Gearing India's defence preparedness

Antony has to be radically different as a defence minister in this tenure.
Soli Sorabjee is fond of reminding us of this one-liner. Justice Stewart of the US Supreme Court confessed that he could not define obscenity but recognised it when he saw it.

It would not be an exaggeration to say the same about AK Antony’s effectiveness [or lack of it] as the defence minister— hard to define but easily recognisable. An inherently decent man, he is exactly not the kind of head of defence that India needs. His leadership on issues of national defence has been inept and his penchant for overtly displayed probity and honesty has put many a defence deals on the back-burner.

In post-independence India, the lowest ebb in civil-military relations was reached during Mr. Antony’s tenure. Rather than act as a firm leader, Shekhar Gupta felt that Antony had started acting like a trade union leader for the members of the defence services. The damage caused by his misguided zeal led to — for the first time in India’s political history — an ex-servicemen organisation giving an unequivocal call to vote for a political party, the BJP. These portend dangerous times for India’s national security; although they are creeping up in a rather insidious manner and thus pass under the radar unnoticed.

Arjun Singh finished the HRD ministry in a blatant manner whereas Antony has done the same to defence ministry in a more discreet manner. Why a mention of AK Antony does not receive the same indignant reaction as Arjun Singh is only because of the opacity of media coverage and a lack of public knowledge on defence issues in India.

Rajiv Gandhi’s defence minister in the 1980s, Arun Singh did a lot to change the face of India’s defence preparedness. It has to be conceded that under his watch, IPKF turned out to be a fiasco and the Bofors controversy also happened during the same time. But Arun Singh came with a fresh set of ideas, a vision and a plan which he tried to put in place. With Mr. Antony, we see some one who wants to maintain the status quo, and is a master of pusillanimity. For him, inaction to prevent corruption seems preferable to urgent procurement to meet pressing defence needs.

During Antony’s tenure, more money has gone into defence than ever before in India’s history. But where has that additional money really gone. Revenue expenditure in defence services has shot through the roof while a fair share of capital expenditure continues to be returned unexpended every year. Despite many months having passed since the pay commission was announced, the clamour for more from the pay commission seems to be a never-ending saga. India needs a firm hand to put an end to this row. If enough carrots have been given, it is perhaps time to wield the long stick now. By all accounts, Mr. Antony seems singularly incapable of taking a strong line. The members of the defence services are not the only constituency that he has to look after; it is India’s national security needs that have to be his utmost priority. And when there is conflict between the two requirements, the latter has to always take priority notwithstanding the heartburn any such decision might cause to the service members or the veterans.

Mr. Antony, or for that matter any defence minister, has to play his role at two levels. One is as the member of CCS, where he has to provide inputs to the cabinet on the way defence services perceive various issues of national security confronting the country. The second, and the more important part in today’s times, is when he has to look inwards — towards the defence ministry and the defence services. Is the higher defence mechanism — political, bureaucratic and military — suited to India’s defence needs today? What does he envisage the future of the Indian defence services to be? And what can be done to achieve that? Is there a roadmap to achieve the desired end-state? An honest introspection, coupled with a comprehensive review, will tell Mr. Antony that the higher defence setup and the defence services in India are in an urgent need of reform and restructuring.

By all accounts, the services have been given almost everything that they wanted from the government in the pay commission row. Now it is time that the services give back to the nation what India deserves — an effective and efficient fighting force, capable of successfully waging the wars of the future, that provides the proverbial bang for the buck. It is Mr. Antony’s responsibility to not only demand this, but ensure this efficient delivery from the defence services. That will be the real benchmark to judge his current tenure as the defence minister. And if he fails now, it is this failure that will come to haunt this nation in the years to come.
More of the same: Pragmatic Euphony