|
|
|
|
|
|
Political Diary
Pravasi Meet At Hyderabad:CMs PITCH IN FOR NRI FUNDS, by Insaf,12 January 2006 |
|
|
ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 12 January 2006
Pravasi Meet At Hyderabad
CMs PITCH IN FOR
NRI FUNDS
By Insaf
More and more States of the Union
are zeroing-in on Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in their determined bid to secure
investment for development. Having failed to get satisfactory response during
the last three years, despite creation by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of a
separate Ministry for the NRIs, the Chief Ministers of several States went overboard
in luring them at the fourth three-day Pravasi Divas meet at Hyderabad over the week-end. At least six CMs attended the meet with
high-level delegations to attract the NRIs to their States. If Narendra Modi of Gujarat made a strong
“sales pitch”, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar turned up
with a 40-member delegation to spell out the slew of measures his Government
has unveiled to bring in foreign investment.
These include creation of an Investment Board, development of
infrastructure and modified rules for speedy clearance of development
projects.
In fact, Nitish Kumar even struck an emotional chord to make
his pitch for the diaspora to “spare a thought and a few pennies” for the
backward States in India.
Bihar with its lowest GDP is undoubtedly the
most backward State. But he promised to
turn the State into an “investors’ paradise” within 18 months. Narendera Modi
made a business-like speech: “Sow a rupee, reap a dollar”, was his slogan with
a promise to Gujarati NRIs that their State provided them the best climate for
investment. In fact, Modi’s claim was challenged by his counterpart in
adjoining Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh. The
latter listed several projects to claim that Mumbai had always been the most
favoured investment destination. The new Chief Minister of J&K, Ghulam Nabi
Azad too sought support from the Indian diaspora on the plea that his State had
a long way to go on the development front.
Similar impassioned pleas to the NRIs were made by the Chief
Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan
were, however, represented by their Ministers.
The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia,
who chaired the “CMs’ Interaction”, advised the States to introduce reforms in
various sectors to attract investment.
Union Finance Minister Chidambaram too doffed his hat to the NRIs,
stating that the remittances from abroad were a development catalyst and the
most stable source of private funds flowing into the country. He assured the NRIs that the balance of
payments position was no longer a cause for concern with the foreign exchange
reserves standing at $137 billion. Moreover, he promised “sensible economic
policies”.
* * * *
CPM Kickstarts Poll
Campaign
The CPM has kicked off its campaign for the Assembly poll in
West Bengal in April-May this year. To start with, the party Politburo has taken
two decisions. One, no confrontation
with the Election Commission. Two, all
out effort to ensure majority for the party itself, without having to rely on support
from smaller Left parties. Importantly, former
Chief Minister Jyoti Basu exhorted his partymen at a truly massive rally at the
Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Sunday last to cooperate with the EC
officials. The EC has sent to the State 19 observers, including the “Biharman”
K.J. Rao, to supervise roll revision in all the 19 districts of the State. For the first time in 29 years of the Left
rule in the State, the CPM leaders have publicly admitted existence of a large
number of bogus voters in the State.
In the present Assembly, the CPM has 143 seats, five short
of the magic figure of 148 in the 294-member Assembly. The CPM leadership is hoping to get a
majority on its own on the basis of its assessment that Mamata Banerjee’s
Trinamool Congress may not be able to win more than 40 seats this time, as
against its tally of 60 in the 2001 poll.
The CPM patriach Jyoti Basu stated at the recent rally that “we have to
do better this time than our best performance so far in 1987 when we won 187 of
the total 294 seats”. Already, the
Congress has ruled out the possibility of any poll understanding with the
Trinamool, if the party continues to have any understanding with the BJP-led
NDA. This would mean a divided Opposition,
to the advantage of the ruling Left Front.
* * * *
Poll Activity In Assam
Poll activity has started in Assam too. The ruling Congress in
the State has fired its first salvo for the Assembly poll this year. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi circulated to the
media the performance chart of his Government and, at the same time, hit out at
the Opposition parties for their undoings when in power. The main Opposition, the Asom Gana Parishad
(AGP), headed by Brindaban Goswami, has started negotiations for an alliance
with the BJP. In fact, the new BJP president,
Rajnath Singh, indicated in New Delhi the other day that in order to prevent a
split in the anti-Congress votes, the BJP was trying to enter into alliance
with the AGP and the United Democratic Front, a broad coalition of parties,
including the United Minority Front which has already decided to disengage
itself from the Congress. The BJP-AGP
combine may also seek a poll understanding with the Bodo National Front which
wields considerable influence in Kokrajar district. The ruling Congress faces a tough challenge.
* * * *
Karnataka Towards
Snap Poll
Karnataka too may go in for a mid-term poll this year. The long-drawn differences between the ruling
coalition partners, the Congress and the JD(Secular) of Deve Gowda, have
reached a breaking point following the recent local body elections for which
the State Congress tied-up with the new outfit of Siddaramaiha, who broke away
from Deve Gowda. This caused the former
Prime Minister to blow hot and cold on his relationship with the Congress. Gowda first threatened to withdraw support to
the Congress and rushed to New Delhi to meet BJP’s, Atal Behari Vajpayee. However,
on return to Bangalore, he announced he would revisit the issue again after
meeting Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi on February 8. Not much is expected to come out of Gowda’s
talk with Sonia, because the AICC had earlier authorized the State unit to
tie-up with the breakaway JD(S) of Siddaramaiha. Most State Congress leaders favour breaking
ties with Gowda’s JD(S) and a snap poll.
* * * *
Unrest In Tribal
Areas
Tribal unrest in Orissa is fast spreading to the
tribal-dominated areas in adjoining States. It all started on Monday last in
Kalinga Nagar of Jajia district where police opened fire on a crowd of tribals
agitating against the State Government’s decision to acquire their land for a
steel plant. Thirteen people were killed and several injured. This unleashed a
wave of protests across the State. The
first sign of the snowballing crisis came when tribal MLAs and Ministers of the
BJP in the Naveen Patnaik Government decided to quit. But the situation was saved when the BJP high
command advised them against breaking the alliance with the Biju Janata Dal
(BJD). But the Congress and the
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) of Shibu Soren have made this a major political
issue. Sonia Gandhi has visited Kalinga
Nagar in the footsteps of her
mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, who rushed to Belchi in 1978 to nurse the tribals
hurt in a similar incident. Soren has warned of a nationwide stir against the
killing of the tribals.
* * * *
BJP-Shiv Sena
Trouble In Maharashtra
Serious trouble is brewing between the BJP and Shiv Sena,
the long-time political partners in national politics. The problem has erupted ahead of the three
Assembly byelections in Maharashtra on January 21. These elections were caused by the
resignation of three Sena MLAs, who joined the Congress along with the party’s
senior leader Narayan Rane. The split
in the Sena has led to a division in the State BJP. One view is to keep supporting Bal Thackarey.
But a large section within the party wants the relationship rewritten, if not
severed. The problem between the two parties looks serious this time because
former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader with a statewide appeal, Gopinath
Munde, himself is doing his bit to fan the anti-Sena feelings.
* * * *
Punjab Farmers Top
Indebtedness
Punjab, known for spearheading the Green Revolution, today has
the highest indebtedness among its farmers, according to the latest report of
the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), as disclosed by Union
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.
Punjab is followed by Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka in that order. As of May last,
the average outstanding loan of a farmer in Punjab was Rs.41,576, in Kerala Rs.33,907,
followed by Rs.26,007 in Haryana, Rs.23,965 in Andhra, Rs.23,963 in Tamil Nadu
and Rs.18,135 in Karnataka. The Union Government
and the concerned State governments have consequently initiated several steps
to reduce the farmers’ dependence on private moneylenders for meeting their
credit requirements and to provide relief to indebted farmers. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
|
|
Terror in New Year:ALL STATES ON HIGH ALERT, by Insaf,4 January 2006 |
|
|
ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 4 January 2006
Terror in New Year
ALL STATES ON HIGH
ALERT
By Insaf
All the State capitals stepped into the New Year on a high
alert sounded by the Union Government following reports of increasing terrorist
plots across the country. After the
militant strike at a conference of scientists in the Indian Institute of
Sciences at Bangalore
on December 28, the Centre advised the State Governments to raise their
security umbrella, especially over places of higher learning, heritage sites
and prominent buildings. The Bangalore attack in which
a former IIT Professor was killed and four others injured, could have turned
into a major disaster, but for the failure of the defective grenades used by
terrorists. As many as four grenades thrown
at the assembly did not explode, forcing the attackers to flee from the scene.
The Centre’s timely warning to the States has saved many a
Bangalore-like situation, as the events in the subsequent days have proved. The
Police foiled a plan by a Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed to
trigger Delhi-like serial blasts in Hyderabad
on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the city to inaugurate
the Indian Science Congress that began on January 3. A red alert was also sounded in Kerala,
following the recovery of powerful explosives from a bus stand in Kozhikode on Monday last. Investigations following these
incidents within a week prove that terrorists have big targets in mind:
high-tech cities and police headquarters across the country.
With major Pakistan-backed terrorist groups like
Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed joining hands with the
Naxalites and other local militant organizations, the security situation has worsened.
They have reportedly worked out a well-planned agenda to cover the entire
country. The intelligence agencies have
also found that “sleeper cells” of pro-al Qaeda jehadi groups with bases in Pakistan and Bangladesh
are operating in south India. Bangalore-based General Officer Commanding of
the Army Area, Maj-Gen. Shivashankar has expressed concern over “the free
movement of Naxals to Bangalore from Jharkhand, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh” and
advised additional security for Bangalore where several national level
conferences are scheduled during the next few weeks.
* * * *
Left “Poll Machine”
Gets Set
Political activity is picking up in the five States where
Assembly polls are scheduled this year: West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala. The
Election Commission has already started its exercise beginning from West Bengal where polling is expected to be held in
May-June. Like it did in Bihar, the Commission is determined to ensure free and
fair poll. It has already undertaken a
thorough check of voter identity cards which the State Electoral Commissioner
has already issued. Several irregularities have been detected in most of the
constituencies. Nearly two lakh
irregular cards have been cancelled so far and a fresh voters list is being
prepared for the entire State.
Meanwhile, the ruling Left Front has fired its first salvo
to retain power and add another five years to its record rule of 29 years. The Front’s most formidable vote-bank of
nearly three lakh government employees held a massive rally in Kolkata on
Wednesday last. The Employees’ Coordination Committee pledged its support to
the CPM and promised to start “oiling” the party’s poll machine. It announced keenness
to see the Left Front back at the helm.
Former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu addressed the rally and stated: “Had
the Coordination Committee not been there, we would not have been able to stay
in power for 29 years.” Basu and the
Committee leaders joined hands to hit out at the Congress which ruled the State
before the Left Front about three decades ago.
* * * *
Gogoi’s Gift To
ULFA
Assam’s Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi too is
taking steps to ensure that his Congress returns to power once more. Besides several steps taken to tone up the administration
for speedy completion of development projects, Gogoi has given top priority to
bring peace to the State. His first move
in the new year is to tackle the dreaded ULFA, which has killed countless innocent
people. Gogoi has given them a new year
gift: Safe passage to the ULFA cadres from January 7 to 20 to visit their
families or relatives. Announcing his safe-passage decision, Gogoi stated: “If
they come they will not be arrested and can visit the places they want to for
about two weeks”. The move is expected to soften their mindset against the
Government.
* * * *
Poll Moves In Tamil
Nadu
The Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu are girding up their
loins for the upcoming Assembly poll.
While the ruling Anna-DMK, led by Jayalalitha, is busy providing relief
for victims of the recent flash floods in the State, the DMK Chief, Karunanidhi
has called upon the people to oust the ruling party. He led a massive agitation to condemn the
Government for the recent stampede at the MGR Nagar. Karunanidhi and other
several leaders also hit out at the Government for detaining the party
Councillor Dhanasekaran under the Goonda Act
for allegedly spreading rumours that caused the stampede. The DMK has demanded a probe into the whole
issue.
* * * *
Kerala CPM On
Reforms Path
A wind of change is blowing in Kerala. Encouraged by its comfortable victory in the
recent local body elections, the Left Front is hoping to defeat the ruling
Congress-led United Democratic Front in the upcoming Assembly poll. Importantly, it has decided to reorient its
economic policies, with emphasis on foreign investment and reforms as adopted
by “big brother” West Bengal. Appropriately, the CPM organized an international
Congress in Thiruvananthapuram recently and got the Left’s “poster boy of reforms”, West Bengal Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to inaugurate it. The comrades of Kerala, like
those of Bengal, are eager to tap the fruits of globalization rather than turn
their back on it. They have now focussed
their attention on growth sectors like IT, biotechnology and tourism.
* * * *
Kalam’s Vision of
Bihar
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has now got the First
Citizen of India as his supporter for the State’s progress. During his visit to
Patna last week, President Abdul Kalam expressed his confidence in Nitish Kumar
and presented his vision of Bihar to emerge as a developed State under his
leadership. The President appreciated
the big responsibility which Nitish Kumar had taken on his shoulders for the
State’s progress. The Chief Minister used the opportunity and sought the
President’s guidance for his plans to develop the State. The latter agreed instantly and promised to re-visit
Bihar in March to help the CM finalise his roadmap for development: “Bihar
Vision: Developed State by 2015”.
* * * *
Raj’s Blow To Shiv
Sena
The split in Shiv Sena is now complete, with its former
leaders and patriarch Bal Thackarey’s nephew Raj Thackarey drawing a large
number of Sainiks to his new party. Raj has received a big boost when over
2,500 Sena activists pledged their support to him. The group is led by two-term
Corporator Dilip Lande, who wrote to the Executive President of the Sena,
Uddhav Thackarey, that they were quitting the party. More Corporators, MLAs and MPs have also promised
support to Raj. The real picture about Raj’s strength will, however, be known
only after the bypolls for the three Assembly seats on January 21. These vacancies were caused after three Sena MLAs
resigned to join the Congress.---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
|
|
Service Chiefs’ Concern:DEPLETION IN WAR-WAGING POTENTIAL, by B.K. Mathur,11 December 2006 |
|
|
Defence Notes
New Delhi, 11 December 2006
Service Chiefs’
Concern
DEPLETION IN
WAR-WAGING POTENTIAL
By B.K. Mathur
The Service Chiefs have made two significant observations at
the combined commanders conference in New
Delhi the other day. Very crucial for the armed
forces, they stressed in the
presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that corruption scandals in defence
deals should not be allowed to derail modernization plans and that the Defence
Research and development Organisation (DRDO) must get its act together, instead
of delivering too little, to late. The
PM was told that the long delays in the procurement of desperately needed
military hardware and software was causing a steady depletion in the war-waging
potential of the armed forces.
The Chiefs’ comment that the tardy progress in the projects of the DRDO with unrealistic
time-frame is at once unfair to the Organisation, which is doing a good job for
over three decades. There is no denying the fact that several important
projects have been delayed for long. But it needs to be understood by the
Service headquarters, and the Prime Minister too, that the delays have not been
caused by the DRDO, or its laboratories or the Ordnance factories. The culprit is the system for procurement of
military hardware and software and faulty defence production industry. A high-level committee, headed by former
bureaucrat Vijay Kelkar and comprising some leading industrialist diagnosed the
disease from which the industry has been suffering for decades.
India’s young defence scientists,
technicians and producers are today the envy of the world. They are capable of designing,
developing and producing best of the military machines, weapons and weapon
systems, including the ones with unclear warheads. Their capabilities have been
proved time and again during the last few years. They have designed, developed
and produced latest types of missiles
considered to be the main weapon in the present day war strategy. We owe this
to the President of India APJ Abdul Kalam, formerly DRDO Chief, known as the
“missile man”. Why missiles only. The DRDO has designed and developed
latest state-of-the-art battle tanks, combat aircraft and even aircraft careers
for Navy.
Unfortunately, however, such designed and developed machines
could not be produced all these years for various reasons. First among them is the fact that purchases
from abroad have their own attraction, commissions
et all, at the cost of national interest.
Secondly, the defence industry is quite different from the civil
industry. A modern and sophisticated military equipment has a large number of
components, running into thousands and that too of different heads like
electronics, ammunition, fire-power and all that. In other words, no one set of scientists and
technicians can possibly undertake
production of all components. Importantly no defence production unit in the
world, even in the highly advanced countries, can produce all the components
under one roof--- and one unit. Inter-dependence is a necessity in defence industry.
Some years ago, I distinctly remember to have been told in Bangalore that a U.S.
defence production company was importing from India certain small components for
production of a highly-sophisticated gas-turbine engine. The explanation of this
import was simple. It was economical for
the American company to import that particular component from India or
anywhere else, because it was pointless
to set-up a special production facility at high costs. But this must have been
one of the rare smaller components. The private sector industry there does not
mind setting up production units even for smaller components, because the
entire U.S.
defence industry is export-oriented and is a major component of the national
economy.
Things are quite different in India’s defence industry. Here a produce is sold for a limited purpose,
and the setting up of a special facility for its production is not economically
viable. And, therefore, no private sector would like to spend his capital for
producing such components for defence armament which have limited market and no
profitability, yet require high capital investment. Thus, it becomes necessary to go abroad for direct import of the
components required for even wholly indigenously designed and produced machinery.
Also, and quite significantly, a tendency has fast grown over the years for
Defence PSUs personnel rushing abroad to “see the world” and take all the
advantages of purchasing abroad.
The Defence Ministry, the DRDO and the defence public sector
undertakings have been making efforts to reduce import contents in defence
equipment for decades. It has been realized all these years that the country
cannot afford to depend entirely on imports for its defence requirements, and
that self-reliance cannot be achieved without proper participation and
commitment in national effort of the civil sector. It is a fact that the
Defence PSUs which alone produce at present military equipment have to depend
on others for a large number of components. In their case the dependence is on
imports--- and not on the civil or the private sector, like in most other
countries.
This situation which the country’s defence industry faces
today raises several issues. Two
among them are more significant, requiring examination in depth. The percentage of indigenous component is a
misnomer, an entirely misused terminology. Two, it is not economically viable
in the present-day context to involve the private sector in the production of
components for defence machinery, being designed and produced
indigenously. The industrialists in the
private sector are actually “traders” in India, whose only motive of
activity is profit and money-making.
They cannot really take on a production which has a limited and
fast-changing market like the defence equipment market at home and abroad. If they change their attitude and become
partners in national effort for security, then only can their partnership
initiative succeed.
In sum, if the scientists of the DRDO and its laboratories
are given the required inputs, sans the politics of the file-pushers and
policy-makers in the Government, India’s defence industry is capable of
producing the latest military machines wholly indigenously with, of course, the
cooperation of the private sector industry.
As pointed out earlier, no military machine in the world can be produced
under one roof. The practice for always
running for imports should be stopped and the country’s self-reliance efforts
stepped up. Why spend in foreign exchange when the required equipment can be
produced at house. Do not play the blame
game, instead set the defence production industry right. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
|
|
Sino-Indian Ties:MILITARY ANGLE TO HU’s VISIT, by B.K. Mathur,27 November 2006 |
|
|
Defence Notes
New Delhi, 27 November 2006
Sino-Indian Ties
MILITARY ANGLE TO
HU’s VISIT
By B.K. Mathur
Yet another round of talks between the top leaders of India and China
in New Delhi the other day ended in the same
tone as it should be: sweet words from the two neighbours, strategic
competitors, or even adversaries in a balance of power game in Asia. Chinese
President Hu Jintao offered to India
trust and friendship. He went a step
forward than statements by other Chinese leaders in the past. He saw relations with India not as a
matter of political expediency but from “a strategic long-term perspective”. Hu
used the same words in Islamabad
the very next day, but with a difference, as seen from the military point of
view.
In Pakistan,
Islamabad and Lahore, Hu’s body language was entirely
different. The Chinese President was given a red carpet welcome reserved only
for royalty from Saudi
Arabia. He was also given the highest
civilian award, Nishan-e-Pakistan. The Pakistan-China relations worked on a
plane completely different from Beijing’s ties
with New Delhi,
with which long-standing disputes remain pending. With Pakistan there
is no outstanding issue. It is
always cementing to new levels military and strategic relationship between the
two countries. Pakistan and China signed a Memorandum of
Understanding for a long-term collaboration in defence production.
The defence projects include the production of an airborne
early warning surveillance system (AWACS). The two countries have also agreed
on collaboration and co-development of military aircraft manufacturing and related
fields. Already, the Pakistan Air Force is collaborating with a Chinese
aviation company, CATIC, in the co-development and production of JF-17 Thunder
fighter aircraft. Pakistan is actually set to get the first batch of eight
medium-technology fighter jets from China next year and would start its
production indigenously from 2008-09. Pakistan
is also reportedly providing China
logistic support from the military angle.
In fact, this may turn out to be a dangerous development in
the region. China is talking
with Pakistan to build a
rail route and an energy pipeline linking the two countries and eventually
turning the Chinese-built Gwadar port in Pakistan
into a landing point for international cargo bound for western China through Baluchistan.
Beijing which
built the 800-km Karakoram highway connecting the two countries in 1978 has
also agreed to rebuild and broaden the highway to carry more load. The purpose
obviously is to link both Qasin and Gwadar with Xinjing province of China. The railway and highway plans have more
strategic objectives than commercial moves.
Against this backdrop, President Hu’s visit to Pakistan provides sufficient cause for worry to India’s defence
planners--- and the need for early resolution of the long-standing border
dispute. Ever since Rajiv Gandhi visited China as the Prime Minister in
December 1988, after a gap of 24 years, the Chinese efforts have always been to
delink the territorial dispute with the overall relationship between the two
countries. And this is exactly what President Hu sold to the Indian leaders
last week. But the fact remains that the
boundary dispute continues to be a major irritant, because it is over the
region’s most strategic territory over the mighty Himalayas
from the military point of view. Evidently, therefore, it is in the interest of
both Beijing and Pakistan to keep the dispute
pending and under negotiation for “early settlement”, as Hu “hoped” last week.
The Chinese have taken an “offensive” on this issue in an attempt to claim a large-chunk of Indian
territory and make India
to agree on a package deal. The latest move on these lines was made by the
Chinese Ambassador in New Delhi on the eve of
Hu’s visit. Beijing’s
stand is thus required to be studied in its historical perspective. Presently, the whole issue
is being examined by “Special Representatives” of the two countries. These representative need to go back to
historical facts and prolonged correspondence between the two governments, as
contained in as many as eleven White Papers, published by the Government of
India from March 1954 to January 1965.
In its effort to gain military advantage, Beijing does not
accept the McMahon Line in the eastern sector, despite the fact that India had
made it clear in 1959 that it does not accept the claim that the entire
Sino-Indian boundary had not been formally drawn and that the western sector of
the boundary was worked out way back in the 17th century. As to the eastern sector, the Chinese
argument is that the boundary was drawn up at the Simla Convention in 1914
between Britain and Tibet local
authorities. Documents now available show that the parties at the Simla
Convention were Britain, China and Tibet. All three had accepted the Mcmahon Line, China now describes it as “imaginary” and says
that it never recognized Britain’s
territorial claims of Tibet. At that time a claim of 90,000 Sq. km of
territory was never made.
At the Simla Convention, the task of defining the boundary
in the eastern sector was entrusted to Sir Henry McMahon, Secretary to the
Government of India in the Foreign and Political Department. The Line drawn by
Sir Henry is 1040 km long from the trijunction of Bhutan,
India and Tibet to the trijunction of Burma, India
and Tibet.
It runs through the crest of the Himalayan ranges which forms part of the
watershed of the Brahmaputra. The Line’s
continuity is, however, broken by the Lohit, Dihang, Subarnasiri and Nyanjang
rivers. Sir Henry’s boundary was accepted by the Tibetan Government in 1914
without any reservation. The Chinese too did not raise any objection until
1954, since when they are having their own maps.
Beijng wants a negotiated settlement on the basis of its
maps which keep on changing every now and then. The latest map shows 90,000 sq.
km territory in the eastern sector, meaning the entire Arunachal Pradesh. All
this to offer some concession in the
eastern sector which could be balanced in the western sector. The latter sector
suits the Chinese, because militarily the Ladakh area and the Aksai Chin region
provide them some kind of control over the Himalayas for strategic reasons.
Evidently, therefore, it becomes strategically necessary
for New Delhi to resolve the boundary dispute at the earliest, without playing
into the hands of the Chinese.
It is encouraging that President Hu at least showed during
his visit to New Delhi his keenness
to resolve the border dispute as early as possible.
Equally encouraging is that both India and China believe that their border
problem cannot be resolved by force. But
any initiative for a negotiated settlement must be taken in its proper
perspective, keeping the historical and other factors in view. Expression
of mere sentiments will not suddenly resolve a long-standing problem which has
defied solution so far. The early
settlement of the dispute can open the door for a genuine friendly Sino-Indian
relationship and a lasting peace in the region. ----INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
|
|
Towards Growing Might At Sea:TASK AHEAD OF NEW NAVY CHIEF, by B.K. Mathur,13 November 2006 |
|
|
Defence Notes
New Delhi, 13 November 2006
Towards Growing
Might At Sea
TASK AHEAD OF NEW
NAVY CHIEF
By B.K. Mathur
Indian Navy has now a new Chief in Suresh Mehta and,
importantly, he will remain at the helm for nearly three years, till August
2009. He is equal to the task, like any
of his predecessors; otherwise he
would not have got to the top of the ladder, to the Admiral’s rank. Name any of
the challenging assignment in the
sea force and he has held it satisfactorily after having been commissioned into the force in July 1967: Chief of Personnel
at the headquarters, Director-General Coast Guards and Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief Western and Eastern Naval Commands. His task as the Chief
is all the more challenging at the time when India’s Navy is no more a “silent
force”. It is moving towards India’s growing
might at sea.
How well and fast the Navy grows under Mehta would depend
upon the way the Admiral handles the system which has its limitations under the
defence policy makers and babudom. The sea force, like the army and the air
force, had its ups and downs. It
remained a small and silent force until December 1971. But its exploits in the
war against Pakistan
that year gave it a new dimension. It
thrilled the country with the Naval exploits and punch off Karachi
and then Visakhapatnam where Pakistan’s
lethal submarine was sunk. That
operation prompted the Navy to traditionally celebrate its day on December 4.
The neglected service began to get the Government’s greater attention, and its
modernization and upgradation plans began to be taken up in earnest.
Plans after plans have been made for updating and
modernizing the Navy since 1971, raising two important questions: Has the Navy
become a super-power? And, has the resource crunch all these years affected the
force’s long-term development, keeping in view the fact that the gestation
period in the sea force is quite long.
To the first question, the Navy Chief Jayant Nadkarni had reacted as the
Chief of the Naval Staff some 16 years ago.
The Western media’s description of the Indian Navy as the “Super Navy”
was nothing but a “crescendo of chorus” by vested interests”. What had actually
happened was that the expansion was confined to replacement of fighting ships
and systems earlier phased out.
Actually, the Navy has suffered all these years for lack of
understanding of two realities. One, the
growth should be directly proportionate to the country’s maritime interests. India’s sea force is undoubtedly eighth largest
in the world, but don’t forget that India has the fifth largest
coastline in the world---7,650 kms and an area of over two million sq. km. of Exclusive
Economic Zone. Secondly, it needs to be
understood that in a full-fledged sea warfare, the operation could spread to
thousands of kilometers throughout the length and breadth of the sea where a
battle might take place. In the Indian
Ocean and the seas around India,
there are a number of powers operating with highly sophisticated machinery and
lethal weapon systems.
For this kind of a challenging task at sea, “the Navy has
not been doing enough open ocean work”, as Admiral Madhavendra Singh had stated
as the CNS three years ago. The force has yet to be made a real blue-water
Navy, which it really is not so, notwithstanding the implementation of several
modernization plans. The Navy has to be built around three aircraft-carriers,
at least 30 destroyers and frigates and replenishment ships. But where do we stand now? The strength of the naval force is not even
what it used to be in the 1980s and 90s, where we had two aircraft-carriers and
were preparing for a big underwater Navy and missile
boats. One of the carriers Vikrant has
retired. The other one, Viraaat has, no doubt, been renovated at high cost but
has a limited life. Another second-hand carrier has been negotiated with Russia,
but God only knows when it will deck into the Indian coast, duly refitted and
upgraded.
Successive Naval Chiefs
have talked of big plans for the force’s development. But none had much to show
when he relinquished his charge. Admiral
Arun Prakash, who handed the Navy to Mehta on October 31 last too was not very
happy about the strength of the force. He had admitted in an interview to the Indian
Defence Review that the Navy’s force level will keep on reducing till 2012. He
had disclosed in 2004 that while the Government had approved maintenance of
the, then, existing force levels, the de-commissioning
of warship would outnumber new inductions. He had blamed the situation on
inadequate augmentation of the force between 1985 and 1996.
Another very significant point he made repeatedly in that
interview was that the Navy suffered a force imbalance because a large
proportion of the Fleet comprises “brown water” or smaller ships. This needs to be rectified with the addition
of more “blue water” capability. In this
context, almost all Naval Chiefs in recent years have regretted that the
Government was not willing to give the Navy a long-term assurance
of funds. Remember, the Naval planning
requires at least a 15-year plan which the late Jagjiwan Ram and former
President Venkataraman had envisaged as Defence Ministers.
But that has not happened so far, year after year, decade
after decade. It takes a lot of time to
negotiate expensive purchases of military machines and systems from abroad. So
also is the case with indigenous production.
This really is the reason why considerable amount of annual defence
budget has lapsed during the last few years.
Plans are made at the budget time, but are not implemented during the
budget year. More about this development another time. At the moment, let us see what Admiral Mehta
is required to pursue for the force development and what priorities of
acquisitions are needed to be drawn up. His predecessor
had done enough in this direction; now those plans need to be followed up
faithfully.
Admiral Mehta’s priority is clear: Consolidation of the
Navy’s rapidly transforming role from being just a silent service to a potent
maritime power in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to further the country’s
geostrategic objectives. He will have to
ensure that the force levels do not fall below the present 130 warships and 16
submarines. These levels are to be kept up, given the fact that over 70
existing warships would have to be gradually replaced in the next 10-15 years.
The replacement process could start
satisfactorily for the sea force only when the present plans for acquisition or
indigenous production of warships get started right now. At present the Navy
has under production or order as many as 33 warships from foreign or indigenous
sources. In addition to this, the
requirement would be for another 30 ships in the next 10-15 years.
The spadework to meet the requirements 10-15 years later
should start right now. And for that handling
of the file-pushers in the Defence Ministry would be required. In addition to the need for keeping up the
force level, Mehta’s Naval headquarters must also keep chasing the already
kicked-off Rs.18,798 crore project to build Scorpine submarines at the Mazagon
Docks between 2012 and 2017. The project for the indigenous production of the
air defence ships is to be speeded up, since the two more of these would be
required even after the induction of the refurbished Admiral Gorshkov carrier
from Russia. A challenging task indeed, Admiral.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
|
|
|
More...
-
Task Before New Minister:SAVE FORCES FROM ENEMY WITHIN, by B.K. Mathur,30 October 2006
-
Infantry Day Thoughts:THE GENERAL’S LINE OF LIES, by B.K. Mathur,16 October 2006
-
Military Procurement Policy:PLAN FINE, ENSURE IMPLEMENTAIOTN,by B.K. Mathur,4 September, 2006
-
Posting Flaws In AFMS:SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS IN Field AREAS, by B.K. Mathur, 21 August 2006
| << Start < Previous 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 Next > End >>
| Results 5302 - 5310 of 5984 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|