Word from Air chief Marshal BS Dhanoa is that the Indian Air Force has begun a process of large-scale induction of indigenously developed weapons. This should be good news for the reason that huge funds are being spent by India on weaponization programmes for long years, and the money almost exclusively went to the global arms market. The Make In India initiative of the Modi government in its first term did not gain steam in a big way or move in the desired manner. The initiative is worth taking forward, based on the foundations laid thereon, to better and smarter levels.
The two UPA periods spread into 10 years were a period of indecision and complacence in the matter of defence preparedness. This was also a period when China tried to lie low and act as a soft power despite the steady rise in its economic clout. Pakistan was preparing for the fight ahead, after the Kargil hit. The regional calm was taken for granted, only to rue later. Pakistan modernised its army’s weapons systems with hi-tech guns and started showing its firepower along the LoC in recent years while Indian soldiers on this side of the border faced them with antiquated weapons. The result was more of casualties on this side. The Modi government too did not march ahead in the matter of defence acquisitions in appreciable ways.
India, next to Saudi Arabia, is today the world’s second largest arms importer – also to make up for the lost time. China, the sixth largest, has touched a high level and is well-endowed already with most-modern military ware. Having taken giant steps forward, China raised its indigenous defence production in major ways and is now the world’s fifth largest defence exporter. For strategic reasons, India and several nations in the Western bloc do not buy sophisticated arms from China.
Defence purchases from global arms markets have huge commission component, and such money goes into the pockets of those in government and the respective military brass. This is also seen as a reason why successive Indian governments were not developing weapons technology, and depended largely on Russia as also others for imports. Submarines and the like bought by India from Russia were often found to be defective in the long run. It is important that India, like China, progressively reduces its military purchases and depended more on Indian-made weapons. For this, India needs to spend more on Research and Development. What, in sum, is required is a long-term visionary approach, keeping in mind the worsening security situation in the region.
