Daily Times

It has been reported in the Indian and Pakistan print media lately that India has firmed up its plan to massively augment its military capability over the next 5-7 years. According to information emanating from an official document and Indian military sources, published in leading Indian Daily ‘India Today’ on September 11 and some leading English dailies of Pakistan on October 23, 2019, India has decided to take a quantum leap vis-à-vis strengthening its military capability. As reported, India has finalised a plan to spend USD 130 billion over the next five to seven years to modernise its armed forces and reinforce their combat capabilities over rivals in the region.

The document, as reported in the media, says the Indian government will work on a comprehensive plan to expedite modernisation of its army, navy and the air force. Under this plan, a range of significant weapons, missiles, fighter jets, submarines and warships will be procured in the next few years. It is said, fast-track infantry modernisation, including procurement of 2,600 infantry combat vehicles and 1,700 future-ready combat vehicles for the Indian Army tops the list of priorities. Another key priority is to procure 110 multirole fighter aircrafts for the IAF.

According to a report by Abhinav Dutta, “India’s defence industry has failed to manage India’s defence requirements as of today. India, he said, is one of the largest arms importers in the world as the indigenous production of technology is one area where India continues to struggle. India’s defence preparedness, therefore, remains a question as some of the most crucial requirements in various services of the Armed Forces have not been fulfilled because of severe deficiencies in the defence industry. Adding further, he said given the track record of Indian government and armed forces, not much is expected. There are lots of obstacles in the way of the modernisation plan. In the past, the pace of modernisation of the Indian armed forces has been sluggish and technologically deficient, he maintained.

Regardless of all that has been reported vis-à-vis India’s plans to strengthen its armed forces phenomenally and it’s not so good past track-record with regard to procurement of military hardware for its armed forces, what should be a cause for major concern for the countries of the region, China and Pakistan in particular, is India’s unprecedented hegemonic designs in this part of the globe. Strongly backed by the US, in particular, and the other powers that be, in general, which are deeply engaged in selling state-of-the-art military hardware worth billions of dollars to India, augmentation of its armed forces has become a cornerstone of India’s defense policy.

According to Indian defence analysts, Pakistan is an immediate threat to India while China will be a medium- term threat, they presume. They, therefore, firmly believe that India should focus more on Chinese military threat because, according to them, if India is prepared take on China it could capably confront two-front wars.

The question however is, have people at the helm of governance in India ever realized that attainment of its hegemonic ambitions, through massive build-up of its armed forces, is costing its downtrodden masses very dearly?

A report of ‘The Military Balance’, a prestigious annual publication of The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) UK, published in eminent Indian Daily-The Economic Times on February 15, 2018, India overtook the UK as the fifth-largest defence spender in the world in 2017 at $52.5 billion. Quoting ‘The Military Balance 2018’ issue The Economic Times further said that India’s defence budget broke into the world’s top five, beating the UK for the first time, signaling a key shift in the military balance between the two countries. India overtook the UK as the fifth-largest defence spender in the world in 2017 at $52.5 billion, up from $51.1 billion in 2016. In contrast, the UK’s defence budget fell from $52.5 billion in 2016 to $50.7 billion last year. According to a list (2019 Fact Sheet) published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) India’s defense budget has risen to $66.5 in 2019.

Bolstering its armed forces beyond justifiable limits cogently reflects India’s hegemonistic ambitions. It is a known fact that India’s phenomenal military build up is largely focused on containing Pakistan and generally the countries of the region. Yet another reason often given by India for massively augmenting the Indian armed forces is the threat that it claims to be facing from China. The China factor vis-à-vis India’s perpetual augmentation of its armed forces is what is being strongly backed by the US in particular and the other powers that be in general. It is a universal fact that the US strongly desires to see India emerge as a regional power particularly to contain China.

The question however is, have people at the helm of governance in India ever realized that attainment of its hegemonic ambitions, through massive build-upof its armed forces, is costing its downtrodden masses very dearly? Have they ever thought that the people who have been bringing them to the citadel of power, time and again, deserve a better deal than what they have always got over the past seven decades? Apparently, they haven’t.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Islamabad