Homeland Security

2012: Multiplying security threats
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Issue Net Edition | Date : 22 Dec , 2012

No one will ever reach even bit of dedication of a SOLDIER ..!!

India is surrounded with Islamic fundamentalist regimes, a rising communist super power and military dictatorship. The authoritarian regimes in the neighbourhood contradict India’s multi-cultural democracy.

China’s primary aim is to replace American supremacy in Asia. The secondary aim is to lock India within the subcontinent.

In case, India’s model succeeds in Asia, the authoritarian models will be under major stress. Thus, there is a constant endeavour to destabelize India. However, if the authoritarian model wins, Indian role model of democracy will fall apart. This will lead to spread of dictatorial darkness in Asia.

Further, there is commonality of purpose between Islamic fundamentalist regimes and the communist dictatorship of China vis-à-vis India. Therefore, the combined might of the authoritarian stream to destabilize India is huge.

China’s primary aim is to replace American supremacy in Asia. The secondary aim is to lock India within the subcontinent. To achieve this it uses Pakistan as a proxy to great advantage. With Indian foreign policy in confusion, China has practically taken over Nepal, invested in Sri Lanka sufficiently, and is now in the process of knocking out India’s influence from Maldives and subsequently from Afghanistan.

Surprisingly in a densely populated country with high unemployment rate, it is short of more than 30,000 soldiers.

China’s well planned and single-minded modernization of its armed forces has placed it as a major military power, with capability to pose two-front threat with the help of Pakistan. Both await withdrawal by the Western Forces led by America from Afghanistan to expand their footprints in Afghanistan and Central Asia. Subsequent to withdrawal, Taliban with the help of Pakistan Army will recapture large areas of Afghanistan. This in turn will witness resumption of export of terrorism to India afresh on a larger scale. While Beijing boasts of clarity of purpose, New Delhi appears weak and confused.

To be honest China clearly outwitted India in the year 2012.

Internal security and stability stands threatened by the external players via Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal by arming and funding Maoists, criminal gangs, dissidents, insurgents and sleeper agents. The threat perception is further enhanced by the crumbling civil administration and falling apart of the policing mechanisms. While the politician indulges in vote-bank politics, heightening the divide between different segments of the society, the babudom remains illiterate in matters of good governance.

Worse, the Indian armed forces are unequal to the task in front of them. Thanks to babudom, and skewed policies of the government, they don’t possess basic items like a usable rifle, modern carbine, the ground air-defence systems are obsolete, artillery does not have guns, the air force lacks basic trainers, mountain radars and fighter aircrafts. The navy practically has no conventional submarine fleet due to deficit in planning by the Ministry of Defence. The list of deficiencies and mismanagement by the MoD is long.

Threat to the internal security appeared equally heightened due to gross mis-governance.

Indian Army faces shortage of nearly 10,000 officers. Surprisingly in a densely populated country with high unemployment rate, it is short of more than 30,000 soldiers. There is shortfall of approximately 2000 officers and 15,000 sailors in the Navy. The Air Force is deficient of nearly 1,000 officers and 7,000 airmen. Unfortunately, the President, who is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, is not ashamed of the fact that the military veterans are returning their war medals in total frustration, as they cannot obtain their legitimate dues from the Ministry of Defence. The allocation of the meager funds in the defence budget and the red tape involved in acquisition process has tied down in knots the defence services. The result is that the cohesion and bonding so vital to win wars suffers irreparable damage within the military units.

In such a milieu, with acute scarcity of equipment and human resources, demoralization in the armed forces is increasing. Therefore, it is in no position to face the primary threat from China or a two-front war, if imposed after withdrawal of the Western Forces from Afghanistan.

Hence the year 2012 clearly witnessed shrinking of India’s military capabilities while the threats multiplied.  Threat to the internal security appeared equally heightened due to gross mis-governance.

…Pakistan army single handedly destroyed the Pakistan state. Equally true is the fact that our bureaucracy is intent on demolishing the Union of India with similar fervor.

Internally, the corruption in India and vote-bank politics reached unimaginable heights by seeping to every nook and corner of the administrative systems. The classic example of vote-bank politics was the extra-ordinary agitation in Assam against the illegal migration from Bangladesh. In retaliation, people from Northeast all over India received threats and there was a massive exodus from as far as Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai etc. back to the Northeast. Similarly, India landed with massive exodus of Hindus from Pakistan further threatening the societal fabric.

The Indian civil administration was not only helpless in front of the increasing menace of the Maoists but in addition witnessed breakdown of law and order throughout the country. The police are neither trained nor equipped to cope-up with the well armed Maoists or criminal gangs. The police mindset and the equipment to face the challenges remains suspended in the colonial era, while the gangster or the terrorists wages war equipped with 21st century technology. The Maoists, the Islamic terrorists and the insurgents in Kashmir and the Northeast use each other’s resources to further their interests, while within India there is no elementary coordination between different intelligence agencies, different states, center and the states, or for that matter, between civil and the military.

Thus, a huge mismatch between the police capabilities and the growing small militias exists in a similar fashion as the shrinking military capabilities.

It is rightly said that the Pakistan army single handedly destroyed the Pakistan state. Equally true is the fact that our bureaucracy is intent on demolishing the Union of India with similar fervor. To exit this vicious chakraviyu, we will have to spruce up our internal act as Indians who man the civil administration today pose a far greater threat to the Union than China or Pakistan.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

Bharat Verma

A former Cavalry Officer and former Editor, Indian Defence Review (IDR), and author of the books, India Under Fire: Essays on National Security, Fault Lines and Indian Armed Forces.

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4 thoughts on “2012: Multiplying security threats

  1. bloody indians .always seeing cricket .they only getting entertain of fellow indian misery.you see israel if any attack occured in their territory immediately would retaliate .they are cult people.indians are slowly lossing war against islamic militants .they only bow thedir head to pakistan.what the good indians they are aren’t they?

  2. The Neglect of the Military has been well highlighted.This is one cause of our worsening security environment & our lack of appreciation of the same..The Nehruvian Forward policy adopted against China which ended in a disaster in 1962 is well known. But less well known is the HIDDEN & INSIDOUS” FORWARD POLICY” CARRIED OUT BY THE POLITICO-BUREAUCRATIC NEXUS since the 1950’s against the Armed Forces of India esp.under Krishna Menon/H.C.Sarin [ICS ] by ENROACHING on their Territory/Domain/Turf / Responsibilities / Status /Protocol /Pay etc..This was started in the 1950’s by abolishing the post of C in C,keeping the Service HQ’s out of the Min. of Defence, Keeping Armed Forces out the Decision making loop in matters of Defence, National Security etc, Downgrading the Armed Forces in Pay & protocol vis a vis the IAS /IPS etc, Neglecting the requirements of the Armed Forces & Systematically humiliating the Armed Forces at every opportunity. Ultimately,the Armed Forces have shown repeatedly that they understand the dangers to national security much better than the Corrupt politicians & bureaucrats.

  3. The self serving cahoots of India’s Dysfunctional Anarchy the ruling elite comprising Executive arm of Indian state is a classic termite eating it from within . God , forbid but India has never been so insecure as now, That its for sure we may actually even in extreme circumstances not use atomic bomb ,kneeling down to vote bank politics…… ….mother India is being neglected by society degenerating from rot set by its ruling elite since independence , the men of straw , scoundrels in parliament they have wrested the promise of great indian dawn for devil …. , the rulers will send their children to live off lavishly on their swiss accounts …… Swami Vivekanand he said India needs twenty men of high spiritual awakening to take it to its rightful place in comity of nations …ALAS in 150 th year of his birth …they are yet to come …me included have failed our land …..

  4. The threat perception outlined by Mr. Verma is on the mark and updates old notions on India versus Pakistan security paradygm. The emergence of China as a super power allied to Pakistan is an existential threat to India because of the inherent instability of nuclearized Pakistan. India’s neutrality posture of the last 60 years has paid no dividend to India. In fact it has become an albatross around the neck in terms of India’s security and economics. The borders of India today are unsecure after three wars with Pakistan and one with China. Now, staring down in the face of India is a potential threat of nuclear war from Pakistan, aided and abetted by China, should India retaliate against Pakistan’s proxy wars of terrorism. India needs strategic adjustments in its short term and long term policy. It is time to think out of the box. India, given its potential as an emerging super power, needs alliance with US, Western Europe, Japan and Israel for defence and economics. These nations constitute over 75% of the world’s GDP and have the military muscle to keep in check both China and Russia. Relying on Russia for its security needs while that nation is in bed with China is a blunder which the policy makers will live to regret sooner than later and it is time to change now.

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