared to manned and stand-off weapons, UCAVs are viewed “more flexible in time-sensitive target selection and readily expandable in high-risk environments”. Having greater endurance battle presence, they are likely to unleash manned systems from routine missions like command, control and communications (C3) protection or carrier battle group air cover. They can be capable of performing every combat mission alongside or in lieu of manned sorties; therefore, they are considered as the “force enablers”. According to one source, the UAV technology is widespread today with 55 countries operating almost 80 types of them with sophisticated technological upgrade. It is speculated that “virtually every country on Earth will be able to build or acquire drones capable of firing missiles within the next ten years”.

DEWs

Unlike the traditional or projectile weapons, the Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) Continued on page 42

COVER STORY

Technology for Modern Warfare The advances in military capabilities have been consistently been used to gain an edge over the enemy. Based on the changing threats in the battlefield, the defence companies have also evolved their weapon technology. Examples are faster and quieter helicopters, advanced crowd-control weapons, lighter infantry equipment that doesn't overburden troops, ultra-light trucks and better battlefield communications. In the maritime realm, Navy leaders have for years been seeking stealthy mini-submarines that can be remotely operated, and fast bulletproof power boats for anti-piracy and coastal security operations. Accurate intelligence about the enemy is always on the military's wish list, and success in future conflicts will require technologies that can perform persistent surveillance to help identify enemies and friendly forces. Robots that can operate autonomously also will be essential tools of war, not necessarily to fire weapons, but to conduct mundane tasks such as delivering cargo. According to a report in National Defense, the following technologies that the world forces will likely need to fight the next war are: Faster, Quieter Helicopter

and

Safer

see through dust, fog and smoke, said Paul Cooke, business development director of defense avionics for BAE. The technology, which could be used on the CH-47 and V-22, employs a radar that scans ahead of the aircraft to detect any obstacles. It then displays what it sees for pilots so they can land safely.

Ultra-Light, Super-Survivable Dune Buggies Secret missions such as the one that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden have shown the need for agile, quiet, less detectable rotorcraft. Tilt-rotor like V-22 Ospreys, which can reach cruise speeds of about 250 knots, has been used by the US military extensively. Other companies are also modifying this technology like Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider is using two main counter-rotating blades and a tail propeller for extra push. The company is readying this concept for the Army’s Armed Aerial Scout programme, which seeks to replace the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior. BAE Systems have unveiled a product that would allow pilots to

Thousands of US troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan while traveling in Humvees. The roadside bomb threat set off a years-long effort to heavily armour military vehicles. The Defense Department spent billions of dollars on highly survivable mine-resistant ambush-protected, or

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

MRAP, trucks. But the huge weight of these armored vehicles also has created problems as it diminishes mobility and limits off-road driving. Marines and US special operations forces want vehicles that are fast, agile, and able to squeeze down alleyways.

Light weight Soldiers For troops to have the best shot at surviving and winning wars, they must carry around a mish-mash of equipment that includes, among other things, communication devices, weapons, ammunition and batteries. The military is focused on shedding weight through technology and logistics. If soldiers can count on their food, water and ammunition being a certain location when they arrive, then they have less weight to carry.

COVER STORY

The Army is investigating the increased used of precise, GPS-guided “smart” parachutes to drop more gear from the air to the front lines.

Unmanned Mini-Submarines

The US Navy has the world’s most sophisticated nuclear-powered submarines, which can stay submerged for months, undetected. But they are expensive, with a price tag of about $2 billion, and their numbers are limited. Naval experts predict that $10 million unmanned mini-submarines one day could fill similar roles that big attacks boats perform today. In a future war, the Navy could deploy dozens of these underwater scouts and collect intelligence on enemy activities rapidly, and without having to worry about sending a submarine’s crew into harm’s way.

High-Speed, Boats

Bulletproof

Power

When it comes to open-ocean warfare, nothing rivals the capabilities of the US Navy. It has aircraft carriers, missile-guided cruisers, destroyers and the new littoral combat ship. It also has small riverine craft and patrol boats for operations in inland waterways and rivers. But future conflicts may call for faster, agile, clandestine boats that can move close to shore and access inner harbors. That would require fast, armored boats

that can get into dangerous areas and defend themselves from attacks.

Anytime Anywhere Communications High-speed mobile broadband is a military holy grail. Soldiers want the ability to communicate, as well as exploit the capabilities of the latest smartphones. FM radios don’t cut it anymore. Troops want the same technology that powers high-speed commercial cellular networks so they can send photos, video and keep track of their unit’s location. But there are still some hurdles in achieving that vision. Experts predict that as 4G networks roll out globally during the next decade, the military will not only benefit from more reliable networks, but it also will be able to use smart radios that can frequency hop and take advantage of unused spectrum.

cost savings could save billions of dollars every year if it could reduce its dependence on the special blend of jet fuel that it uses to power not only its aircraft, but also its fighting vehicles, trucks and generators.

The services want “green energy” to power their fleets. The Air Force wishes to fly 50 per cent of its aircraft using alternative energy sources by 2016. The Navy and Marine Corps have similar goals, but by 2020. The Army is under an executive order to increase the use of non-petroleum fuels in ground vehicles by 10 percent per year.

Persistent ‘Wide Area’ Surveillance

Robots That Think for Themselves Remotely piloted aircraft have supplied troops with overhead surveillance as well as the ability to launch precision-guided bombs. Ground robots have also proved their worth, especially in the fight against improvised explosive devices. One thing air, land and seaborne robotic systems currently have in common is that there is a human controlling them from a distance. In the next war, military leaders want drones that can operate themselves. For the technology to progress, the machines will have to move away from the current tele-operated model and be able to make decisions on their own. Cheap Liquid Fuel Any company that can come up with a fuel cheaper than what the US military currently uses, JP-8, will have the world’s largest consumer of petroleum waiting with open arms to purchase it. A penny-pinching military looking for

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November 2014

Medium endurance, low-altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have provided the US military with a means to circle over an area of interest for up to one day and keep tabs on suspected insurgents in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Operators can not only watch an enemy plant a roadside bomb, but quietly follow him home, and perhaps lead them to an improvised explosive device factory. One complaint has been the so-called “soda-straw effect.” The field of view is too narrow to take in the whole picture. A Predator flies at about 25,000 feet. The Global Hawk, a high-altitude UAV, soars at about 55,000 feet, and can scope out a much wider view of an area of operation.

COVER STORY

SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES

t is not usually highlighted that wars or preparations for wars have had beneficial effects on economic and technological development. The technological development is surely to adapt tools for the purpose of solving specific military needs; but in course of time, it evolves into non-military or civilian devices. Some famous examples are as follows:  Radar began in 1930s as a device to detect aggressors. The result was stealth aircraft technology. On the civilian front, radar played a different role, however. Scientist Percy L. Spencer made an interesting discovery while standing near a magnetron – a device that powers radar sets. A chocolate bar in his pocket began to melt when Spencer stood near the magnetron. This made him so curious

Continued from page 39

are likely to revolutionise warfare; they would render many unassailable weapons of today obsolete, and drastically alter war doctrines, tactics, and strategies in vogue. USA, Canada, Russia, France, Germany, and China are nurturing aggressively such systems, and a dozen other countries are seriously planning for them. DEWs are generally of three categories: Lasers, which excite atoms to release

defense.gov

are a new genre of systems on the horizon capable of delivering lethal energy at the speed of light. DEWs produce a beam of concentrated electromagnetic energy to irradiate the target. Basically, it is an electromagnetic wave consisting of tiny and quantized packets of energy known as photons. Once massively deployed, they

that he ended inventing the microwave oven.  In the 1960s, the US Department of Defense funded a project called ARPANET to develop the technologies and protocols necessary to allow multiple computers to connect directly to one another so that information is shared with each other at unprecedented speeds. Besides, by creating a robust and flexible network, the United States could ensure that in the event of catastrophe, access to the nation's supercomputers could remain intact. ARPANET's protocols allowed information to travel across different routes. If something happened to a computer node along one route, the information could take another path to

Guarding the drone: A Reaper Drone used during the Iraq invasion by the US

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

get to the right destination. This was how the genesis of the Internet was laid. Internet became a

photons in powerful bursts of coherent light; High-power microwave (HPM)/radio frequency (RF) weapons, which radiate electromagnetic energy in the high RF spectrum; particle beam devices, which use large numbers of atomic or subatomic particles moving at relativistic velocities approaching that of light challenges. Currently, directed energy is generally focused on lasers and microwaves. DEWs affect their targets through either a “soft-kill” or a “hard-kill” technique. A soft-kill is achieved when the effects of a directed-energy weapon stops operation of the target system temporarily. For example, disrupting the electronics of a guided missile, causing it to miss its target, or suppressing or damaging visible, infrared, and microwave sensors. A softkill by directed-energy weapons against human targets means painful stimulation of human nerves, hearing or skin. Like conventional weapons, they can defeat their targets by causing physical damage to them. A hard-kill is achieved when sufficient energy is delivered into the target system, such that it is permanently damaged or destroyed. As the DEWs are widearea weapons, they can engage multiple targets within a hostile area; even can be rapidly retargeted to provide protection in several directions. DEWs can conveniently be employed against targets in urban environments

COVER STORY

reality on January 1, 1983.  Russia developed the first artificial Satellite, the Sputnik 1, to have a bird’s eye view of Earth, particularly that of the locations of the military assets of the United States. But then it so happened that satellites became the tools for scientists, astronomers and meteorologists, etc. In fact, satellites have made communications more efficient, fluid and advanced. Not all our technologies were born out of war or the fear of war. It would take a cynic to suggest that we owe all our inspiration to conflicts with other people. Many inventions come to us independent of war, though they may be used in warfare later. Our world would look very different if we never waged war, but the lack of conflict wouldn't necessarily result in a lack of inspiration.  Many key developments in healthcare have their origins in the

limiting collateral damage. Even they do not cause physical or structural damage, but disrupt the functioning of a range of high value targets such as military and civil communications systems, ammunition and fuel depots, transportation systems or even critical industrial facilities. Currently, DEWs are at the forefront of the next phase in the RMA and will have unprecedented bearing on national security in terms of social, political, economic and military dimension.

battlefield where the treatment of injured troops has led to innovations throughout history which continue today. For instance, the hospital at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan is today at the forefront in developments in trauma surgery. A BBC report recently suggested that US and British army medics now expect to save 90 per cent of those patients, the highest figure in the history of warfare. And that is because of the Afghan experience. Similarly, another technique developed by the military, hand in hand with civilian medics is the use of ultrasound, which was originally a product of war, first used by tank engineers in World War II to detect cracks in armour. Today, it has become a fantastic medical tool, used for everything from scanning pregnant women to looking for cancers.  When Japan occupied most of

by stealing or altering classified data to undermine networks, websites and services. Modern cyber warfare involves well trained, well funded professionals backed by nation states. For example, the Stuxnet virus that destroyed many Iranian centrifuges was a premeditated strategy to sabotage the Iranian nuclear programme. On the other hand, ‘social media’, an offshoot of cyber space, has become a vibrant medium for propaganda and mo-

the rubber-producing nations in Southeast Asia, it starved the allies of the material needed for vehicle tires, gaskets, and many other fittings for their World War II era weapons and technology. An American breakthrough was achieved by Waldo Semon, a scientist working for BF Goodrich Company. He developed the technique to produce synthetic rubber commercially.  Nuclear energy or technology emerged from the war years. Both the Americans and Germans were working on nuclear projects during World War II, but the Americans were ultimately successful where the Nazis were not when the persecuted Jews fled Germany and landed in America. The Manhattan Project was the origin of today's nuclear arsenals and also of nuclear power. — Geopolitics Bureau

bilisation. Many warring groups utilize internet and social media to garner support or disseminate their war strategy and terror at ease. By flooding specific and targeted information, the human mind can be conditioned to accomplish specific objectives.

Net-centric war

Pioneered by the US, network-centric warfare (NCW) is a war technique devised

The World Wide Web (www) has networked every aspect of modern life through cyber space. Many critical infrastructures depend on network which is vulnerable to cyber espionage and cyber attacks – known as cyber war. It involves the actions by a nation-state or organisation or individual to attack and damage another nation's computer systems or information networks through, for example, computer viruses or denial-of-service attacks. All critical infrastructure like aviation, banking, power grid, stock exchange, nuclear installations, etc. based on cyber space or connected to the internet are vulnerable to sabotage. Even most military forces are network-centric. Waged via the Internet, cyber attacks can disable financial and organisational systems

rafael

Cyber war

Protecting the coast: Rafael's Unmanned Naval Patrol Vehicle, Protector, patrolling Israel's natural gas reservoirs

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November 2014

COVER STORY

wikimedia

FUTURE FIGHTER: An F-15E Strike eagle is a advanced dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and air-toground missions

in the 1990s where all advanced weapons platforms, sensor systems, and command and control centres are linked via the network called the Global Information Grid (GIG). It uses computers and communications to link people through information flows that depend on the interoperability of systems used by all forces. It also involves collaboration and sharing of information to ensure quick availability of all appropriate assets to bear by commanders during combat operations.This has enabled forces to fight a war in a distant part of the world sitting in its own office room. Through satellite, UCAVs and other communication networks, it is now possible to get virtual and real time battlefield information to operate remotely the weapons to target and hit the enemy. Meanwhile, states have acquired the capability to destroy the adversary’s communication networks by shooting down its satellites. The anti-satellite (A-sat) capability with China and US proves that without bloodshed war can be fought and won. Modern life is so dependent on communication networks, any disruption of the channels would bring misery, without a bullet being fired or a bomb being dropped.

Robotics

As robots offer the lure of riskless war, it would alter the link between military and society altogether. Also, combat through robots is seductive, feeding overconfidence that can lead nations into wars. Therefore, according to P W Singer, the point is not that the machines are taking

over, Matrix-style, but what it means is to have ‘human in the loop’ of decisionmaking in war is being redefined, with the authority and autonomy of machines expanding. Moreover, extensive use of robots in place of human combatants is likely to reduce the sense of sacrifice of the citizenry and the decision to go to war becomes just like any other policy decision that may be weighed by the same calculus used to determine bridge tolls. It is no surprise that robots, a fundamentally new but growing spectrum in technology, do not have a chequered past. However, their future seems promising. The PackBot like unmanned systems are in use in Iraq and Afghanistan by US. The US forces landed in Iraq in 2003 with zero robotic units but by about 2004 the number was 150. By the end of 2005, the number was 2,400 and by 2008 it went up to 12,000 units. The automated counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (Counter-RAM) robotic system, known as the Phalanx CIWS, is capable of locating and tracking targets fast using the on-board radar. It can also employ a gatling gun that firs up to 75 armour-piercing tungsten penetrator rounds per second. This enables the system to destroy incoming rockets, artillery shells, and mortar shells in less time than it would take for a soldier. South Korea has reportedly deployed many robot snipers with rifles with its forces that can hit targets with tremendous lethal accuracy. Israel is no far behind in the robot race. According to military experts, “the trends towards the

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

future will be robots reacting to robot attacks, especially when operating at technological speed… As the loop gets shorter and shorter, there won’t be any time in it for humans”. At such stage, what would the role of human beings be in war as we arm ever more intelligent, capable and autonomous robots?

Value judgement

All these technological advancements vis-a-vis war fighting vindicate a situation where the soldier would experience the psychological disconnect of being at war. The new hi-tech and technological battleground, says Singer, may “pervert the whole idea of the democratic process and citizenship as they relate to war”. Secondly, such wars would undermine the morality of good wars. Without risking troops owing to the automation of war fighting, the decision to go to war will become the act of a nation that doesn’t give a damn. Where do we go from here? War fighting is a major ingredient in the evolution of human civilization and it will remain so, no matter in what form or which method. As rightly said, wars begin in the minds of men, and technology is the culmination of man’s ingenious mental faculty translated into inorganic innovations. It is an endeavour to apply these inorganic innovations to streamline the pursuit of human survival. However, it should be in everybody’s interest that the evolution of technology should not be channelled to a stage where technology would beckon and man becomes helpless.

geopolitics INTERNAL SECURITY november 2014 | www.geopolitics.in

jihad-plan for kashmir

INTERNAL SECURITY

NIA seeks more manpower

briefs

2,000km road along International Border I

ndia is planning to construct a 2,000km-long road along the international boundary from Mago-Thingbu in Arunachal’s Tawang district to Vijaynagar in Changlang district. The road will connect the border areas of the land-locked state. The plan which is still being conceptualised will

he Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government has refused to increase the sanctioned strength of the National Investigating Agency (NIA). A proposal in this regard had been sent to the Home Ministry by the agency in August. The ministry has written back to point out that it cannot be done as existing vacancies in the agency had not been filled. Security establishment sources have called the decision short-sightedness where long-term strategic goals have been confused with administrative routine.

’pension for Widow‘

he Armed Forces Tribunal has ruled that childless widows of armymen who remarry and continue to depend on the family pension as their primary source of sustenance, cannot be denied the benefit. The Chennai bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal, quashing a petition which challenged the eligibility to pension of an armyman’s widow who had remarried, said family pension was not legal ownership subject to laws of succession but a welfare measure of the government. Citing the precedent established by the Supreme Court, it said, “Pension schemes have an overriding effect over general laws of succession.”

Posting of choice! T

he Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) gallantry award winners can now choose to be posted near their home or any place of their choice. But this will be only meant for non-gazetted officers, said Director General Dilip Trivedi. The step is aimed to allow a jawan spend quality time with his family.

Strengthening NDRF

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be beneficial from the point of view of security and will accelerate border area development. “The road will curb large-scale migration of people from the border areas. We will arrange for basic amenities to make them comfortable,” Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said.

From bullets to pepper balls

ihar police will adopt the pepper balls and rubber bullets to control and disperse violent mobs. It’s part of the modernisation process of the force and in line with the practice across the developed world. State police had sent proposal to the Home Ministry for purchase of over 150 sets of pepper and pellet guns for use by the antiriot rapid action force raised by the state police to deal with serious law and order situations, including riots and violent incidents.

he National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is all set to add two more battalions to increase the strength of the force. Home minister Rajnath Singh has approved location of the two additional battalions, to be created from conversion of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), in Varanasi and Arunachal Pradesh. Presently, NDRF comprises 10 battalions, three each from BSF and CRPF and two each from CISF and ITBP. The total strength of each battalion is 1,149 personnel. A battalion has 18 specialised search and rescue teams of 45 personnel each, including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and medical practitioners/paramedics.

briefs

Mi-17 V5s to ferry President

resident Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi will fly in the modified Mi-17 V5s from next year onwards. The Defence Ministry has approved the “conversion” of six new Mi-17 V5s into VVIP helicopters to replace the old Mi-8 helicopters with the IAF’s elite Communication Squadron to ferry the President and PM within the country. “The Mi-17 V5s will replace the existing Mi-8s, which have almost outlived their operational life, as an interim measure. They will be modified at one of our base repair depots (3 BRD at Chandigarh) over the next six months,” said IAF chief Arup Raha.

INTERNAL SECURITY

Special security for metro

First Ballistic Research Centre

high-level AP government committee has recommended setting up of a specialised unit on the lines of Greyhounds and Octopus to take care of security issues of the Hyderabad metro rail. The committee suggested that a specialised unit be created for the metro rail’s security operations as nearly 300 personnel would be deployed on the three metro corridors. The metro rail is expected to start its services between Nagole and Mettuguda from Ugadi (March 2015).

ndia is all set to establish Asia’s first Ballistic Research Centre that will be functioning at the Gujarat Forensic Science University (GFSU). This Ballistic Research Centre will be used to test bulletproof armoured vehicles as big as trucks and would be the first-of-its-kind centre in Asia. Till now, armoured vehicles from India were sent to countries like the UK, USA and France for testing.

Additional BSF battalion on border

n order to avert any infiltration bid from Pakistan following the recent reports of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIS) India plan, the Border Security Force (BSF) has deployed one additional battalion on the Indo-Pakistan border in Gurdaspur. “We are alert besides there is no possibility of infiltration from Punjab borders,” said BSF Inspector General Ashok Kumar.

ITBP lack crucial equipment

he Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) that guards the Eastern frontier along the India-China border has not been able to make a single procurement of necessary equipment in the past three years. The force is short by 500 vehicles and has been meeting its requirements by rigging old ones.

Honour for J&K woman cop

Moist resurgence

woman cop from Jammu and Kashmir Police, Shakti Devi, deployed with UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has won the prestigious International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 in Winnipeg, Canada. “Her consistent engagement in improving the service for victims of sexual and gender-based violence has led to successful investigation and prosecution,” the UN police division said.

he states of Andhra Pradesh and the recently created state of Telangana are both witnessing an increase in Maoist activities. Security personnel suspect that Maoists are trying to make fresh inroads into the two states with the support of civil society after more than 20 civil liberties organisations becoming active in the two states, post-bifurcation. This has led to the crackdown by security forces on civil rights organisations trying to raise their voice against Operation Green Hunt or organise meetings against it.

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November 2014

Cameras along China border

ndia will install high resolution surveillance cameras along the China border. The move is seen to guard its territory from the Chinese agression. The cameras will be put up at 50 locations along the border with China in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The cameras would provide live-feed in a range of 20-25 km, and plans are afoot to live stream the footage at the Delhi headquarters.

internal security

Banking on Women for Red Revolution The recruitment of more women cadres by Maoists is an undeniable sign of weakness rather than strength, writes Mrinal Kanta Das

n a presentation to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had said during the ghastly attack in the Jiram Valley in March 2014, that the Maoist cadres were divided into three groups, and one group comprised mainly of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;women commandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in black uniform who fired from the back. The at-

DIPLOMATIC COURSE: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh along with other Head of State and Government of SAARC Countries, at the inaugural session of the 17th SAARC Summit, at Adu Atoll in Maldives on November 10, 2011.

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internal security

tack had killed 15 troopers, one civilian and three others were injured. Commenting on the incident, injured Police Constable Pannilal Thakur had said: “The rebels fired at us from the nearby forested area, killing one of our colleagues and injuring three others. As we charged towards them through the forest, we realised we had walked into an ambush. A woman Maoist fired at me.” Earlier, after surviving a Maoist attack on security personnel at Karmatiya forest in Latehar District of Jharkhand on January 7, 2013, Manoj Kumar, an injured trooper of Jharkhand Jaguar (JJ) had said, “A woman was leading the heavily armed rebel squad and caused maximum damage to the Security Forces.” Sixteen persons including four civilians, nine CRPF troopers, one JJ personnel and two Maoists were killed in the attack. Eyewitnesses said that in the May 25, 2013 Darbha valley (Bastar District) attack on the Chhattisgarh Congress Party convoy in which 31 people including the top leadership of the State Unit perished, women Maoist cadres played a very crucial role. Survivors of the attack said after killing Mahendra Karma, the founder of Salwa Judum (an antiMaoist vigilante group), that women Maoists sang and danced near his body. In fact, it was reported that Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh were abducted and later executed in the nearby forest by women Maoists. After a fortnight of the Darb-

ha attack, on June 13, 2013, more than 100 Maoists including women cadres attacked a train near Bhalui in Jamui District of Bihar leading to the killing of one civilian, two SFs and left six injured. More, there have been numerous instances when the Security Forces have themselves observed and spotted women cadres firing at them. One of the posters found in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra paid homage to 17 women commanders who were killed in

encounters over the year. The posters recovered from Gadchiroli identified some of the women Maoists as Indra, Dhanni, Geeta, Anita, Swarupa, Santila, Pramila, Seema, Reshma, Vasanti, Champa and Mamta. Media reports suggested in 2008 that women constituted around 25 per cent of the Maoist cadre which increased to 40 per cent in 2010 and by the beginning of 2013 it had increased up to 60

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November 2014

per cent and significantly Chhattisgarh was leading among the Maoist-hit states where recruitment of women cadre was higher. Even though there is no exact figure available on the female Maoist cadres. However, there is no doubt of the fact that their number is increasing over the years. According to an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report, in the first few months of 2013, 60 per cent women cadres were recruited at lower ranks in Maoist camps when compared to men, while they held 50 per cent presence in ‘area and divisional committees’ and 25 per cent in ‘zonal committees’. In Bastar, around 27 ‘divisional committees’ were operating under ‘Dandkaranya Special Zonal Committee’, in which over 20 were being led by women cadres. Commenting on the lethality and efficacy of the woman Maoist cadres, Bastar Range, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) R P Kalluri said: “They are generally more brutal and ferocious. We cannot rule out their increasing numbers in the movement in Bastar. We have to psychologically deal with the issue”. The IB official further added that “earlier women were either recruited to assist men for ordinary tasks. But, now the scenario has changed. With most of the men rebels quitting the movement, it has prompted the Maoist leaders to alter their recruitment strategy. They are giving more preference to females”. Further, as per the IB official, Sujata, active for the past several years in the region, was heading the Dandakaranya ‘state military commission’. Accompanying her were Niti (chief of

TRAINING TO STRIKE: The file photo of women Maoists seen undergoing training in some undisclosed place

north Bastar ‘divisional committee’), Madhvi (west Bastar ‘divisional committee’), Kosi (Mangler ‘area committee’) among others. Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on August 13, 2013, former Minister of State for Home Affairs, RPN Singh said: “In recent incidents of Naxalite attacks, participation of a substantial number of female cadres has been observed. A large number of female cadres have also died in exchanges of fire with the Security Forces.” Commenting on why it had become difficult to recruit male cadres, a veteran of the anti-Maoist operations said: “They (Maoists) place women in the frontline so that their death at the hands of security forces can be used for propaganda and publicity.” A source also pointed out: “Parents in even remote areas seize the slightest opportunity to send their boys away from home to keep them away from the Maoists.” The fact of the matter is that Maoist organisation in the name of women empowerment and liberation has been more exploitative in India. However, apart from the combat roles thrust onto the shoulders of the Maoists, there are also reports of different kinds of exploitation of woman Maoists in the camp by their senior male counterparts. On August 25, 2014 three hardcore Maoists, including two women surrendered before the Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) in Jagdalpur, headquarters of Bastar District. When asked about the state of things in the Maoist way of life and why they had surrendered, the cadres

said they were particularly upset by the exploitation and basically spoke against the Andhra cadres. Further, a November 2013 media report quoted a former Maoist commander from Bihar saying, “We had women from 16 to 40 years of age in our group. Almost all those I knew had experienced some form of sexual abuse or exploitation when they had stepped outside their homes to work or at the hands of security forces.” The former commander noted that although the women had originally joined the Maoist organisations to seek revenge against abuses in mainstream society, many had become disillusioned and were leaving the ranks mainly because of abuse by their organisations’ male leaders. Shobha Mandi, 25, who was an area commander in Jhargram of West Bengal and had surrendered before Jharkhand Police, also mentioned in her book ‘Ek Maowadi ki Diary’ that the women cadres were forced to have sex with senior commanders and beaten if they protested. Confirming this trend, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on August 5, 2014 said: “Many instances of exploitation of tribals by the Maoists have come to the notice of the government. Such atrocities primarily include sexual exploitation of tribal women cadres in the Maoist camps which have been disclosed in statements of several surrendered women CPI (Maoist) cadres of Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand and other states.” Eleven minors, all in their early

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

photos: bsf

internal security

teens, were rescued as they were allegedly being herded to a Maoist training camp, Security Forces claimed on July 16, 2014. A Maoist, Motra Chaki alias Samuel, who was taking the children to the camp, had been arrested. “Among the 11 children we rescued, five were girls and the rest were boys,” said West Singhbhum District Superintendent of Police (SP), NK Singh. The police said that during his interrogation, Samuel had said that his leader, Prasadji, had specifically asked for young girls to be brought to the camp. Prasadji was arrested on August 13, 2014 in Ranchi District of Jharkhand. Further, the ‘secretary’ of the Koyal Shankh Zonal Committee, Dinbandhu, of the CPI-Maoist in a press release denied reports of alleged abduction of over 40 children from the villages of Gumla, Lohardaga and Latehar Districts by them in order to expand their cadre base. The press release further dubbed it as propaganda of the State Government in order to malign their image. The recruitment of more and more women cadres by the Maoists is an undeniable sign of weakness rather than strength. The idea of banking on the female cadres from a strategic point of view looks uncertain and untenable. However, in this critical juncture the Indian state must seize the opportunity to weaken the Maoists further or else another opportunity will be squandered away. The writer is a Research Assistant at the Institute for Conflict Management

internal security

ith the decrease of terror related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) over the past few years, violence has been reduced and considerable amount of peace has been achieved in the state. However, to revive the alleged dying militancy and keep the state in constant disturbance, frustrated foreign extremists supported by global terror outfits are planning to launch a new wave of Jihad in J&K. Joining with non state actors, the involvement of Pakistani forces in this new terror movement is clearly visible as it is indicated by their intensive cease fire violation occurred of late in the international border areas between India and Pakistan. Pattern of trend analysis also indicates that the motive of unprovoked firings is a cover up tactics of Pakistani troops to support militant infiltration meant for this new wave of warfare. The Annual Report (2013-14) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that in the last nine years militancy related violence in J&K has been considerably reduced as 170 incidents were recorded in 2013 against 1,990 in 2005. Subsequently, the number of civilians killed has decreased from 557 in 2005 to 15 in 2013. In addition, while 189 security forces died in 2005, only 53 were recorded dead in 2013. Meanwhile, as a consequent effect of the reduction of militancy in the region, 67 militants were neutralised in 2013 against 917 in 2005. Acknowledging the improving situation in the region, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Independence Day (August 15, 2014) stated that there had been â&#x20AC;&#x153;80 per cent reduction in militancy related incidents during the last five and half yearsâ&#x20AC;?. All schools and hospitals which were earlier occupied by security forces for operational purpose have been vacated. Around 1000 private and 300 government buildings, 40 hotels and 30 industrial units have also been freed from their occupancy. Subsequently, a new rehabilitation policy has been introduced especially for the youth who had crossed the LOC, and so far 350 of them have returned under this policy. Revealing a serious blow on the leaderships of active militant outfits such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lt. Gen. Gurmit Singh, General Officer in Command (GOC) XV Corps of Indian Army in June 2014, just one day before he handed over command to Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha, explained that while

bsf

Withering Militancy

New wave

of Jihad Realising the limitations of the military means, the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and their supporters abroad are injecting religious overtones into their movement, writes T K Singh November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

internal security TRENDS OF MILITANT VIOLENCE IN J&K Years

Incidents

SFs killed

Civilians killed Terrorist killed

2005

1990

189

557

917

2006

1667

151

389

591

2007

1092

110

158

472

2008

708

339

2009

499

239

2010

488

232

2011

340

100

2012

220

2013

170

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs Annual Report 2013-14

the top ten militant commanders were eliminated in 2013, they neutralised the same number in the Kashmir Valley in the first half of the year 2014. Indicating progress in military operations, 40 militants have been neutralised including 17 from LeT, 11 from HM and eight from JeM in 2014. Gen. Singh further stated that among 40 killed, 18 were foreign and a similar number were local militants while the nationalities of the remaining four were not confirmed.

The New Jihad Movement

Acknowledging the fading situation of militancy in J&K, frustrated extremist leaders such as Jamat-ud-Dawa (JUD) Chief Hafiz Saeed have hit upon a new strategy to start a fresh terror movement. With the support from the Pakistani Army, these leaders have been recruiting new cadres and trying to dispatch

them to J&K with the help of cross border firings and divergent tactics. This new phase of violent movement has gained physical and moral support (direct or indirect) from global Jihadi groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda. On May 28, 2014, Hafiz Saeed arranged a rally, “Takbeer Convention” at the famous Aabara Chowk near the headquarter of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in Islamabad and made a provocative speech amongst thousands asking to wage a “final Jihad” against India to free Kashmir. This campaign was openly supported by Pakistani government associates. Interestingly, the public gathering was attended by none other than eminent personalities such as former ISI Director General Hamid Gul, Senator Talha Mehmood and former head of the right wing political party, Jamat-e-Islami.

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November 2014

Moreover, taking advantage of the flood that occurred in early September 2014 in parts of J&K and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), Hafiz Saeed visited relief camps at Kotli and other areas of POK (opposite border areas of Rajouri and Poonch districts of J&K) on September 14, 2014 to lure the flood affected youths to join militancy. A few days later, on September 20, 2014, Lt Gen Subrata Saha, the GOC, XV Corps (Kashmir), Indian Army stated that following the floods, 200 heavily armed militants were waiting across the LoC to infiltrate into the Kashmir Valley. These developments are adding fuel in the new wave of warfare in J&K. It is not only the Pakistani extreme elements but also global Islamic groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have begun to support this final Jihad call against India. In mid-July 2014, reports suggested that the Al-Qaeda had started focusing on India by introducing an ideology, “Ghazwae-Hind (the final battle in India). Subsequently, the group has also circulated an English publication, “Azam” to motivate local terror groups operating in India to join hands with Al-Qaeda members. Lately, on September 3, 2014, Al-Qaeda chief Zayman al Zawahari released a new tape which stated the establishment of a new wing, “Jamaat Qaidat aljihad fi’shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya, or the Organisation of The Base of Jihad in the Indian Sub-Continent” which would be functioning dedicatedly in the Indian subcontinent focussing on Myanmar and Bangladesh along with specific attention to the Indian states of Assam, Gujarat and Kashmir. Apart from the Al-Qaeda, ISIS affiliates have supported the Pakistani elements in this modern terror campaign

internal security

in J&K. Like the Al-Qaeda circulated hate videos, the ISIS on June 13, 2014 released a new videotape in Urdu, motivating people in Kashmir to join hands with their “brothers” in Iraq and Syria, and launch Jihad against India. Meanwhile, leaders of the Taliban also expressed their intentions to shift the theatre of war into India after the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Before he was killed in a drone attack in May 2013, former leader Wali ur Rehman of the Tarik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) pleaded to send fighters to Kashmir and wage war to bring Sharia rule in the country.

As the Pakistani radicals (Saeed and his group) gain support from various quarters including their own state actors and global terror groups, they have been trying to make their final terror campaign a success through dishonest means. Undoubtedly, the reasons for the recent ceasefire violation between India and Pakistan that increased in August 2014 was a diversionary tactic of the Pakistani troops to support massive infiltration possibly before the arrival of winter for the new battle. This hypothesis has been truly substantiated by the results of the trend analysis of recent security situations in the region coupled with the present aggressions of foreign extremist leaders. A chronological study of terror-related events in the past few months clearly indicates that the unprovoked firing was solely to support the new wave of warfare in J&K. Five days after Hafiz Saeed’s fiery speech on June 3, 2014, sources divulged that cadres from LeT, HM and JeM were likely to make joint attempts to infiltrate the region in the successive months. Thereafter, on June 11, 2014 it was revealed that the three outfits had made their latest efforts to augment manpower by launching a fresh drive to recruit local “talent” in their ranks in J&K. Interestingly, while ceasefire violations were barely observed in the year earlier, a series of illegitimate firings by Pakistani soldiers were noticed after the introduction of Hafiz Saeed’s “final Jihad” in the end of May 2014. From June 13-18 and July 16-20, 2014, Pakistani soldiers resorted to continuous and unprovoked firing in Balakote and Mendhar Sectors (Poonch District), Keri Sector (Rajouri District), and Suchetgarh Sector in RS Pura (Jammu District). On the other side, infiltration attempts that have increased were foiled by Indian security

hemant rawat

Ceasefire Violation (Cover-up Tactics for Infiltration)

Keeping an eye: Indian Army personnel patrolling a border village in Jammu and Kashmir

forces in areas such as Balakote, Mendhar, Krishna Ghati and Bhimber Gali Sectors. Concerned about the sudden increase of ceasefire violations, Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley highlighted the issue in the Rajya Sabha on July 22, 2014 and stated that around 60 such incidents were recorded in first half of 2014. The last round of ceasefire violations (post June and July 2014) that displaced thousands of villagers and took human lives including security personnel and civilians was first observed on August 8, 2014, when Pakistani troops targeted Indian forward posts in Bhimber Gali SubSector of Poonch District. This was followed by a series of attacks on different Border Out Posts (BOPs) in a number of areas including RS Pura and Arnia (Jammu) from August 10-24 and 27-28, 2014. Till now reports have suggested that more than 90 ceasefire cases had been recorded in 2014. D K Pathak, Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) expressed that the number of ceasefire violations were the highest and the firings most severe on the borderlines after 1971 Indo-Pakistan War. Meanwhile, to bring peace in the border areas and reduce tension between the two nations, after more than 15 appeals had been made by the Indian authorities, one Sector Commander and two Commandant level flag meetings were held between the BSF and Pakistani Rangers. The first one was held at Octroi Post in

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

Suchetgarh Sector, RS Pura on August 29, 2014. Two other meetings were held at Pargwal and Ramgrah on August 27 and 28, 2014, respectively. Though the Pakistani Rangers reluctantly agreed to stop firing through these negotiations, there have been apprehensions that the cross border firings to promote infiltration was likely to continue (or begin again) till these militants met their new objective. A sudden increase in terror-related violence in the coming days may not be ruled out keeping in view the Pakistani intention of waging a new phase of war in the region. As the new campaign has also been supported by global terrorist organisations including Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Taliban, it is immediately essential that we share our security concerns with foreign security establishments. Even as the security forces continue to ensure that violence decreased in J&K, the local population, especially the youth in the region who understand the designs of the extreme elements, should play an active role to containing this fresh terror movement. Once they start doing that, the knowledgeable local youths will be emboldened not to provide any support or allow foreign terror elements to disturb their own state where peace (not the “final Jihadi”) looks achieveable. The author is Assistant Professor, Department of National Security Studies at Central University of Jammu

geopolitics November 2014 | www.geopolitics.in

an agenda for south asia

onlooker

Nguyen Tan Dung’s tour to India

Victory for Dilma Rousseff

Dilma Rousseff narrowly won the Brazilian Presidential elections for a second term. Brazil’s re-elected President has promised to reunite the South American country and revive a stagnant economy. After a bitter campaign that largely split the country between the poor north and the wealthier south,

India-Vietnam growing links may not go well with China but Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has cemented ties with India, particularly in the defence and oil exploration sectors. The Vietnamese PM signed seven bilateral agreements his visit. These were: (i) Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of Nalanda University; (ii) MoU on Conservation and Restoration of the World Heritage Site of My Son, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam; (iii) MoU on Establishing the Centre for English Language and Information Technology Training at the Telecommunications University; (iv) Cultural Exchange Programme 201517; (v) MoU on Exchange of Audio-Visual Programmes; (vi) HoA between OVL and PetroVietnam; and (vii) MoU between ONGC and PetroVietnam.

Canada’s fight against terror

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has vowed to double the country’s fight against terrorist organisations after a gunman attacked Canada´s Parliament where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was speaking. The parliament shootings followed an attack on two soldiers in Quebec. Harper said it was too early to know whether the gunman had accomplices but insisted Canada would never be intimidated. “This will lead us to strengthen our resolve

and counter threats,” he said in a televised address to the nation. Both attacks took place after Canada announced in October that it would send six jets to take part in air strikes against Islamic State fighters who have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.

and redouble our efforts and those of our national security agencies to take all necessary steps to identify

Musharraf is at old self

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has attacked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him antiPakistan and anti-Muslim. In one interview, he said “Prime Minster Modi is your Prime Minister, not Pakistan’s Prime Minister. We don’t get any dictations from him. We know his credentials. We know his antiPakistan credentials.”

Rousseff won 51.6 per cent of the vote to 48.4 per cent for Aecio Neves, the closest margin of victory since 1945. In her victory speech, she promised to listen to voters’ demands for change after a record 26.1 per cent of voters abstained. “This President is open to dialogue,” she told cheering supporters in Brasilia. “This is the top priority of my second term.”

Musharraf said the Pakistan government under Nawaz Sharif has been extremely positive on the peace process. “In fact, they have been maligned for being overly appeasing towards India. People of Pakistan really understand your ill-intentions towards Pakistan.”

He (Modi) started, what we are seeing from across the border here in Pakistan, that he is anti-Muslim, antiPakistan. These are his credentials with which he started and he was even denied visa to United States.” Pervez Musharraf Former President of Pakistan

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

onlooker

Recognising rebel vote in Ukraine

Setting the stage for renewed tensions with the West, the Russian government said that it would recognise the results of the coming elections in the separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, where rebel leaders have scheduled a vote in defiance of the Ukrainian government and in violation of an agreement signed in Minsk, Belarus in

October. Russia says it will recognise the results of controversial separatist elections in eastern Ukraine, which the rebels plan to hold on November 2. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said elections in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions “will be important to legitimise the authorities there”.

David Cameron’s EU exit?

The scare of the Scotland referendum has just passed over a month since David Cameron underwent a near-death experience. Now the Conservative Party MPs are wondering whether the Prime Minister is stumbling towards an EU (European Union) referendum where he will end up campaigning for the outcome he had

Qadri’s political lunge

originally intended to defeat: a British exit from the EU. Cameron currently has to contend with two things at once: the demand by the European commission for an extra payment of £1.7bn and the impending deadline for Britain to opt back into 35 EU justice and home affairs measures including the European arrest warrant.

Tahir ul-Qadri may have been an unknown face for many Pakistani-Canadians. His recent anti-corruption movement in Pakistan along with Imran Khan, has made him the face of Pakistan. As a religious scholar and writer, Qadri eked out a low-key existence, developing a small group of followers who came to him for guidance, despite being well known for charity work back home in Pakistan. In the run-up to Pakistan’s 2013 general election, the former parliamentarian led a protest march to Islamabad, and he returned again this year to champion a “revolution” in Pakistan.

Italian state’s Mafia links

Missing Kim Jong-Un

Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano testified for more than three hours recently in an unprecedented appearance in a major trial that accuses the state of holding secret talks with the Sicilian Mafia in the 1990s. Palermo prosecutors, seeking to shed light on a murky period when the mob targeted the state with assassinations and bombings, questioned a sitting head of state in a mafia trial for the first time in the country’s history. The 89-year-old Napolitano is not accused of any crime. He was called as a witness who may

have knowledge useful to the trial, but the hearing may tarnish the image of a President.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s 40 days’ disappearance mystery has

November 2014

been solved by South Korean spies. South Korea’s spy agency has revealed details of what it believes were the reasons behind the disappearance of Kim Jong-Un. In a closed-door hearing, officials from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told parliamentarians he was suffering from Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, which is the compression of the tibial nerve in the foot. The intelligence agency officials claimed Kim had been operated on by European doctors in September or October.

diplomacy

ery simply put, it means things of benefit to a nation: actions, circumstances, and decisions regarded as benefiting a particular nation. The national interest of a state is multi-faceted. Primary is the state’s survival and security. Also important is the pursuit of wealth and economic growth and power. Many states, especially in modern times, regard the preservation of the nation’s culture as of great importance. Therefore, if we disaggregate national interest into its main elements we can see it in the following terms: 1. Defence and National Security 2. Economy and International Trade 3. Foreign Relations and the Manage- ment of the Global System 4. National well-being There is another way to look at national interest more in keeping with the cynical times we live in. This is the interest of a state, as usually defined by its government and its leaders. Politicians constantly invoke it in seeking support for a particular course of action, especially in foreign policy. Given the widespread attachment to the nation as a social and political organisation, national interest is a powerful device for invoking support. The term is also used by politicians to seek support for their domestic policy objectives, but here it is less persuasive given the normal extent of differences on domestic policy and is hence employed less. In foreign policy in contrast, the term invokes an image of the nation with all its emotional and near mystical connotations.

Pursuit of National Interest

National interest, often referred to by the French term raison d’état, is a country’s goals and ambitions – whether economic or cultural. The notion is an important one in international relations where pursuit of the national interest is the foundation of the realist school. The practice is first seen as being employed by France under the direction of Cardinal Richelieu in the Thirty Years War when it intervened on the Protestant side, despite its

own Catholicism, to block the increasing power of the Pope. At Richelieu’s prompting, Jean de Silhon, the philosopher and politician, defended the concept of reason of state as “a mean between what conscience permits and affairs require”. The notion of national interest soon came to dominate European politics that became fiercely competitive over the next centuries. Today, the concept of “the national interest” is often associated with political realists who wish to differentiate their policies from “idealis-

What is National Interest? India is in dire need of a carefully considered and enunciated doctrine on what constitutes our national interests. We have not had one and that is not because the defence services have not clamoured for one, but because the nation’s political leadership has failed to give us one. The doctrine we have by default is the real estate doctrine. This mentality must change, asserts Mohan Guruswamy

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

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tic” policies that seek either to inject morality into foreign policy or promote solutions that rely on multilateral institutions, which might weaken the independence of the state. As considerable disagreement exists in every country over what is or is not in “the national interest”, the term is as often invoked to justify isolationist and pacifistic policies as to justify interventionist or warlike policies.

US National Interest after the collapse of the USSR The United States has found it exceedingly difficult to define its “national

interest” in the absence of Soviet power. That it did not know how to think about what followed the US-Soviet confrontation is clear from the continued references to the “post–Cold War period”. Yet such periods of transition are important, because they uncover strategic opportunities. During these fluid times, one can affect the shape of the world to come. The enormity of the moment the USSR collapsed is obvious. The Soviet Union was more than just a traditional global competitor;

it strove to lead a universal socialist alternative to markets and democracy. The Soviet Union quarantined itself and many often-unwitting captives and clients from the rigors of international capitalism. In the end, it sowed the seeds of its own destruction, becoming in isolation an economic and technological dinosaur. But this is only part of the story. The Soviet Union’s collapse coincided with another great revolution. Dramatic changes in information technology and the growth of “knowledge-based” industries altered the very basis of economic dynamism, accelerating already noticeable trends in economic interaction that often circumvented and ignored state boundaries. As competition for capital investment has intensified, states have faced difficult choices about their internal economic, political and social structures. As the prototype of this “new economy,” the United States has seen its economic influence grow — and with it, it’s diplomatic influence. America has emerged as both the principal benefactor of these simultaneous revolutions and their beneficiary. Famously, Winston Churchill defined Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”, and his words in 1939 spoke eloquently to the Western sense of Moscow as the “other” – an inscrutable and menacing land that plays by its own rules, usually to the detriment of those who choose more open regulations. If Churchill’s description were to be recast for the present day, then Russia would still be a riddle and an enigma lodged, like the innermost core of a matryoshka (Russian) nesting doll, in a diplomat’s pinstripe folded round a pugilist’s muscle and an oil baron’s checkbook. But Churchill’s analysis was only part of a formula that seems as relevant now as it was then. Perhaps, he said, “there is a key” to the riddle of Russia, concluding, “That key is Russian national interest.” But the challenge is not so much to discern Moscow’s national interest as to devise policies to coexist with, or at least identify a coincidence of interests with, the oil-rich Russian assertiveness forged by Vladimir Putin and inherited virtually unchanged by his successor as president, Dmitri Medvedev.

Resurgent Russia’s Reassertion of National Interest

In recent times, Russia has displayed its sense of nationalist interest with unmistakable clarity in a manner that suggests an inherently adversarial, if not downright hostile, attitude to Western governments, interests and companies. At around the

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same time, Russia put forward a proposal to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for a new treaty that would subsume NATO and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe into a new security architecture designed by the Kremlin to reflect Russia’s re-emergence as a power on the global stage. There were reports, too, that Russia planned to renationalise part of its huge grain exports, raising concerns that Moscow would add food to its armoury of economic and diplomatic weapons alongside state-dominated gas, oil and arms exports. As indicators of Russia’s sense of national interest, those events sent out clear signals: after the chaos and decline of the Yeltsin era in the 1990s, the Kremlin was flexing economic and diplomatic muscle in pursuit of influence and wealth. From Russia’s viewpoint, NATO has been a meddlesome force, extending influence within what used to be the Soviet fief, a sense of encroachment magnified by the US plan to station anti-missile defences in the Czech Republic and Poland. That rankles with Moscow. Imperial memory is a powerful force, instilling a yearning for lost glories and an urge for new modes of influence, acknowledgment and respect. It should surprise no one that, once the Kremlin made a strategic decision under Putin to reassert control over its own energy resources, outsiders would have little role in the oil and gas business that gives the Moscow elite control over such massive wealth and power. There is a sense, too, that by projecting itself as a pole of opposition to Western plans, Moscow is offering itself as an alternate, a counterweight and an equal player, defining itself quite deliberately as the West’s muscular opposite, as much the “other” as in 1939. Sometimes that divide takes on the trappings of a redefined cold war. Moscow is said to maintain as many secret agents in Britain as it did in the hey-day of the Soviet Union.

National Interest of Lesser Nations

We must now wonder how smaller nations see their national interest? The Canadians, for instance, maintain a robust and capable military. Lest we wonder why, the Canadians have defined their national interest in very interesting terms: “The Canadian Forces (CF) are a vital instrument of national defence and sovereignty and a key implement for the achievement of Canadian national goals at home and abroad. A strong and modern military, designed specifically to meet Canada’s security and foreign policy needs, will serve Canada’s pride and Canada’s interests.

It is, therefore, incumbent on Canadian governments to ensure that Canada’s military forces are well funded, equipped to the highest standards and recruited and trained to fight alongside the best, against the best. A technologically advanced, well equipped, well trained, numerically robust, and combat-capable Canadian Forces is essential to good overall Canadian-American relations. Thus the CF must be financed, equipped, trained, and maintained in sufficient numbers as to be capable of helping the United States defend the North American Continent on land, at sea, in space, and in the air, and of helping to fight international terrorism and maintain international peace and democratic values.” Obviously Canada sees its national interest as best served by an ability to play able second fiddle to the United States, something it is doing in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The UK has not yet defined its national interest in these terms, but it would also seem that in reality it is little more than that. Britain today still maintains a military capability far in excess of its world economic and political weight. But like the Canadians, they too see national pride as a vital component of their national interest. With their economy fast declining in relative terms, Britain will soon have to reappraise its notions of national interest keeping in view its finances. These costs can be enormous. Britain today has the highest Tax/GDP (37 per cent) ratio in the world. It is difficult to see this extravagance as in the national interest. But imperial memories linger long and continue to extract a price long after the empires have been buried deep in the sands of history.

From Russia’s viewpoint, NATO has been a meddlesome force, extending influence within what used to be the Soviet fief, a sense of encroachment magnified by the US plan to station anti-missile defences in its neighbour November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

h c tiwari

diplomacy

Commanders Conference: Prime Minister Narendra Modi,Defence Minister Arun Jaitely, Chief of the Army Staff General Dalbir Singh,Naval Chief Admiral R K Dhowan, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha pose for a photograph prior to address the Combined Commanders Conference

Why Great Powers don’t mind their own business?

Even those comfortable with notions of the “national interest” are still queasy with a focus on power relationships and great-power politics. The reality is that a few big powers can radically affect international peace, stability, and prosperity. These states are capable of disruption on a grand scale, and their fits of anger or acts of beneficence affect hundreds of millions of people. Witness what the USA has been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. By reason of size, geographic position, economic potential, and military strength, they are capable of influencing the welfare of others -- for good or ill. A case in point is the supply of F16 Block 52 fighters and laser guided bombs to Pakistan, when they have extremely limited applications in counter-insurgency. Does the USA care for India’s national interest?

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And, is India’s national leadership able to see this in terms of the national interest? If so, why is India’s diplomacy quiescent over this? The kind of power with the USA is usually accompanied by a sense of entitlement to play a decisive role in international politics. Great powers do not just mind their own business.

Indian realism

Indian realism – as a framework for policymaking – shares some of the characteristics of the academic school with which it also shares a name. It is focused on the national interest, skeptical of institutionalism, attuned to balances of power and polarity, and inclined to place a high priority on preserving sovereignty. On the specifics of nuclear strategy, India’s position aligns closely with those of realist scholars. Kenneth Waltz’s arguments that nuclear weapons can encourage strategic stability and that few weapons are required to achieve a credible deterrent, for example, would find widespread agreement within India’s strategic community. But there are also several important elements that distinguish Indian realism

from its academic counterpart. First, and perhaps most importantly, India’s foreign policy has assumed an economic dimension of which the academic school of realists retains a healthy skepticism. Indian officials of the past decade – whether prime ministers, foreign secretaries or service chiefs – have consistently spoken of India’s top foreign policy priority be-

The national interest may be cardinal in guiding foreign policy, Indian realists place a certain degree of importance on values and the nature of states www.geopolitics.in

November 2014

ing an external environment conducive to rapid economic growth. To varying degrees, India’s engagement with nominal adversaries in its region, its warming relationships with the United States, Japan and Europe, and its Look East policy can all be attributed to this new found emphasis on economic growth as a critical element in India’s foreign policy calculus. There are several implications of such an economically oriented foreign policy. Engagement and interdependence are now seen as preferable, on the whole, to adversity and autarky (economic independence). On the matter of benefits and disadvantages of economic autarky, realists in the West would, rather strangely, find greater agreement in India with the political Left – self-described “liberals” – while Indian realist views would more likely align with those of liberal theorists of international relations. The increasingly positive Indian view of economic co-operation and interdependence inverts the pessimistic assumptions of human nature espoused by Western realists, for whom co-operation is seen as less preferential to forms of competition that might give India a relative advantage, including warfare and arms races. Moreover, while Indian realism may adopt some of the attributes of a competitive global outlook, it assumes that the means of competition have moved away from the primarily military and towards other realms. Second, while the national interest may be cardinal in guiding foreign policy, Indian realists place a certain degree of importance on values and the nature of states. In this regard, there are considerable differences between Indian dealings in Asia on the one hand and, say, Britain’s dealings with continental Europe in the 19th century. India will continue to engage with non-democratic states – from China and Saudi Arabia to Iran and Burma – in accordance with its interests. But it also understands that liberal, democratic governments provide both stability and transparency. Secularism and pluralism play a prominent role in India’s own identity, and while India has been content using only its example as a means of promoting these values, it has so far been limited to a considerable degree by resources and its power projection capabilities in promoting these values more aggressively. Third, India is now engaging in meaningful ways with an unprecedented number of actors in the international system. One of the under-appreciated implications of this is the shift in focus from rela-

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tive gains, upon which realist theory tends to place emphasis, to absolute gains. A war might net India an advantage over its opponent in a purely bilateral competition, but India might still lose relative to a third player by initiating it. Because the numbers of actors that India engages with have multiplied exponentially, this increasingly translates into seeking maximum absolute gains for the country, regardless of the performance of competing powers.

Geopolitical COURSE: The member nations of NATO came together for the start of the 2014 conference, that was held in Newport, Wales. Led by Prime Minister David Cameron, each of the nations was represented together in family photo

Strategy and Tactics

Strategy refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. The word is of military origin, deriving from the Greek word strategos, which roughly translates as general. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. How a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: the terms and conditions that it is fought on and whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy, which is part of the four levels of warfare: political goals or grand strategy, strategy, operations, and tactics. Classic texts such as Chanakya’s Arthashastra written in the 3rd century BC, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, written in China 2,500 years ago, the political strategy of Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, written in 1513, or Carl von Clausewitz’s On War published in 1832, as with the Japanese classic The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Mushashi written in 1645, are still well known, and highly influential. In the twentieth century, the subject of strategic management has been particularly applied to organisations, most typically to business firms and corporations. Designing Organisation for Higher Performance published in 1988 is a good guide to develop higher levels of performance since it offers strategies that are viable in large organisations. The nature of historic texts differs greatly from area to area, and given the nature of strategy itself, there are some potential parallels between various forms of strategy – noting, for example, the popularity of The Art of War as a business book. Each domain generally has its own foundational texts, as well as more recent contributions to new applications of strategy.

India’s National Interest and Security

The phrase “National Interest” seems a much misused and even misunderstood one. Google has no fewer than 12 million

citations for it. But much of this focuses on the military aspects. The National Interest of India expressed in purely military terms would be to ensure the integrity and the well-being of the nation state against external assault; either directly or

The phrase “National Interest” seems a much misused and even misunderstood one. Google has no fewer than 12 million citations for it November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

by proxy. India shares land boundaries with six countries. Of them, China and Pakistan are powerful and adversarial. Two others, Nepal and Bhutan are, both, economically and militarily weak, and sandwiched between India and China. Bangladesh is without the means and resources to meet the needs of its burgeoning population. Myanmar is unstable and gripped by numerous insurgencies. Sri Lanka is still caught up in a fratricidal war. Thus, all our immediate neighbours have an immediate and often negative bearing on our external and internal security. The near region, which is now where most of the expanded Islamic crescent is, bears the world’s greatest hydrocarbon reserves. The importance of the Arabian Sea into which the Persian Gulf opens needs no emphasis. The importance of the sealanes has made the waters around us host to powerful foreign naval forces. So

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one is in terms of power to neutralize the conventional military capabilities of our two major regional adversaries, Pakistan and China. The second would be to meet the challenges posed by internal low intensity conflicts with a greatly enhanced special warfare capability. The third would be the capability to project credible power well beyond our geographical horizon and to deter extra-regional interference in the region. This implies the open deployment of weapons of great precision and power. Since the only utility of nuclear weapons lies in their non-use, just having them does not ease our pressures. On the other hand it calls for even greater conventional military preparedness.

NATO

Absence of Doctrine

much so that the Indian Ocean seems to be Indian only in name. Since the major part of our hydrocarbon requirements is met from the region, its stability is also as much our concern as it is of the West. Our internal security situation is also a matter of concern. No less than eight infantry divisions are now fully deployed to deal with the insurgencies that are raging in J&K, Nagaland, Manipur and Assam. This is despite having almost a million men in paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP), Assam Rifles and National Security Guards (NSG). The situation is not improving and only likely to get worse with signs of Naxalite resurgence in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. These circumstances should necessarily compel us to examine our security requirements from at least three perspectives. The first and still most important

Our strengths and weaknesses with regard to our conventional requirements are well documented and widely known. But the benchmark for these has invariably been Pakistan. So if Pakistan gets a new warplane, we must also have one and often anything will do. We have been engaged in this game for quite some time now. With this we get a matching doctrine. Hold on to real estate and hope there is a cease-fire imposed before we run out of munitions! Our forces seem incapable of any strategic breakthrough in the absence of a compelling doctrine. The question, therefore, is whether we must limit our objectives to just this or aim at something that would lead to a lasting solution to our western neighbours seemingly implacable hostility? Clearly there is need for a carefully considered and enunciated doctrine. We have not had one and that is not because the defence services have not clamoured for one, but because the nations’ political leadership has failed to do so. Therefore, the doctrine we have by default is the real estate doctrine. Many in India would like to think that Kashmir is the only cause of friction and somehow if we found a solution that would satisfy Pakistan we can both then enjoy a state of perpetual amicability. To expect this would be to ignore the history of the past thousand years and the racial arrogance and the acquired mentality of the Punjabi Muslim. Pakistani Punjab, which is in effective control of Pakistan, is the single most destabilising element in South Asia. Pakistan too, like us, is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural state. Lasting peace, many believe, can only come about when Pakistani Punjab is subdued and Pakistan’s Punjabis dominated military is cut to size. Few Pakistani Sindhis or Baluchis or Pakhtoons too will

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disagree with this. If we are agreed on this our national politico-military requirements will dramatically change. Having a Pakistan policy alone is not enough. The first requirement would mean that we have a clearly enunciated and spelled out security doctrine that takes into account all our immediate and long-term threats. What for instance would we do if a Marxist-Leninist government of Nepal were to enter into a security pact with the Peoples Republic of China that allows the PLA to station its troops there? What would be our reaction if Rangoon’s tenuous hold on the provinces that lie between southern China and northeastern India were to completely cease resulting in the establishment of separate Chin, Karen and Naga political entities? What do we do when a Middle Eastern country transfers military equipment to Pakistan at a time of conflict? This has happened in the past when countries like Iran, Jordan and Turkey sent the Pakistani planes and tanks, both, in 1965 and 1971. Today there is a good deal of compatibility between Pakistan’s weapon systems and those of their allies and collaborators like Saudi Arabia and Turkey. This will enable the Pakistanis to have access to over a dozen squadrons of F-16’s alone. Similarly a security doctrine will also encompass our economic interests. How do we protect our offshore interests? What do we do if we are denied vital hydrocarbons because of changed circumstances in the Middle East? We have some evidence that Indian currency is being officially counterfeited in Pakistan to meet their immediate clandestine requirements. Suppose this turned into a flood? All this sounds very farfetched, but so did war with China in the 1950’s and the arrival of the USS Enterprise in 1971! In the 21st century, as India’s GDP growth has begun to nudge double digits, we face a new set of challenges. The sudden inflow and outflow of foreign funds, a greater integration with the globalised regime, competition for finite resources, and the rapidly expanding economic and military power of China are some of these. The new international economic regime has inevitably led to some abridgement of sovereignty, while the rapidly expanding gap between our largest neighbour and us poses new challenges to our integrity and sovereignty. This is the time for a new realism in determining our national interest and single-mindedly pursuing it. The author is a leading analyst of geoeconomics

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Regionalism

In order to change its image as a magnificent paper tiger, SAARC needs the ‘Modi-touch’ at the forthcoming summit in Kathmandu, writes Mahendra P Lama

stablished in 1985 and consisting of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has, to its credit, the following:  SAARC Integrated Programme of Action (SIPA) including in Agriculture and Rural Development; C o m m u n i cations and Transport; Social Development; Environment, Meteorology and Forestry; Science and Technology; Human Resources Development and Energy;  Signing of Agreements and Conventions including in Agreement on Establishing the SAARC Food Security Reserve; Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism; Regional Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances; SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution etc  Initiation of SAARC Programmes including poverty eradication; agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA); social charter; SAARC Development Fund (SDF) and regional connectivity programme.  Establishment of SAARC Regional Centres including Agricultural Information Centre (Dhaka); Tuberculosis Centre (Kathmandu); Documentation Center (New Delhi); Meteorological Research Centre (Dhaka); Human Resources Development Centre (Islamabad); Energy Centre (Islamabad); Disaster Management Centre (New Delhi)  Organising People to People contact programmes including SAARC AudioVisual Exchange (SAVE) Programme; SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC); SAARC Scheme for Promotion of Organised Tourism; SAARC Chairs, Fellowships and Scholarships Scheme; SAARC Youth Volunteers Programme (SYVOP); SAARC Visa Exemption

Scheme; South Asian Festivals; SAARC Consortium of Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) and SAARC Awards. In all these major spheres of activities, there is some visible progress. For

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

instance, a range of regional institutions have been established and have been functioning. The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement has come into effect. A number of activities have been initiated under the rubric of the regional

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in South Asia and at the Foreign Secretary and various official levels. There have been series of special meetings like that of Home Ministers, Agriculture Ministers and Finance Ministers of the region.

“A club of tongues” and “regional past time” There have been no institutionalised responses to the enthusiasm created by some of these activities in the region. The euphoria with which these activities were launched died down in no time – both in the absence of a proper monitoring and evaluation mechanism and also because of the virtual non-involvement of people and the non-governmental institutions in the entire exercise. There is an increasing feeling that many of these activities are just initiated as summit rituals by the heads of the States and the Governments. One can find an array of literature that calls SAARC as ‘ritualistic’, and criticizes it as ‘magnificent paper tiger’, ‘a political white elephant’, ‘talk shop of no consequence, ‘suffocatingly slow’, ‘military convoy in a mountainous region’, ‘a regional past time’, ‘a club of tongues’, ‘bureaucratic den’, ‘regional past time’ etc. One can cite specific instances where the SAARC process has failed in fulfilling its objectives and in meeting peoples’ aspirations as the only regional body for almost 30 years now. Let us cite two instances related to poverty eradication and suppression of terrorism. Both these have huge regional ramifications and call for a strong regional commitment, approach and policy implementations.

Poverty Alleviation

agreements and conventions, regional centres and also under the broad framework of people to people contact. However, none of these activities and initiatives have had any major direct impact on strengthening the regional cooperation

and integration process in South Asia. The heads of the States and the Governments have so far had 17 Summit meetings. A large number of meetings have taken place among the Council of Ministers i.e. the Foreign Ministers of these countries

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November 2014

The 6th SAARC summit (Colombo, 1991) for the first time accorded the highest priority to the alleviation of poverty in South Asia and decided to establish an Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA) consisting of eminent persons from member states to conduct an in-depth study of the diverse experiences of member states. The Commission later set rather formidable macro-economic targets for the eradication of poverty in South Asia by 2002 AD. The Commission provided a radical con-

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ceptual framework for poverty alleviation through social mobilisation and empowerment in South Asia. In order to achieve this goal it recommended that the region would require:  An annual growth rate of 9.1 per cent;  Doubling of per capita income from $ 300 to $ 600;  Lowering of incremental capital-output ratio from 4:1 to 3:1; and,  Increasing the marginal savings rate from the current level to 27 per cent or more. It also elaborately discussed various micro level interventions and learning from the tedious delivery systems of the state mechanism. It also mentioned about the emergence of new trends at the very grass root level and shifting focus from macro interventions to participatory micro-development organisations. It was very much on the basis of this Report the 7th SAARC Summit [Dhaka, 1993] for the first time committed to eradicate poverty in South Asia by 2002. Despite this lofty and rather challenging declaration, the SAARC as a regional body undertook a meagre number of inconsequential initiatives during the critical period 1993-2002. The only concrete action has been the setting up of Three Tier Committees. For many years however, all the SAARC Summit declarations reiterated their stand of 1993 to eradicate poverty from the region by 2002. When it finally reached the year 2002, the 11th Summit [Kathmandu, 2002] appointed another Independent South

Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation Commission (ISACPA) to review the progress made in cooperation on poverty alleviation and to suggest appropriate and effective measures for implementation. This second Commission submitted its report in 2004. Now there is an apparent shift from the goal of eradication of poverty to the achievements of the SAARC Development Goals (SDGs) which would be done in the next five years starting from year 2007. Interestingly in the 13th Summit (Dhaka, 2005), the Heads of State or Government decided to declare the decade of 2006-2015 as the SAARC Decade of Poverty Alleviation. Nothing has happened in the last ten

The SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism was signed during the 3rd SAARC Summit (Kathmandu, November 1987). It came into force on August 22, 1988 November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

Regional diplomacy: Former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh along with other Head of State and Government of SAARC Countries, at the inaugural session of the 17th SAARC Summit, at Adu Atoll in Maldives on November 10, 2011

years. The ambition of alleviating poverty in South Asia has got so diluted in the last two decades that in the 17th SAARC Summit held in Male in 2012, poverty alleviation became only a part of the Preamble in the Declaration.

Suppression of Terrorism

Large-scale terrorist violence continues to beset South Asia today. The inclusion of Afghanistan as the eighth member of the SAARC adds a new dimension to this. The SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism was signed during the 3rd SAARC Summit [Kathmandu, November 1987]. It came into force on August 22, 1988. This Convention provides for a regional approach to well-established principles of international law in respect of terrorist offences. It has provisions from sharing of information on terrorist activities to extraditions. Article VIII of the Convention emphatically states that “contracting States shall cooperate among themselves, to the extent permitted by their national laws, through consultations between appropriate agencies, exchange of information, intelligence and expertise and such other cooperative measures as may be appropriate, with a view to pre-

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venting terrorist activities through precautionary measures”. This Convention also led to the setting up of SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) in Colombo in 1990 primarily to collate, analyse and disseminate information about the terrorist incidences, tactics, strategies and methods. Recognising the distinct ominous link between terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and other transnational crimes, the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in 2004 signed an Additional Protocol to the Convention to deal effectively with financing of terrorism. The additional protocol takes into account obligations devolving on Member States in terms of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1373 of 28 September 2001 and the International Convention for Suppression of Financing Terrorism 1999. However, it is after eleven years that legal experts met for the first time in 1999 and formulated future guidelines and identified three key elements in the Convention as pre-requisites for its successful implementation viz., creation of offences listed in the Convention as extraditable offences under the domestic laws of SAARC member states; treatment of such offences as “non-political offences” for purposes of extradition and vesting of extra territorial criminal jurisdiction in the event of extradition not being granted. Since then several meetings of SAARC Interior/Home Ministers and other related agencies have taken place.

However, like any other SAARC activities, this Convention on such a sensitive issue like terrorism has also been totally marginalised and made infructuous. Year after year since 1988 the SAARC Summits have passed the same resolution asking the member countries to make enabling laws compatible to the Convention. Some member countries have consistently failed to enact enabling domestic legislations that are compatible to the Convention thereby making this Convention ineffective and inconsequential. Member countries have not been able to share even the basic information. Terrorist activities, both within and outside the country and on a cross border basis

Recognising the distinct ominous link between terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and other transnational crimes, the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in 2004 signed an Additional Protocol www.geopolitics.in

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have sharply gone up. Not a single action has been taken under this Convention. This, despite the fact that almost in every Summit, members States expressed “serious concern on the spread of terrorism in and outside the region and reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal. They deplored all such acts for their ruinous impact on life, property, socio-economic development and political stability as well as on regional and international peace and cooperation”. There is no harmonisation of domestic legislations including the sanction regime in respect of the Convention. There is absence of bilateral agreement on extradition. There are differences on the very definition of terrorism. Most of the information and knowledge base of terrorism in South Asia that are available in the public domain are generated mostly by academics, researchers and civil society organisations spread over the sub-continent. The STOMD which was supposed to be the fountain head of such information and knowledge base remain largely defunct and inaccessible. The only way to come out of this rigmarole is to generate public pressure on the member states to seriously implement the Convention. Unfortunately, overwhelming majority of the South Asians do not even know that such Convention exists as like others, this was also signed without consulting the diverse stakeholders in the region and outside. As a result,

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India’s trade with SAARC countries

Bangladesh

Sri Lanka

despite the serious need to regionally combat terrorism there is literally no civil society action conducted under this Convention. At the same time, given the size of the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu, the limited human resources, constricted mandate and narrow autonomy given to it, one should not really expect too much from the already exasperated and overworked Secretariat. One can cite several instances about deliberate inaction. The Integrated Programme of Action (IPA) in nine areas of cooperation has been the core of the SAARC process. It provided the firm foundation from which regional cooperation could take off. Each IPA is conducted by a Technical Committee which helps member states to build up or reinforce their national capabilities and undertake coordinated programmes and activities at national and regional levels. Over the years, IPA has undergone several changes including in the number of its activities. Under the reconstituted SAARC Integrated Programme of Action (SIPA) in 2000, the number of Technical Committees has been reduced from 11 to 7 viz., Agriculture and Rural Development; Communications and Transport; Social Development; Environment, Meteorology and Forestry;

Nepal

Pakistan

Afghanistan

Science and Technology; Human Resources Development and Energy. As a whole the activities of SIPA have broadly led to closer personal contact between the experts of the region in their specific fields of specialisation. It has facilitated exchange of data and information and also seminars and workshops and training courses. SIPA activities have never converged towards the real critical priority areas and failed to engage and involve the NGOs, experts, professionals and the real ben-

The SAARC Food Security Reserve is another example of how inaction could lead to the erosion of confidence on the SAARC system November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

Bhutan

Maldives

eficiaries in the interactive game. No two member countries have initiated some concrete cooperative ventures. There are three major critical drawbacks viz., resource crunch, lack of inter-sectoral coordination and non-implementation of decisions taken that have stunted the growth and effective performance of IPA activities. The SAARC Food Security Reserve is another example of how inaction could lead to the erosion of confidence on the SAARC system. This reserve was established in 1988 primarily to provide for a reserve of food grains to meet emergencies in Member Countries. Reserve stood at 241,580 tonnes as of January 2002. It was after full 14 years in 2002 the 9th Meeting of the Board (Islamabad, December 2002) for the first time identified institutions/organisations in Member States to be contacted in case of emergency requirements for withdrawal from the Reserve. Again after full 20 years of sheer non-implementation of the SAARC Food Reserves, this has been “revamped and renamed” into “Agreement on Establishing the SAARC Food Bank” in 2007. This renamed institution mentions about the establishment of a Permanent Headquarters of the Food Bank with dedicated staff.

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However, this food reserve also has remained notional till date. No one knows its locations. So far the food reserves have never been utilized despite pressing demands in some of the situations of disasters including the wheat crisis in Pakistan, cyclone hit situation in Orissa, flood in Bangladesh, tsunami hit Sri Lanka and Maoist violence led food insecurity situations in Nepal. Even in the very recent cyclone (Sidr) led disaster in Bangladesh in November 2007 and Indus river flood in Pakistan in 2010, despite the unprecedented food insecurity in the affected areas the SAARC Food Reserve was never invoked and utilized. There is no existence of a clear cut transportation mechanism, border formalities, institutional mechanisms and appropriate for delivery of the food grains to each recipient country. The terms and conditions of operationlising the reserves viz., prices, mode of payment, conditions of payment etc which remained undecided have now been broadly worked out. However, in the absence of the actual implementation, the efficacies of these guidelines are yet to be tested. Given the situation, if drastic measures are not taken to both enhance the capacity of the Secretariat to operationalise the announced projects and also make very strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the decisions taken at various SAARC meetings, there may emerge a situation where leaders will, year after year, talk about the need to have effective implementation yet things may not happen. However, a new pattern of introducing programmes and implementing them is emerging. The key to this new trend is a member country taking a lead role. For instance, India has taken the lead in a number of concrete activities. The latest examples are that of South Asian University, a Tele-medicine Network, and a SAARC Textiles and Handicrafts Museum. All these three programmes/projects were proposed by India in the 13th SAARC Summit [Dhaka, 2005]. India while taking up the lead role prepared concept papers for all these three projects in a short span of time and brought to the SAARC forum for discussion and approval. All the three projects are located in India. The implementation has already started though in a lackadaisical and scattered manner.

Modi’s Efficacy: All Pervasive Expectations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emergence as one of the most popular and powerful leaders in whole of Asia heralds a new dawn for redesigning, reposition-

Seven-point Charter  Bringing the entire spectrum of regional cooperation process from a low politics item to high politics agenda in South Asia. This means SAARC will be a crucial agenda of political parties, parliaments and governmental actions across the region. This will provide a distinct regional agenda that would bring people, geography and the governments together in the region and provide a new ‘regionness’.  Injecting the ‘Peoples SAARC’ as the driving force far away from the bureaucratic rigmarole that remained dominant in South Asia for last 30 years. This also means specific people centric projects like SAARC - Medical Institute, Institute of Technology, Institute of Management, Institute of Fashion Technology and Institute of Mass Communications. Smooth exchanges of people at all levels. This would also mean a total reconstitution of the SAARC Secretariat with induction of 80 per cent professionals manning this crucial link rather than their total absence today. This would also mean a drastic reorientations of much trumpeted regional institutions like South Asian University thereby making it robust and vibrant as a regional centre of higher learning that could compete with any global institutions of excellence.  Galvanising the real players in the region including the Non-governmental agencies and civil societies, private sector and professionals to work for regional causes and issues including education, health,

ing and consolidation of architecture of regional cooperation and integration in South Asia. There are widespread hope, deeper confidence and high expectation that Modi’s openness, grass root experimentation and penchant for reaching the neighbourhood with innovative and munch bolder projects could give a new fillip to the erstwhile dormant SAARC. Prime Minister Modi is broadly expected to go to the 18th Summit in Kathmandu in November 2014 with a hefty, inclusive and

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November 2014

science and technology, transport and communications, disaster management and climate change.  Starting five critical regional projects that would connect the region. This should also include transit to Nepal and Bhutan to Bangladesh sea ports and transit to India and its North East region via Bangladesh; Regional electricity grids and energy pipelines for cross border energy security, concrete measures to carry out Asian Highway projects and regional investments projects that would at least involve three member countries.  Bringing the South Asian youth to the forefront and developing a chain of skill development, sports, music, films related Smart Schools in the region.  Overwhelming the SAARC by the common regional agenda and issues like Disaster Management, Migrations, Connectivity and setting up various professional associations at the global diasporic level.  Letting the multilateral players like World Bank, Asian Development Bank UN Bodies and other well known donor agencies and even the SAARC observers like EU, Japan, US, China to come in a big way on specific regional projects. This is what has given the agenda of regional cooperation a much higher, doubly inclusive and winwin profile in nearby Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

innovative seven point Charter where he would unfold his pragmatic people centric plans and projects. The author is Professor of South Asian Economies in Jawaharlal Nehru University and Govt of India’s nominee in the Steering Committee of South Asia Forum set up by SAARC Summit in Thimphu in 2010. He also served as the Founding Vice Chancellor of Central University in Sikkim

diplomacy

The War against the

Islamic State

The Levant or the so-called Islamic State, operating from parts of Syria and Iraq, want to foist a religious war on the world, writes Monish Gulati

radio.wpsu.org

n a scenario more out of a fiction chart-buster than a weighted assessment of an international strategic expert, the sole global superpower, the US, with a tentative coalition of 20-odd nations, is battling a non-state actor holding large swathes of territory of two sovereign nations (Iraq and Syria) in the Middle East. The non-state actor is the al-Qaeda in Iraq or the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant or simply the Islamic State (IS). Driven by extreme interpretation of Islam, IS, a Sunni terrorist group characterised by a large percentage of foreign fighters from more than 40 countries world over and an ability to hold and govern the large tracts of territories it is capturing. The world was also treated to the spectacle of the Turkish army tanks parked idly on a hill overlooking the Syrian border town of Kobane as the Syrian Kurdish fighters, complemented by US airstrikes, fought to hold the town and their lives against the IS. Turkey has refused to deploy its military against the IS, or to open its border to allow reinforcements, weapons and supplies to reach the Kurds in Kobane despite increased pressure from the US and pleas from outgunned Kurdish fighters. Turkey’s response to situation in Kobane triggered violent riots among the country’s own population of 15 million Kurds. Turkish warplanes were even reported to have attacked Kurdish targets in southeast Turkey. The defence of Kobane is being led by the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, an affiliate of the Kurdish Peoples Party. Turkey’s reluctance stems in part from its desire not to do anything that might strengthen the Kurdish populist movement in the region. In addition, Syrian Kurds have been trying to establish an autonomous region on the border, which Turkey wants to prevent. The situation reveals the contradictory and conflicting interests of the various elements making up Obama’s supposed coalition. The Kobane situation also illustrates the extremely complex state of affairs the war against the IS is. In convergence at Kobane, global (the US need to progress the Iran nuclear deal and restrict the Russia and Iranian support to the Assad regime), regional (the deepening Sunni-Shia fault line and the demand that the Assad regime be target along, if not before, any attacks on the IS) and national interests (Turkey’s unwillingness to support the Syrian Kurds) are at play. Obama recently held a meeting with Foreign Defence Chiefs at the Andrews air force base outside Washington to iron out some of these issues and to integrate the capabilities of each country into the broader strategy. On the first day of the month of Ramadan (June 29, 2014), the reestablishment

terror clouds: Demonstrators chant in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as they wave the group’s flag in Iraq

of the Islamic Caliphate (state) was declared in Iraq by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (greater Syria) (ISIS) militants and a Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was anointed to head it. With its origins going as far back as 2004, the ISIS, after its recent spectacular successes in Iraq and Syria, has its Islamic caliphate presently straddling parts of Syria and Iraq. The envisioned caliphate claims to include areas of the Middle East, central and south Asia. The June 29 declaration of the caliphate also “clarified” that it is incumbent upon all Muslims to pledge allegiance to the Caliph and support him. This new Sunni Muslim religious entity seeks to override the prevailing regional political order. Vijay Prasad in his recent article in the Hindu commented, Al-Baghdadi has announced that “he wants to command a religion, not just a region. Of such delusions are great societies and cultures destroyed.” The ISIS declaration, including the first video speech by al-Baghdadi, is un-

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

ambiguous about the global nature of the ISIS’s struggle. Baghdadi touched on issues regarding the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and the Philippines as well as the French restrictions on the wearing of the veil, and responded to accusations that the ISIS engages in ‘irhab (terrorism). The military capability of the ISIS in Iraq to expand the territories under its rule is limited. Therefore, its leaders are directly appealing to Muslims all over the world to support the caliphate and to rebel against existing governments. IS, in fact, poses not one but three distinct threats, each of which demands a specific response. The first is the destabilisation of a broad swathe of the Middle East, threatening not just Syria and Iraq but also Lebanon, Jordan, and others. Second, the IS has served as a magnet for perhaps 12,000 foreign fighters so far, also raising the spectre of threat to these very nations from the “returning jihadis”. Finally, IS has resurrected the threat to the US homeland. IS

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also draws this subtle distinction between their success and that of al-Qaeda. The declaration also has the potential to escalate the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites and is likely to impact the Muslim communities in the West as well. The US President chose the eve of the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to unveil his strategy against the IS in an address to the nation from the White House in Washington. In what was seen by some analysts as a reversal, Obama authorised airstrikes inside Syria for the first time as well as expansion of strikes in Iraq as a part of the strategy to ‘degrade and ultimately destroy’ the IS. He ordered a broad military campaign in concert with a ‘coalition of the willing and capable’ against the IS as it is seen to pose a risk to Americans and the interests of its allies in the region. In the past few weeks, the US has been launching limited airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq in support of Iraqi and Kurdish resistance and in response, the IS had released videos depicting the beheading of two American journalists in Syria. Obama’s declaration to destroy IS through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy comes with a few caveats; no putting American troops in combat roles on the ground in Iraq or Syria. He said the US will not do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves. Second, the US will not take the place of Arab partners in securing their region. There was also an acknowledgement that the IS poses no immediate threat to the US and other actors may be better suited to combating the regional threat IS poses. The US State Department briefing said that the focus will be on “multiple lines of effort, including military support to our Iraqi partners, stopping the flow of foreign fighters, countering IS’s financing and funding, addressing humanitarian crises, and de-legitimising IS’s ideology”. The strategy, therefore, has four broad elements: airstrikes, military support for (local) ground forces, ramped-up efforts to fight terrorism, and increased humanitarian assistance. Before Obama’s address, the US Treasury Department had indicated that it would, as a part of the strategy, step-up efforts to undermine the IS’s finances by working with other countries, especially Gulf states, to cut off the group’s external funding networks and its access to the global financial system. Obama also said that he was dispatching nearly 500 more US troops to Iraq to assist operations against the IS, while the White House in a separate statement said that it was providing $25 million in immediate military assistance to the Iraqi government. The

US administration is also seeking authorisation from Congress for a Pentagon-led effort to train and arm more moderate elements of the Syrian opposition under a $500 million programme. Obama has chosen retired Marine Corps General John Allen, who earlier served as the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, to head the America-led global coalition against the IS. However, there’s a big hitch with Obama’s strategy against the IS: it can’t be defeated by military means alone. By declaring an open-ended, years-long war against IS, Obama runs the risk of embroiling the US into solving another fundamentally political problem by military means. Further Obama’s new strategy rests on the theory that the Iraqi army, Syrian rebels, and coalition air power can defeat IS on the battlefield. Obama’s vision of success is as tenuous as the strategy to achieve it. It involves Iraqi and Syrian forces to take away IS’s “safe havens” — or its control over territory, getting the local Sunni populations, who have provided tacit support to IS, on board with US identified moderate Syrian rebels and an inclusive Iraqi unity government. Besides the operational issues of not having boots on ground and more active participation by regional actors, a lesson well learnt by the US after the intervention in Afghanistan, Obama is also fighting a battle of perception. The US is at pains to ensure that this intervention is not seen and not made out to be by the IS as a war on Islam or a war being waged in support of the Shias. Obama said – pointedly, near the start of his speech – that ISIS is “not Islamic.” The core challenge facing the US in Iraq and Syria is the problem of enabling the Sunni Arab community stretching from Baghdad to Damascus and Turkey to Jordan to take on the Sunni IS. The US is also avoiding sending the signal that it’s coordinating with Iran, which would put it on the Shia side of a sectarian war. But ever since ISIS seized Mosul in June this year, there has been a demand from the

Having declared its objective of creating a caliphate and succeeding in some measure in doing so, IS is gaining in strength www.geopolitics.in

November 2014

Arabs that Assad, Tehran, and the forces of Shia Islamism in the Middle East be also targeted to defeat ISIS. Here is the paradox. Iran at present seems to be the only nation willing to put boots in combat role, albeit covertly against the IS. Yet, US Secretary of State John Kerry says that it is “not appropriate” for Iran to join talks on confronting the IS due to Iranian support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The US has also said that it is not cooperating militarily with Iran in operations in Iraq. US officials pushed back hard against the notion that striking Islamic State strongholds in Syria would unintentionally help President Bashar alAssad. They said the Sunni-majority areas in the eastern part of the country where the militants hold are not places where Assad loyalists would be able to take advantage to regain control. Having declared its objective of creating a caliphate and succeeding in some measure in doing so, IS is gaining in strength, at least in the short term. It is getting support from marginalised fringe radical groups which have been upstaged in their respective countries by larger “mainstream” Islamist groups including the al-Qaeda. This includes the extremely violent terror groups who are in an uneasy relationship with al-Qaeda. Even al-Qaeda itself may step up its activities to regain its leadership status. Yet it is hoped that IS will face resistance within the Muslim world including from Sunnis in Iraq and Syria. The Obama speech also posited an end game where empowered Sunnis in Iraq within the framework of the Unity government at Baghdad, would fill the political void once IS has been overwhelmed. Who replaces IS in Syria poses another grave challenge. Obama is well aware of this and this is why he is hoping that through limited engagement, regional support and consensus his plan would be enough to defeat IS. For the Islamic State, the coalition attacks might just fit in well with its future strategy or its endgame – deep polarisation within and between Islam and the world at large. Through social media, one alleged member of its group told me: “Remember. We haven’t declared war on America, the beheadings were just a message, blood for blood, soul for soul. Obama is a proxy warrior.” The Islamic State insists that God is on its side and that the “caliphate” will survive and expand. It is a view that is illustrated by this message an Islamic State supporter sent out via the social media site Twitter: “Oh Allah, when the world turned against us, we turned to you.” The author is a strategic analyst

book review

The book ‘The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories’ written by Rachna Bisht Rawat, reminds us of the daring tales of Indian soldiers who fought for India in a valorous manner, writes ARVINDAR SINGH

The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories Author: Rachna Bisht Rawat Publishers: Penguin Books India Pages: 283 Price: `250

he Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is the highest Indian military decoration of valour and self sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It is equivalent to the Medal of Honour (USA) and the Victoria Cross (UK). It literally means ‘wheel’ or ‘cross’ of the ultimate brave. It was instituted on January 26, 1950 and provision has been made for a bar with the Vajra (the weapon of Indra the God of Heaven) embossed on it, but

to date this has not been awarded. Of the 21 recipients since Independence, 14 have received it posthumously. Rachna Bisht Rawat, the wife of an army officer, took it upon herself to bring out this paperback volume on the awardees of India’s highest wartime medal as a labour of love, a fact she amply emphasises in the introduction to the book. The 1947 Kashmir war produced the first winner of the PVC, Major Somnath Sharma of 4 Kumaon in the Battle of Badgam. Sharma and ‘D’ Company of the Battalion had been sent to Badgam after intelligence reports suggested that a 1000-strong group of lashkars (armed militia) of Pathans led by Pakistani Army regulars were heading that side with the aim of capturing Srinagar Airport thus closing this critical link to the Valley from the rest of India. Ostensibly, during the patrol, Sharma found nothing amiss. So, he allowed the troops of his Company to begin withdrawing on the afternoon of November 3, 1947. However, under civilian guise and led by a Pakistani Major, an attack was launched when only a small cache of Indian soldiers remained taking Sharma and his men unaware on the same evening. Although outnumbered and outgunned (the .303 rifles were no match for the Pakistanis machine guns) Sharma and his men fought till ‘the last man, last round’. Though he fell in battle, Sharma and his men succeeded in delaying the Pakistani onslaught by six hours managing to block their advance to Srinagar airfield.

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Lance Naik (Lance Corporal) Karam Singh of the 1 Sikh in Richmar Gali, while commanding a Company outpost was the first living Param Veer Chakra winner during the Kashmir action on October 13, 1948. The Battalion lost 10 men and had 37 wounded in the action which was described by the divisional commander, Major General (later General) K S Thimayya, DSO as a ‘uniquely magnificent fight’. Others portrayed in the book include Rama Raghoba Rane, a Second Lieutenant of the Corps of Engineers, who received the decoration for creating a route from Rajouri to Poonch during the Kashmir war of 1947-48; Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria who fell in Elizabethville in the Congo during a UN operation and Major Dhan Singh Thapa who fought in Ladakh during the SinoIndian conflict of 1962. It would be relevant in this review of this work on ‘the bravest of the brave’ to focus on a few of those valiant soldiers who left behind footprints on the sands of time. They will always feature when any genuine military history of the postIndependence period is written. Among one of the foremost exploits listed in the book and deserving special mention is the one of Major Shaitan Singh of 13 Kumaon (a Battalion which consisted of Ahir troops from Haryana) who fell while defending Chushul during the Sino-India conflict of 1962. He posted his ‘C’ Company of 124 men at a pass called Rezang La, about 30 km south of the village of Chushul in October 1962. They had been moved post-

book review

haste from Baramullah in Kashmir and had really no time to acclimatize. At the height of 16,420 feet, the soldiers did not have proper winter clothes or shoes. The jerseys, cotton trousers and light coats were grossly inadequate against the biting cold. The deployed troops used to get frequent headaches and it was very uncomfortable. The early morning attack by the Chinese on November 18, 1962 was firmly repulsed by ‘C’ Company, and at the end of a gruesome battle 1,310 Chinese soldiers lay dead. Throughout the enemy onslaught, Shaitan Singh was directing his men moving from one man to another despite being hit by a shell. Ultimately, he ordered the radio operator to leave him at his post, since trying to carry him out would only result in the operator’s death along with Shaitan Singh who quite obviously had no chance of survival. As it turned out Ram Chander, the radio operator was the only one to return alive from this group. Shaitan Singh’s body was recovered by a shepherd along with those of his other men about three months after the operation. During the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict, Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid and Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore were awarded the Param Veer Chakra – both posthumously. It was at the battle of Asal Uttar in the Khem Karan sector that Abdul Hamid, as part of his Battalion of 4 Grenadiers, destroyed seven Patton tanks of the Pakistani Army and in that finest hour of bravery made the supreme sacrifice on September 10, 1965. Colonel Tarapore led his Armoured Regiment, the 17 Horse, in the battle of Phillora in the Sialkot Sector. Despite being wounded, Tarapore participated in the battle which saw the complete dismemberment of Pakistan’s 11 Cavalry Regiment. In the subsequent capture of Buttar Dograndi, six Patton tanks were destroyed. Tarapore was martyred, however, when a freak shell hit his tank. During the Bangladesh War of 1971, the Param Veer Chakra was again awarded to some gallant soldiers. For the first time, an aviator, Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon of the Indian Air Force received the highest gallantry award. On December 14, 1971 Sekhon flying his Gnat fighter aircraft repulsed the attack of the Pakistani Sabres downing three of the enemy planes over Awantipur Airbase, Srinagar. Ultimately hit by another Sabre, Sekhon crashed and was fatally injured. “When the Gnat was finally

Rawat’s book is an interesting work, laced with interviews of the award winners and that of their family members. However, the fact that this is her first book, shows up as she tends to go a little over the top about her military background and uses certain platitudes which an objective military historian would avoid found it had 37 bullet holes around the rear fuselage, tail plane and fin. It had, however, singlehandedly sabotaged the attack by six Sabres, which was a remarkable achievement,” writes Rawat. Apart from Sekhon, another war hero of the same war was Major Hoshiar Singh of 3 Grenadiers who won the PVC in the battle of Basantar in the Shakargarh sector. Hoshiar Singh displayed his courage by launching a surprise attack on the 35 Frontier Force Rifles when the battalion attempted to recapture Jarpal. Despite injuries and asked by his Commanding Officer to be evacuated, he refused to do so and aided by a soldier moved from trench to trench encouraging his troops to fight on. A bloody battle ensued and about 150 men of the Pakistani Battalion were killed. Ultimately, the guns fell silent when military activity from the other side ceased and Hoshiar Singh won his place in the history of the battle. Other Param Veer Chakra awardees of ‘71 were 2nd Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal of 17 Horse (Armoured Regiment) and Lance Naik (Lance Corporal) Albert Ekka of 14 Guards. Post-1971, the PVC has been awarded in the Siachen Glacier area, the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and during the Kargil action of 1999. Naib Subedar (Junior Commissioned Officer) Bana Singh of 8 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry was entrusted with the mission of recapturing the Qaid Post

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November 2014

from the Pakistanis in June 1987. For this mission he won the PVC. At a height of 21,153 feet, this post posed a formidable challenge to the men of Bana Singh’s group. Ultimately only two soldiers were left with Bana when he reached the Post. With reinforcements the next day, Bana along with Major Virender Singh stormed the Post and held their ground confronting massive shelling from the Pakistanis. Despite rifleman Om Raj falling to enemy fire and Major Virender Singh being badly wounded, Bana and his men ferociously moved forward bayoneting the Pakistani soldiers and throwing grenades into the bunkers of the adversary army. By the evening of June 26, 1987, Qaid Post was recaptured and has been fittingly re-named Bana Top. The Kargil War also had its share of men in olive green who won the Param Veer Chakra. Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey and Vikram Batra, Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, were those brave hearts who received the medal. Of them, Sanjay Kumar and Vikram Batra stand out. Sanjay Kumar of 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles volunteered to be the leading scout of the attacking column to annex Flat Point 4875 in the Mushkosh Valley. On July 4, 1999 he led the charge and killed four intruders, one with an enemy weapon left behind. Bleeding profusely, he refused to relinquish his position and continued to motivate his comrades in the attack. Captain Vikram Batra, famous for the slogan he gave to TV anchor Barka Dutt after his first offensive with the Pakistanis, “Yeh Dil Mange More” (the heart beseeches more action) was also of 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. He was asked to lead an attack on Point 4875 on a narrow feature and killed five Pakistan Army personnel, he engaged in hand to hand combat, capturing a crucial area. However, while trying to save a wounded soldier, he was killed by an enemy shell. Rawat’s book is an interesting work, laced with interviews of the award winners and that of their family members. However, the fact that this is her first book, shows up as she tends to go a little over the top about her military background and uses certain platitudes which an objective military historian would avoid. The book is also devoid of an index, which would have been useful in a work of this nature. Otherwise, this work can qualify as a racy book on the military heroes of India after 1947.

RIGHT ANGLE

An empathetic Defence Minister

ike any government with a right-of-centre persuasion, the Narendra Modi- government in India is inevitably confronted with the two challenges of defence and development. Both the goals are equally dear to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), but then the problem with a developing country such as India, and that too at a time when the global financial health is not in the best of conditions, is that finding resources for a strong defence is a tricky and sensitive matter. India needs speedy economic development and it is equally imperative that its armed forces are stronger than ever before to face the myriad challenges in a volatile region stretching from Australia to South Africa on the one hand and from Japan to Israel on the other. This region, marked by terrorism, hegemonic ambitions and religious extremism, needs to be stable and peaceful for the promotion and consolidation of India’s vital national interests. There cannot be two opinions that from a long-term point of view, defence and development of a country are two sides of the same coin. India cannot be a big economic power if its security environment is not healthy enough. Highly-developed economies such as Japan or for those in West Europe may not be great military powers, but the fact remains that their economic development after World War II has been critically dependent on the American security umPrakash brella. India, fiercely proud of its strategic autonomy (and rightly so), does not have this luxury of having a protective umbrella. It is heartening to note against this background that recently the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Ministry of Defence(MoD), under the leadership of Defence Minister Arun Jaitely, has cleared purchases worth `80,000 crore (about $1400 million), including six submarines worth `50,000 crore. DAC has also approved purchase of 8,356 Spike anti-tank guided missiles and 321 launchers from Israel, worth $670 million. The Modi government had earlier given a green signal to acquire Boeing’s Chinook and Apache helicopters in a deal worth $2.5 billion. And, now there are strong indications that by the end of this year, the government will ink the agreement on the 126 fighters for the Air Force, under the MMRCA deal with Rafale of France. The deal is estimated to cost almost $20 billion. The second feature of the Modi’s government’s defence acquisition strategy is to indigenously develop military equipment as part of its broad ‘Make in India’ strategy. The decision to build six submarines in India at a cost of about `50,000 crore is at a sharp variance from the hitherto followed approach of sourcing military equipment from outside. The important point is that the Modi government, unlike the previous regime of the United Progressive Alliance, seems to be sensitive to the interests and long-term goals of the armed forces. At least, it is listening to them while chalking out the military strategies and tactics, evident in dealing with the provocations from the sides of Pakistan (the firings across the international border) and China (intrusions into the Indiacontrolled territories). Even on matters of arms acquisitions, the Modi government has made the meeting of the DAC, the highest decision making body of the MoD on defence purchases, a monthly affair. Under the UPA regime, the DAC meetings

were highly irregular, being held once in several months. The DAC, set up in 2001 as part of the post-Kargil reforms in the defence sector, is headed by the Defence Minister and includes the Defence Secretary, Chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO), and what is really important, the chiefs of all three services, the real and ultimate users of the arms. Ironically, though the country needs a full-time Defence Minister, in Finance Minister Jaitley, who is holding charge of defence too, the armed forces have some additional comfort, howsoever temporary these may be. If recent history is any indication, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) usually plays the spoiler’s role in the acquisition process of the MoD. The MoF, which has its own defence wing, does have the authority to scuttle the acquisition plans under the plea of economising the expenditure. But this is not going to be a problem as long as the Defence Minister happens to be the Finance Minister as well. Of course, this is not exactly a new phenomenon. During the previous regime of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh was the Minister for both Defence and Finance. And Singh has gone on record to say that this feature, temporary though it was, proved to be extremely beneficial to the MoD. Coincidentally, both Vajpayee and Modi Nanda belong to the BJP! As is well-known, one of the principal woes of the Indian armed forces has been that though they cherish and salute the most cardinal feature of our democratic polity – the political supremacy over the military – the bureaucrats, rather than the political executive, dominate and dictate the military. And that, in turn, has been due to the fact that Indian political leaders have hardly any expertise or interests in military matters. Even in the bureaucracy, there has been barely any specialist of military issues, barring rare exceptions such as the late K Subrahmanyam (with whom I had once the fortune of working in a leading newspaper in his post-retirement days) and P R Chari. In other words, the generalists in the MoD and MoF have always preserved their advantageous position against the military encroachment. As a result, India continues to remain one of the few major countries where the headquarters of the three services are not officially integrated into the Indian government and remain “Attached” or “Subordinate” offices. Nor for that matter have we a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to provide single-point advice to the Minister of Defence. Modi talks of good governance. And the Indian military needs good governance like never before. In fact, highend defence reforms have been a pressing need of the country for a long time. The Indian armed forces need a sympathetic Prime Minister but they should have an empathetic Defence Minister and an equally empathetic Finance Minister. Fortunately, Jaitely is playing that role at the moment. But what happens when he sheds one of his portfolios? This is a worrying question because all said and done, Modi seems to be struggling to find really talented persons to be his major cabinet colleagues.

November 2014 www.geopolitics.in

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