The Indian military will, for the first time, have a new head in the form of the Chief of Defence Staff. The honour to occupy this post for the first time fell on General Bipin Rawat, who simultaneously handed over the baton as the chief of army staff to General Manoj Mukund Naravane. The new post created for the military bears special significance as the General would report directly to the Prime Minister even as the overall command rests with the President.
India hesitated for many long years and opted against having a central command for the three wings of the military, in view of the ugly situations in neighbouring Pakistan and also Bangladesh. Pakistan’s process of democracy was frequently interrupted in the past by military take-over of the nation’s governance and even of grim scenarios of the army putting elected leaders on the gallows. Bangladesh had similar grim experiences too.
A unified command for the military will, on the positive side, better coordinate matters relating to military affairs. At the same time, any major improvement in the military set-up is possible only with the input of political will. For quite a few years, the political leadership was found wanting in demonstrating an adequate interest in military affairs. The result was that the performance of the military suffered on various counts. For instance, Indian soldiers with outdated guns faced Pakistani soldiers along the Line of Control carrying with them sophisticated fire power. Military acquisitions dragged during the UPA period itself due to perceived indecisiveness of the political leadership.
India’s military strength at the turn of the century matched that of China’s. Today, China boasts of five times the military muscle of India. China made this possible also because of its fast-paced economic progress which brought in money to the exchequer in huge doses. For India, the political and legal hassles involving purchase of defence equipments as was witnessed during the Bofors guns acquisition and recently in respect of the Rafale jets, added to the problems of such acquisitions.
Having a central command for the military, as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address to the nation in August last, should help. At the same time, matters like speeding up of the acquisition process vis-à-vis hi-tech military equipments is also a major requirement of the times. The Indian way, at political and bureaucratic levels, is to put a spoke in where none is necessary. National interests are supreme and urgency is of the essence when it comes to the defence of the country’s sovereignty.