CHINA’s SECRET DEAL WITH PAKISTAN
geopolitics Vol IV, Issue I, JUNE 2013 n `100
d e f en c e n
diplomacy n
security
SECURING THE COUNTRY’S BORDERS BUILDING A BLUE WATER NAVY FINE-TUNING THE ARMY’S FIRE POWER INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM PLATFORMS IN AIR TRANSFORMING THE INDIAN POLICE
THE ULTIMATE WARRIORs
Soldiers generally win battles, Generals get credits for them —Napoleon Bonaparte
Interoperability prevails here.
Information is a powerful weapon. At Rockwell Collins, we deliver secure, networked communication that military forces around the world rely on for greater situational awareness. In the face of rapid technological advancements and limited bandwidths, our affordable, advanced and integrated solutions deliver data, imagery, voice and video to any platform, in any domain. Give your forces the power to connect.
rockwellcollins.com/prevail Š 2013 Rockwell Collins. All rights reserved.
Enhanced situational awareness Seamless coordination Rapid response
Cover Story
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CONTENTS
future warriors
Call of duty
Heavily armed with latest weapon systems and battlefield gadgets, the future Indian soldiers must generate fears into the minds of the enemies.
panorAma (P8)
Leaving Behind
Filling The Gaps
With a land border of 15,106.7 km and a coastline of 7,516.6 km, is India doing enough to secure its citizens from external aggression?
As the withdrawal from Afghanistan nears, the US finds it tough to ship back battlefield logistics, which, otherwise may be grabbed by insurgent groups.
DefBiz (P30)
ITBP
US Army
Perspective (P10)
DefBiz (P32)
DefBiz (P36)
EXPANDING FOOTPRINTS
SUPPORT CAPABILITIES
NEW PROPOSALS
Agilent Technologies, a premier test and measurement company has showcased its latest state-of-art equipments for the Indian Defence Forces and other sectors such as Aerospace and Surveillance.
To be identified as a blue water navy, the Indian Navy is seeking high-end, multi-purpose support vessels on a priority basis to match its counterparts in the Indian Ocean Region.
Tom C Trudell of Northrop Grumman talks about the future plans and surveillance platform programme which is under development and best suited for the Indian Defence Forces.
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June 2013
TIME to CHANGE (P58) Is the Indian police force inefficient, ill-trained and dis-organised, inadequately supervised, corrupt and oppressive and has it utterly failed to secure the confidence of the general people?
pakistan army
railwaypro
HEMANT RAWAT
IAI
EYE IN THE SKY (p18) In recent years, the Indian Air Force (IAF), as part of its ‘transformation’, has been aggressively modifying and acquiring the latest special mission platforms available in the international market.
new resources (P72) With the fate of the Turkmenistan-AfghanistanPakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline hanging in the balance, India needs to soon come up with its own shale gas policy.
FOCUS (P68)
SECRET affair (p76) Sino-Pak deal has played a significant role behind the spiraling increase in Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal as Pakistan and China continue to scale up their clandestine nuclear cooperation.
Editor-in-Chief
K SRINIVASAN Editor
PRAKASH NANDA Managing Editor
TIRTHANKAR GHOSH Consulting Editor
SAURAV JHA Correspondents
trishit rai, rijul s uppal, naveed anjum Chief Visualiser
AJAY NEGI Designers
mohit kansal, NAGENDer DUBEY Design Consultant
ARTWORKS Photo Editor aog
H C TIWARI
EXTENDING BOUnDARIES
HEMANT RAWAT Director (Corporate Affairs)
RAJIV SINGH
In order to become a major pillar in the 21st century, India needs to evolve into a major sea power that will help it spread its influence outside the Indian Ocean Region upto the Mediterranean and beyond.
Diplomacy (P79)
TRIANGULAR NEXUS India now needs to quickly learn how to promote its national and international interests by developing proactive policies towards both Beijing and Washington.
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Staff Photographer
Cover Design: Ajay Negi The total number of pages in this issue is 80+4
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Director (Marketing)
RAKESH GERA
Conceptualised and designed by Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., from D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -110 013, Tel: +91-11-41033381-82 for newseye media Pvt. Ltd. All information in GEOPOLITICS is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear. Owned and published by K Srinivasan, 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar, Phase-I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at Nutech Photolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020. Readers are welcome to send their feedback at geopolitics@newsline.in
June 2013
The cover story, Generals and Generalship’ (Geopolitics, May 2013), about leadership and the capability to command was a well researched story and reflected all aspects. The introduction said it all: ‘To create a strategic culture and develop it to the point of enumerating grand strategy requires ‘strategic integrity’—the skillsets to listen and to accept divergent viewpoints emerging from a conceptual framework of analysis based on multidisciplinary methodology’. We have the third largest armed forces in the world but have not even rationalised the role of Professional Military Education (PME) within the ambit of higher education in India. As we all are aware, with much of the world in turmoil fighting external aggression and internal strife and with the remote possibility of a nuclear war being engineered thoughtlessly by a buccaneering North Korean ‘General’, it is fair to wonder about the direction in which Generals and their Generalship are headed.
In India, we hear almost every day about corruption in senior military ranks; about sleaze, questionable deals, corruption, non-professional and sometimes morally-debased conduct and an expanding ‘disconnect’ between military leaders and subordinates and other damning indices of the military’s poor internal health which provide a sense of insecurity among the general public, the worry is even more.
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LETTERS
letters to editor The author has compared the Indian side to the American experience with their Generals and their displayed Generalship but by implication, not much can be said with authority on the current Indian systems because it is ‘closed’, hence not open to public scrutiny. We can only hope that there will be no more allegations of corruption involving our armed forces or the Generals.
of the basic design. The Dhurv Mk 4 Rudra, for example, which is an armed variant of the basic Dhruv design, received its ‘Initial Operational Capability’ (IOC) and the first lot was delivered to Army at Aero India 2013. What is heartening is that several helicopter procurement and development
Karan Rathore, Jaipur
Building a Chopper Brigade (May 2013 issue) was interesting to read. As the story highlights, the murky past of evaluations, scams and cancellations in haste, the author tends to assure readers that despite such developments, the helicopter acquisition programme in India is on the right path. As the story suggests, the requirement of the Indian security forces for helicopters is large and growing. Luckily for the country, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has made good progress in meeting the demand, in contrast to its dismal record with designing and developing fighters, trainers and transport aircraft. The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv took much longer than it should have but the ultimate success of the project has given HAL a solid base and the confidence to incrementally develop increasingly specialised variants Apropos the story, Where Does India Stand on the Global Arms Trade Treaty? (May 2013 issue) The idea behind it is totally convincing. What is worrying for the Indian armed forces and for foreign military vendors in particular, is that this case has the potential to paralyse several projects which are in the pipeline. The major concern is that while an unaccountable system explains India’s lack of self-sufficiency in arms, forcing the country to be excessively dependent on foreign coun-
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projects are underway—even if their progress has been very slow. If recent reports are to be believed, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is in the process of procuring 197 military Light Utility Helicopters (LUHs) to replace the existing fleet of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters in the three services. Of these, 133 are for the Army and 64 for the Air Force. The big question that arises is that whether the MoD will come clean on such deals or will these too go the way that the others have gone due to kickbacks and corruption charges. Aquib Anwaar, Jammu
tries, India’s opposition to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), far from being guided by national interest, is guided by personal interests. India’s reaction to the ATT has been negative and the Indian statements on the ATT will be scrutinised. Anil Unnithan, Palakkad, Kerala All correspondence may be addressed to: Editor, Geopolitics, D-11, Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi-110013. Or mail to: geopolitics@newsline.in
June 2013
EVIL EYE ON Panorama
AMERICAN ARMS IN AFGHANISTAN
Fighting wars is expensive, but so is winding them down. As the US is on verge of a withdrawal from Afghanistan as part of the 2014 drawdown plan, the country is finding it tough to ship back the battlefield logistics along with them. The estimated transportation cost to ship most of its weapons, vehicles and other equipment home after a decade in Afghanistan stands at a staggering $6 billion (`32,000
crore approx.). The hardware includes hundreds of Humvees, Mine-Resistant Ambush-protected (MRAPs) Vehicles, to lakhs of Antitank missiles and machine guns that the US would leave behind after the pullout. The military hardware the US would leave behind is enough to equip a sizeable army. The US will need 28,000 vehicles and 20,000 shipments to lug everything back
which does not make a good economic sense. However, the agreement signed by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan with the NATO-ISAF (International Security Assistance force) forces in June 2012 to permit military hardware being transported out of Afghanistan as part of the draw-down is still viable and can make a meaningful contribution to conflict resolution.
Hardware that will be left Behind 30,000 Humvees
M2 And M134 Machine guns
and MRAPs
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June 2013
2014 Drawdown plan
Worth of Battlefield logistics
By the end of 2014, the numbers of US troops would go down to
6,000 to 8,000 U.S forces. The total number of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan would include US forces and a smaller number of NATO forces from other countries in non-combat training roles.
Comparison between Iraq and Afghanistan withdrawal
Total value of U.S. equipment
Above $25 billion
(1,34,000 crore approx.) amassed during more than 11 years of war in Afghanistan.
Major problems:
It’s a landlocked country, the Taliban remain strong in some border areas, and Pakistan has closed some of the most logical exit routes for the US military traffic.
INDIA’s WORRY
The political problems and Taliban attacks close the Pakistan land routes and the cost of getting the equipment out through an alternate route will be around $6 billion (`32,000 crore approx.). If the southern land routes through Pakistan remain open, the cost of the equipment retrograde would be about $4 billion (`21,000 crore approx.). Americans are determining the reliability of the Pakistan land routes to ships waiting at the port of Karachi that seems impossible. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has worked out procedures for getting allied convoys past checkpoints and through customs. However, it remained to be seen whether the agreements would stick.The withdrawal from Afghanistan is far more problematic than the pullout from Iraq. In Iraq, US had Kuwait on the border to serve as a staging area and shipment point and in Afghanistan, the degree of difficulty is significantly greater.
Pakistan based terror groups will be eyeing to lay down their hands on these leftover arms that might be used by them against India. Pakistan too is playing a waiting game to get hold of these weapons and armoured carriers. Indian officials have already approached the US State Department about the concerns but it is unlikely that the US will hand over such sensitive equipment to third country.
JAVELIN ANTI-TANK MISSILE
Compiled by: Naveed Anjum designed by: anshul sharma www.geopolitics.in
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June 2013
LAND BORDER
15,106 KMS
SECURING INDIA’S BO To ensure security for citizens and vital national installations, a nation must not only set up a border defence apparatus to stop aggressive encroachers from entering its territory, but must also upgrade set mechanisms with time and in-line with shifting tactics of the hostile, reports Rijul Singh Uppal www.geopolitics.in
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I
ndia has a land border of 15,106.7 kms and a coastline of 7,516.6 kms. The proper management of the border—vital for national security —brings up challenges that require coordination and concerted action by administrative, diplomatic, security, intelligence and legal agencies of the nation in order to secure the frontiers. India shares its land border with Pakistan, China, Ban-
June 2013
COASTLINE
7516 KMS
PERSPECTIVE
tates in its efforts to keep the borders safe and secure. Keeping this growing importance in mind and with the sword hanging on its head, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) created the Department of Border Management in 2004 that exclusively focuses on issues relating to management of land and coastal borders, strengthening border policing and the creation of infrastructure such as roads, fences and floodlights along the borders.
bsf
Bangladesh
RDER gladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan. Former Director, Intelligence Bureau, India, Ajit Doval says he is not satisfied with the current state of border management and that augmenting our intelligence penetration, technological upgradation and rationalisation of force deployment are some of the urgent needs that must be focussed on. There is no doubt that security complications can arise if India hesi-
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The Indian side of the Indo-Bangladesh border passes through the states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. This stretch consists of plains, river belts, hills and jungles and most of it is heavily populated and cultivated right up to the border. This highly porous border is a haven for illegal immigration from the Bangladesh side. Checking this problem has been a major challenge for the security forces. To keep a tab on this infiltration and other anti-national activities, the Government of India (GoI) sanctioned the construction of border roads and fencing of a total area of 3,359.59 kms; of which 2,762.11 kms has already been fenced. The remaining is yet to be fenced as the region faces problems with civilian population right up to the border and pending land acquisition cases. In addition, India has completed 3,583.53 kms of the sanctioned length of 4,407.11 kms border patrol roads. The Government has also undertaken the task of floodlighting 2,840 kms along the IndoBangladesh border and the task is currently in progress. India has 802 Border Out Posts (BOPs) along the Indo-Bangladesh border for effective domination and the GoI has approved construction of 383 additional BOPs to provide infrastructure for accommodation, logistic support and combat functions. Indian forces posted at the Bangladesh border not only have to keep a check against illegal immigration and infiltra-
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tion but also smuggling, illegal cattle trade and the inflow of arms and fake currency.
Former Director General, Border Security Force (BSF), Prakash Singh feels that although border security and management is quite good in the Western sector, it is rather messy in the Eastern sector. He says, “On Bangladesh border, the BSF has been given non-lethal weapons in certain sectors. This, the men don’t like. It is contrary to all that they have been trained in.” He remarks, “We should be sensitive to Bangladesh, but we do not have to appease them. We have to be firm in stopping illegal immigration from Bangladesh.”
Despite the best efforts of the Indian and Bangladeshi border forces, anti-India groups have been known to use Bangladesh as a staging ground against India.
Pakistan
India’s 3,323 kms land border with Pakistan, running through the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat traverses a variety of terrains and distinct geographical features raging from major urban areas to inhospitable deserts. These, at times, hinder the efforts of the security forces that attempt to keep this volatile border safe. The border is marked by heavy attempts of terrorists’ infiltra-
June 2013
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tion and smuggling of arms, ammunition and contraband with the Line of Control (LoC) being the most active. Intelligence reports indicate that somewhere near 1000-1500 terrorists are waiting on the other side of the LoC in order to sneak into Indian territory. Forces on the volatile LoC are thus on extreme vigil, often facing harsh conditions as they guard the border. GoI has already completed border fencing and floodlighting along the entire Indo-Pakistan border except some portions mainly in the Gujarat sector. India has 609 BOPs on the Pakistan border and in order to reduce the interBOP distance for effective border management, the GoI has approved construction of 126 more BOPs at the border and 70 BOPs under the composite scheme for the Gujarat sector of the Indo-Pak border. Since Independence, the border has witnessed numerous conflicts and wars between the two nations and is one of the most complex and hostile in the world. A strong border management policy is
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thus an immediate concern for the Indian Government.
China
The primary reason for the lack of adequate security and patrolling by Indian forces on the China border can be attributed to the poor road connectivity that hampers the operational capability of the force deployed along the Indo-China border. In order to redress the situation, GoI decided to construct 804 kms roads in the border areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. These roads will be constructed by the MHA for operational use and patrolling by the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). But then, it is being widely felt that India’s border with China requires a more innovative and different patrolling/managing approach than India’s other borders as it is not terrorist infiltration or smuggling that is the main concern here but the constant habit of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to intrude
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itbp
GUARDING INDIAN BORDERS: (Left) ITBP jawans patrolling the hills and guarding our borders facing harsh and extreme weather conditions and (right) BSF patrol party keeping a close eye on any movement in the jungle or forested area of the border
into Indian territory as was seen in April, 2013 when the PLA intruded 19 kms into Indian territory and set up camps and left only after heated negotiations that lasted about three weeks. There is therefore a fiery debate in New Delhi on whether the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, which guards the Sino-Indian border, should be put under the operational control of the Indian Army as certain sections of the establishment feel that the China border would be manned more effectively by the Army. The April intrusion has only added fuel to the fire and helped the Army’s case, ultimately starting a turf war between the MHA and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Be that as it may, there is no denying the need for the GoI to improve infrastructure at the Chinese border, build a network of roads and BOPs, and intensify border patrols. All this can act as a deterrent against future Chinese expeditions.
Nepal
India shares a 1751 kms long open and
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Ambassador Satish Chandra
bsf
Former Indian Ambessador and former Deputy National Security Advisor.
Ajit Doval
Former Director, Intelligence Bureau
“We should learn from Kargil experience, where the only posts where intrusion did not take place were those which were manned by the BSF. On Chinese border if the Army feels security up gradation is necessary, it should take over the responsibilities directly and spare ITBP for internal security, relieving Army units from internal security duties. If in view of the ITBP’s intimate knowledge of Indo-Tibetan border, their high altitude fitness and familiarisation with the terrain, they are considered to be useful we should aim at strengthening them by providing better logistics, upgrading equipments and improving communication systems rather than changing the time tested command and control system.�
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porous border with Nepal as part of its foreign policy dealings and stance towards that nation. Thus, this border has increasingly become a hotspot for antinational elements to operate from and enter Indian soil. Smuggling of goods, fake currency notes and arms is a major issue concerning the effective management of this border. The last decade has seen an increase in cross-border activity from the Nepalese side as terror groups based in Pakistan started using Nepal as a hub to infiltrate into India. Today, the major threat apparent from the Nepalese border is the fact that arms supply to Maoist groups in India is often routed through Nepal as these groups find sympathisers on that side of the border. In view of these circumstances and to improve the security situation on the border, GoI deployed 25 battalions of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) as the Border Guarding Force (BGF) at 450 BOPs on the border. In order to meet operational requirements of the BGF, GoI approved a plan for con-
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If developments in our border areas over the recent years are taken into account, one has to say that the management of borders as being undertaken at present are highly dissatisfactory. The issue had been gone into by the GoM and they had submitted a report inter alia which also addressed the management of our borders in early 2001. The Cabinet Committee on security (CCS) had approved all their recommendations pertaining to the management of our borders in May 2001. Regrettably, these recommendations are yet to be implemented and as a result the infrastructure on our side of the border is often even worse than that of our neighbours like Nepal. In these circumstances, effective control of our borders still eludes us and leaves them open to exploitation by inimical as well as criminal elements. Government needs to pull up its socks and work on a war footing to develop a world class infrastructure along our borders with 24/7 electricity and water, good road, rail and air links, proper checkpoints and warehouses as well as of course effective policing. All these measures are critical in order to enable us to manage our borders effectively which is essential for national security. Under normal circumstances management of borders should be under MHA with paramilitary outfits like BSF, ITBP etc reporting to it rather than the MoD and the Army as the skills required to manage borders are a specialist task quite different from those that the Army undertakes. However, where borders are disputed as vis-a-vis China or are live as along the LOC then it would be more effective if the ITBP and BSF work under the operational control of the Army as there is always the possibility of clashes and the Army must at all times be in the loop on a real time basis.
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CLAUDE ARPI
The Chinese strategy
T
he recent incursion in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) in Ladakh by the People’s Liberation Army was not something new. In fact, experts have pointed out that since 1986, China has been systematically encroaching and then consolidating its hold over land in Ladakh. A rough estimate says that China has encroached —in this manner—as much as 20,000 sq. kms of Ladakh’s area on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control(LAC). This encroached land is in addition to 38,000 sq. kms of Aksai Chin, a part of Ladakh, that India lost to China in 1962. According to Ambassador P Stobdan, who specialises on the Geopolitics of the Himalayan region and hails from Ladakh, most of the encroached lands happen to be prominent gazing spots, the idea being to deny the nomads in the interiors of Ladakh, food and water for their herds, thus pushing them back. “Until the mid1980s, the boundary lay at Kegu Naro—a day-long march from Dumchele, where India had maintained a forward post till 1962. In the absence of Indian activities, Chinese traders arrived in Dumchele in the early 1980s and China gradually constructed permanent roads, buildings and military posts here. The prominent grazing spots lost to China include Nagtsang (1984), Nakung (1991) and Lungma-Serding (1992). The last bit of Skakjung was taken in December 2008. The PLA has also moved armoured troops into Charding
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Nalla since 2009,” Stobdan wrote recently in the Indian Express newspaper. Senior Indian officials, particularly those belonging to the Ministry of External Affairs deny Stobdan’s contentions, but officially, and this many find to be really surprising, there has been no denial by the Government of India to that effect. Besides, the government has scrupulously dis allowed the Indian media to visit the region to seek the truth. In any case, as London’s Daily Mail reported the other day by interviewing many Ladakhis, “TV channels from across the border (Tibet) routinely air programmes showing Chinese people superior to the less privileged and inferior Ladakhis—a tactic one sarpanch claimed was being done to brainwash youngsters to abandon their homes and join China’s military. The Chinese army, meanwhile, is always a threat for local landowners —particularly seniors— whose concerns have not been properly addressed by the Indian government”. The gist of this report was that from destroying army tents to demonising India and its achievements and even brainwashing youngsters with prejudiced TV programmes, locals are being forced to confront the spectre of India’s northern neighbour with scant help from their own government. “In December 2011, the destruction of 15-20 army bunkers and tents and demolition of 5-6 sq ft image of Bharat Mata haven’t been addressed,”
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said Ringzin Tangey, sarpanch of Demchuk, a district in Ladakh to the British paper. In fact, last year, the Chinese soldiers had forced the Ladakh officials to suspend work on the irrigation scheme at Kuyul-Thuksey area of Nyoma block in 2012. Similarly, in 2010, the Chinese army forced the state government to suspend work on local bus-stop sheds, which were being constructed near the Sino-Indian border in the Demchok area. The Chinese policy has been very clear—it will consolidate and develop infrastructure in parts of the so-called disputed territory under its control but deny the same to India in Indian-controlled territories. It may be noted in this context in 2010, a high-level Indian Army report submitted to the Government of India had said that more than grabbing the Indian territory, the Chinese strategy was “to send a message and to make political gains”. This Army report had said, “While seeking and expecting a benign Sino-Indian cooperative and collaborative Asian geopolitical order, it would be imprudent to ignore China’s politico-military capabilities, its Asian and global ambitions and its track record, mindset and strategic culture. There is no alternative other than to intimately monitor the PLA’s military capabilities and striving to institute appropriate deterrent military responses, operational concepts, operational plans and force postures.’’ In fact, this report had clearly said that Chinese troops were more than ever before crossing into Indian territory. “The Chinese deny the charges and whenever solid evidence is presented, they attribute it to “the inexperience of the post commanders’’. Be that as it may, it is said that the latest Chinese intrusion into Ladakh exposed the vulnerability of the strategic Nubra region, possibly impacting supply lines and even India’s hold over Siachen. “It is quite possible that China is eyeing the waters of the Shyok and Chang Chenmo rivers, to divert them to the arid Aksai Chin and its Ali region”, says Stobdan. The Indian Army is really worried that whereas the Chinese have relentlessly carried out their war-waging capabilities across the LAC, the civilian leadership goes on fumbling about the issues of infrastructure building and winning over the confidence of the local populace on our side of the LAC. Geopolitics Bureau
June 2013
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ssb
WOMEN ON GUARD: SSB patrolling at India border. Women have now started to become an integral part of our forces and take active part in border defence and management
struction of strategic roads totalling 1,377 kms along the Indo-Nepal border.
Bhutan
With Bhutan, India has a 699 kms long open border guarded by 13 battalions of the SSB. GoI had sanctioned a total of 132 BOPs out of which 131 have already been established. The India-Bhutan Group on border management is in place to assess threat perceptions from groups such as United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) attempting to take advantage of this open border. GoI has sanctioned a 313 kms road along the border for enhanced patrolling by the BGF. One should note, that various Northeast Insurgent Groups can take advantage of this border. In the past, ULFA has at various intervals taken advantage of the unfenced border and operated from within Bhutanese territory.
Myanmar
India and Myanmar share a 1,643 kms long unfenced border along the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur. The border is guarded closely by the Assam Rifles that has 46 battalions posted there, out of which 15
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complete the role of a BGF and 31 are involved in counter-insurgency operations. The force is deployed on all routes of ingress/egress and check for infiltration, smuggling of arms, ammunition, drugs and fake Indian currency notes etc. Since both nations permit a Free Movement Regime up to 16 kms across the border, the border is extremely porous. The border, running across hilly inhospitable terrain, grossly lacks infrastructure and provides an easy cover to the activities of various Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs). It is thus heavily exploited by the IIGs. In order to check this security problem, GoI initiated action to fence a 10 kms long area, of which four kms has been completed. Keeping in mind the need for a comprehensive approach towards border management. The Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs has implemented a Border Area Development Programme (BADP) (with the aim of meeting the needs of the people residing in remote areas near the international border and in order to saturate the border areas with critical infrastructure). Good border management is mandated due to India’s security concerns and it is thus necessary
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to install systems addressing these concerns. Just merely installing fences and floodlights is not enough. GoI must at all times keep a tab on the changing tactics of those who are hostile to the best interests of India and in-line with these, must also update the security apparatus on our side of the border. Another major aspect of border management would be to facilitate international trade. Existing infrastructure available to facilitate trade in generally regarded inadequate, lacking support facilities such as warehouses etc. This lack of facilities to smoothen trade has been recognised by all agencies concerned. This led to the set-up of Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at major entry points on our land borders. These ICPs house all regulatory bodies under one roof and provide all facilities to discharge functions of enabling smooth cross-border movement of Individuals, vehicles and goods under an integrated complex. GoI has approved the setting up of 13 ICPs on the Indo-Pakistan, IndoNepal, Indo-Bangladesh and the IndoMyanmar borders. Based on MHA’s Annual Report 2012-13
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new design
Agilent Technologies latest state of art equipment for the Indian Defence Forces
D E F E N C E
INTERVIEW
Northrop Grumman talks about its latest unmanned vehicle programme
GEOPOLITICS
B U S I N E S S
Artillery modernisation moves ahead
ATLAS TO PARTNER INDIAN NAVY
The Indian Army is in advanced stages to finalise atleast four procurement programmes as part of its long-awaited artillery modernisation plan. A report.
hemant rawat
THE LEGEND: The Bofors was the last gun to be bought by Indian Armed Forces. The force now needs an urgent upgrade
D
eprived of even a single new gun for the last 30 years, the ` 30,000 crore Indian artillery modernisation programme is gathering steam as a number of the Army’s projects in this regard would be meeting important significant milestones this year. The Army
is in advanced stages in at least four procurement programmes that would see both indigenous and foreign firms’ participation and some new ones to upgrade its fire power. The first major programme is for the procurement of 400 155mm 52 calibre towed artillery guns for which two conContinued on Page 38
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tlas Elektronik India will have industrial partnerships with the Indian private sector, will focus on development of a contact point/footprint, have technological and industrial partnerships with PSUs, service customer requirements, focus on consulting and joint design projects and focus on outsourcing and integration of India into global supply chains. Presently, Atlas Elektronik has major transfer of technology projects in India that include Sonar Systems, Command Systems and Torpedoes. Atlas Elektronik is involved in submarine systems and naval weaponry systems, naval communications, surface combatant systems, hydro-graphic systems, mine warfare systems and maritime security systems. In India, Atlas has a widespread presence as it is involved in projects within the Indian Navy. Its projects include Active Towed Array Torpedo Defence Systems, Shallow Water ASW project, Towed Array Sonar Upgrade for Kilo Class submarines of the Navy and upgrade of combat systems and scanners and upgrade of SUT Torpedoes for the Navy’s Shishumar Class submarines. The technology expertise areas of Atlas include Anti-Torpedo Torpedo, battery technology for torpedoes, homing head torpedoes and propulsion motor for torpedoes; sonars for submarines, Towed Array sonars and hull mounted sonars; Combat Management Systems of submarines and surface ships, and mine counter measures.
June 2013
India eyes Intelligence System Platforms
I
n recent years, the Indian Air Force (IAF), as part of its ‘transformation’, has been progressively modifying its fleet of special mission aircraft beside the usual fighter and transport aircraft. After purchasing mid-air refuellers and airborne early warning aircraft, the IAF is now quite keen to enhance its Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities by acquiring more specialised aircraft in such roles. In April, the Defence Acquisition Council approved the IAF’s proposal to procure nine ‘special mission’ aircraft for `1100 crore. As a result, the service is now getting ready to issue request for proposals (RFP) to those vendors who may have responded to the Request For Information (RFI), issued by the IAF last year. The IAF’s RFI for the nine aircraft was issued in 2012, specifying that two of the nine aircraft should be able to perform the Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) role and the remaining seven aircraft, ac-
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cording to the RFI should be able to perform multi-mission role which includes ‘supporting aerial survey, target towing, Communications Jamming (COMJAM) and flaring’. Now what the IAF is looking for has emerged as a classic combination over the last two decades. The special mission aircraft sought by the IAF are essentially militarised business jets that give a very good mix of deployability and endurance. The RFI issued last year made it clear that IAF would need aircraft powered by twin turbofan engines with low noise and vibration levels, with a hot-and-high capability in all roles and suitable for deployments at air bases up to 3,300 metres (10,000 ft.) above the sea level. According to RFI, the certification had to be done by the airframe supplier. Reportedly, the IAF is looking for a business jet platform which has a cruise speed of Mach 0.750.80 and a minimum range capability of 4500 km.
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Brazil’s Embraer and Israel’s IAI are probably racing ahead of other aircraft manufacturers to secure the Indian Air Force’s bid to supply nine SIGINT aircraft specially for electronic warfare, writes Saurav Jha
SEARCHING AHEAD: IAI AISIS mission jet are used to perform SIGINT tasks and have been preferred by the Indian Air Force for special mission tasks
While all the nine aircraft are to be based on a single platform, the requirement for only two of them which need to be specialised for SIGINT probably follows from the fact that the IAF already operates two Learjet 29A and three Gulfstream III SRA platforms. The seven COMJAM units will fill the gap that has been created due to the retirement of Canberras and Avros. The RFI, however, does suggest that the IAF would want the best platforms that are available when it says ‘[SIGINT] system must be a futuristic and state-ofthe-art, comprising cutting edge technologies, algorithms and software’. Interestingly, the IAF also seems to be looking to move to systems that has cyber and EW techniques capabilities. According to the
June 2013
g DEFBIZ
airborne isr services Real-time SATCOM Uplink & Downlink EO/IR FMV,C2 Data & Voice
LOS comms with other Airborne Platforms
Ground Station link to IP (via ISDN and Broadbank)
Sensor Capture EO/IR FMV, RADAR
Critical Infrastructure
LOS Users Operational & Tactical
Remote Locations Command & Control
Remote Viewing Terminals Hand-held Devices
Gold/Silver/Bronze HQs, Ops Rooms
INFOgraphic:ajay negi
Existing C2 Architecture
People
Vehicles
RFI, apart from the usual profiles, ‘Electronic Countermmeasure (ECM) systems on board of COMJAM should be able to deceive adversaries by transmitting false information and degrading enemy’s communication network’. This kind of capability is similar to what the United States is looking at for its Next Generation Jammer (NGJ), wherein mutating algorithms are sought to be ‘fired’ through the aperture of enemy radar antennae to take over as ‘system administrator’ or at least ‘infect’ the enemy’s network. On the other hand, the IAF wants the Electronic Support Measures (ESMs) used by the SIGINT aircraft to have the ability ‘ to intercept, identify, fingerprint and locate the source of electromagnetic emissions from radars, ECMs, Identification Friend or Foe/Successor interrogators (1030 mhz), Transponders (1090 mhz), Tactical Air Navigation/Distance Measuring Equipment interrogators signals (1025-1150 mhz) and communica-
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tion signals.’ to 10 passengers represents an enlargement of mission requirements compared Making these acquisitions a full to what was laid out in a previous RFP isblown Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) is the fact that seven sued in 2009. In 2009, Embraer and Israel of the aircraft for the IAF ‘aerial survey’ Aerospace Industries (IAI) were shortlisted, with both companies offering role will have to be outfitted with ELTA’s EL/I-3001 Airborne In‘micro-processor based hightegrated Signal Intelligence performance aerial survey The RFI, however, System (AISIS) mission camera systems with does suggest that the platforms. At that time camera magazines, gyIAF would want the best ro-stabilised mounts, Ministry of Defence platforms that are availcockpit displays and (MoD) cancelled the automatic GPS-conRFP since vendors able when it says ‘[SIGINT] trolled photo flight escalated the price, system must be a futursystems. ‘ based on an apparent istic and state-of-the-art, For COMJAM lack of clarity in India’s comprising of cutting edge missions, the IAF rethen offset policy. technologies, algorithms quires its aircraft to have Again, at this time, and software’. enough space that can acboth Embraer and IAI commodate up to five operare likely to bid and hopeators and other related equipfully will offer the ELTA’s AISIS ment required by the mission along which has clearly found favour with with the overall ability to carry up to 10 the IAF before. In the words of its manufacturer ‘AISIS’ is an aircraft-mounted passengers. This requirement to carry up
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June 2013
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HEMANT RAWAT
ALREADY IN USE: Embraer-145 AEW&C aircraft of the Indian Air force which is being used for the special mission purpose
suite designed to perform long-range, high-endurance missions thus providing tactical and strategic intelligence. The system comprises ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) and COMINT (Communications Intelligence) sensors to search, intercept, measure, locate, analyse, classify and monitor communication and radar transmissions. The Electronic Order of Battle (OEB) picture generated by the EL/ I-3001 suite is transmitted in real-time to ground stations for its exploitation via secure line-of-sight data-links, satellite communications and/or HF/VHF/UHF radio sets. The company also claims that the system has been optimised effectively to deal with low probability of intercept transmission sources and is in use with the Israeli defence forces. The last time Embraer offered was a derivative of the EMB-145 with the pull of commonality of platform between these proposed special mission aircraft and the DRDO developed AEW&C currently in the process of being inducted by the IAF. On the other hand, IAI had collaborated with the Gulfstream G200 which it manufactures under licence in Israel. This time
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IAI may offer the new super mid-size Gulfstream G280. Indeed, the G280 based on EW platforms are being touted by IAI as an affordable way of procuring special mission aircraft. Affordability will certainly be a key factor in determining the success of this tender, given that it has already been turned down by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on these grounds. More than the mission systems, the basic cost of the airframe is important for the MoD. Thus vendors who have cobbled up such offerings before with decent maintenance support will have a good chance of winning this tender. Naturally, something like a Gulfstream G550 based offering is likely to be ruled out because that would inflate costs which will not be preferred by MoD. On the other hand, G280 sized jets are likely to be in the sweet spot for this tender. Apart from Embraer and IAI, Saab too, is likely to bid for the tender. From the US, the offerings may come up from Hawker Beechcraft in collaboration with Raytheon, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin or Boeing who
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will provide the mission package. L-3 Communications Mission Integration Division (MID) in Greenville, Texas has achieved great success in the special mission space programme. Hawker Beechcraft’s Hawker 800 is already serving in a similar role with the South Korean Air Force with eight such aircraft delivered in 2000. Bombardier or Cessna can also tie up for this purpose. Incidentally, ARC’s first SIGINT platform, which was a Boeing 707 SIGINT was originally modified for the role by the then-US contractor ESystems which is now a part of Raytheon. But, according to reliable sources, participation from US manufacturers may also depend on how much the Indians are willing to pay during the final analysis. For India, familiarity with a manufacturer and technology transfer will be an important consideration for this tender. In that perspective Embraer and IAI are probably ahead. In any case, successful completion of this tender within a decent timeframe will be a great achievement for India as its neighbours are resorting from both fronts.
June 2013
DEF BIZ SAAB to invest in Pipavav
boeing
saab
Saab has signed a MoU for strategic investment in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering and a Technical Partnership Agreement (TPA). These underline Saab’s strategy to increase its presence in an important and large market and offer business possibilities for several parts of the organisation. The MoU covers an investment by Saab of approximately `210 crore through a suitable structure. Pipavav fits well into Saab’s product portfolio as it is one of the strongest private players in India’s naval domain and has ambitions in other defence areas, too. The TPA is a continuation of an ongoing co-operation between the two parties and covers details about the format for further tie-ups and relevant projects. The two companies earlier jointly formed the Combat System Engineering Group (CSEG) in March 2012, which analyses naval combat system design and architecture. The companies are also exploring next generation combat management systems for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.
MILLION HOURS Landmark for C-130Js C-130J Super Hercules operators recently surpassed a landmark, the one million flight hour milestone, logging this time through numerous combat, special operations and humanitarian missions. Hours were tracked beginning with the C130J’s first flight on April 5, 1996, through the end of April 2013. The C-130J is the standard by which all other airlift aircraft
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are measured in terms of availability, flexibility and reliability. C-130Js are currently deployed in combat theatres and operate at a very high tempo—efficiently and reliably. In non-combat—but equally harsh environments—the C-130Js are often the first to support humanitarian missions such as search and rescue, aerial fire-fighting in the US and delivering
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relief supplies after earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons and tsunamis around the world. Countries with C-130Js contributing to these flight hours include (in order of delivery) the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Canada, India, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Tunisia and Israel (now in flight test).
June 2013
DEF BIZ BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin recently completed a series of successful guided flight tests for 155mm Long Range Land Attack Projectiles (LRLAP) as part of the on-going qualification test programme. The three tests evaluated the LRLAP’s long-range (63 nautical miles) flight performance and accuracy with a pre-conditioned tactical rocket motor in hot, ambient and cold temperatures. All test requirements were met and all range, accuracy, and lethality objectives were successfully demonstrated. The 155-mm LRLAP is effective against a variety of targets in multiple mission areas and was designed to provide expeditionary forces with an affordable, ship-launched alternative to the currently used missiles. The LRLAP is guided by a GPS and Inertial Measurement Unit, allowing for high levels of accuracy at ranges beyond 63 nautical miles. This capability reduces costs by requiring fewer rounds to achieve desired effects on targets and is effective where collateral damage is an issue.
lockheed
BAE LRLAP UPDATE
Lockheed announces Innovation Winners Graduate School of Business that joined the DST-Lockheed Martin IIGP as a new partner in 2013. Underlining the programme commitment to enhance the growth and development of India’s entrepreneurial economy, the DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Programme organised PanIndia Road-shows conducted in 20 cities including Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Goa, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Vadodara, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Cochin, Guwahati, Ludhiana, Ranchi, Patna, and Indore with an aim to scout the best innovations from the country.
The DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Programme concluded another successful year by announcing 30 winners for the year 2013. The programme received almost 1000 applications from sectors as diverse as clean energy, agriculture, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, robotics, and others. Fifty technologies were down-selected in the initial phase. These innovators were given week-long advanced training in principles of product commercialisation, readiness for market, business models, IP rights, competitive positioning, and mechanisms for revenue by experienced faculty members from the Stanford
navy pro
INDIAN NAVY INDUCTS P-8I Indian Naval Aviation received a major fillip with the arrival of the first of eight Boeing P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) and Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) aircraft at Naval Air Station Rajali, Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu. The P-8I aircraft, based on the Boeing 737-800(NG) airframe, is the Indian Naval variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing has developed for the US Navy. The aircraft is equipped with both foreign as
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well as indigenous sensors for Maritime Reconnaissance, Anti-Submarine Operations and Electronic Intelligence Missions. The aircraft is also fully integrated with highly potent Anti-Surface and AntiSubmarine weapons. These LRMR/ASW aircraft have been procured under the contract signed in 2009. The IN is in process of acquiring an additional four P-8I aircraft under the option clause. The induction of the P-8I aircraft into the Indian Navy greatly enhances India’s maritime surveillance capability in the Indian Ocean region.
June 2013
DEF BIZ F-35B completes first vertical takeoff Fuel cell submarine ‘U36’ for German Navy One of the most modern non-nuclear submarines in the world was named ‘U36’, and marks an important milestone in the ongoing ship-building programme for the German Navy. U36 is the second boat of the second batch of HDW Class 212A submarines destined for operation in the German Navy. They are equipped with the HDW fuel cell air-independent propulsion system which has already given excellent results in operations with the boats of the first batch. HDW Class 214 combines extraordi-
nary combat effectiveness with low cost of ownership making it the best value for money submarine in its class. Its unrivalled features have turned the HDW Class 214 into an international success: in total, 21 vessels have been contracted by the South Korean, Greek, Portuguese and Turkish navies, so far. HDW Class 214 is available for export to customers looking to equip their navies with the most advanced and capable non-nuclear submarine technology existing on the world market.
A Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35B Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) Lightning II test aircraft recently completed the first-ever Vertical Take-Off (VTO). VTOs are one of the many capabilities required for fielding an F-35B aircraft. While not a combat capability, VTOs are required for repositioning of the STOVL in environments where a jet cannot perform a short take-off. In these cases, the jet, with a limited amount of fuel, would execute a VTO to travel a short distance.
MiG 29K Squadron Commissioned
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Indian Navy. In the tradition of naming its fighter squadrons in the 300 series, the MiG-29K squadron, is christened INAS 303 and is
being popularly referred to as the ‘Black Panthers’. The number 303 has been derived from the revolutionary .303 rifle cartridge.
iaf
Defence Minister A K Antony recently commissioned the Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 303, the first MiG 29K squadron of the Indian Navy at INS Hansa in Goa. The Minister said he was confident that the squadron would make a significant contribution in enhancing peace and stability in its area of operations. The Squadron will very soon operate from INS Vikramaditya. The MiG-29K is a true swing role aircraft which carries enough punch to undertake Air Dominance and Power Projection missions simultaneously, bestowing the Commander at sea, great flexibility. It takes Indian naval aviation from a defensive stature to one of dominance. The MiG 29K aircraft is a state of the art, all weather, carrier based, air dominance fighter specially built for the
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June 2013
DEF BIZ F-35A completes another test The latest in the series of Lockheed Martin F-35A high Angle Of Attack (AOA) testing was recently completed. It accomplished high AOA beyond both the positive and negative maximum command limits, including intentionally putting the aircraft out of control in several configurations. This included initially flying in the stealth clean-wing configuration. It was followed by testing with external air-toair pylons and missiles and then with open weapon bay doors.
IMDEX ASIA 2013 The inaugural International Naval Engineering Conference was held with the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference Asia 2013 (INEC @ IMDEX Asia 2013) at Changi Exhibition Centre from May 14-16, 2013. This year’s conference, themed “Transforming Naval Capability—Riding the Next Technology Wave”, focussed on the importance of technology as a force multiplier in transforming naval capabilities to meet future challenges. Some 250 attendees from more than 20 countries came together to discuss topics on naval technology that are of interest to defence and maritime security, such as naval ship design, naval propulsion and automation, unmanned naval technology, underwater warfare technology, and surface warfare technology. Warships from nine countries around the world, including the latest
patrol vessels, frigates, corvettes and destroyers, sailed into Singapore for the Warships Display at IMDEX Asia 2013. The US Navy’s first ever littoral combat ship, USS Freedom, in its maiden overseas deployment, was among the 15 warships from Australia, France, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand at the Changi Naval Base. Themed “Safe and Secure Seas— Strengthening Cooperation in Maritime Security”, this year’s conference saw seven speakers and some 350 participants, including navy and air force chiefs, coast guard directors-general and leading maritime academics. They discussed the importance of ensuring the safety, security and success of the international maritime system, and the need to embrace a cooperative security approach to create critical capabilities to address a widening array of threats.
Airbus C295
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June 2013
DEF BIZ Cobham buys Axell Wireless
HAL’s MCW shop inaugurated Lauding HAL’s efforts, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Defence, inaugurated the state-of-the-art Manned Chamber Welding (MCW) shop, the only of its kind in the country and second in the world at HAL’s Koraput facilities. The Indian equipment has been developed indigenously by HAL with the help of other vendors. The Indian MCW system at HAL is unique as it offers both robotic and human (manual) welding in an argon atmosphere while the Russian welding is carried out only manually. In the robotic system, HAL does welding of 17 major modules of the Sukhoi engine. The welding is of high quality and free of defects. The entire outer cas-
ing module of the engine is welded inside this chamber. The welder working inside has all life support and health monitoring features.
update Airbus Military transported around eight tonnes of humanitarian aid from the Peruvian National Civil Defence Institute to various areas in the country in the context of the cold weather campaign that is undertaken every year in Peru. The new generation C295 is the ideal aircraft for military and civil missions, such as those involving humanitarian aid, maritime patrols and environmental monitoring,
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among others. Thanks to its robustness and reliability, as well as the simplicity of handling its systems, this tactical medium-size aircraft provides the wide-ranging versatility and flexibility required for transporting personnel, troops and palletised or voluminous loads, the evacuation of the wounded, logistical and communications activities or the certified capacity to launch loads in flight.
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Cobham announced that it has acquired the entire share capital of Axell Wireless Limited for a total consideration of up to £85 millionon a cash and debt-free basis. Axell is a leading global provider of Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) and wireless solutions for the public safety and cellular markets, with a specific focus on communication systems for buildings and critical infrastructure applications. It has supplied coverage solutions for some high profile global infrastructure projects including the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, the Beijing and Singapore metros, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Brisbane Airport tunnel and the Shard in London.
ATK and Elbit GATR up for evaluation ATK and Elbit Systems Ltd. announced they received a contract award through the Defence Acquisition Challenge (DAC) Programme to provide a lowcost, light-weight, precision-guided missile for the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) evaluation. This missile incorporates lock-on before and after launch and employs a penetrating warhead with sufficient kinetic energy to defeat hardened targets. The project directly supports a USSOCOM requirement that the companies are ready to meet with their Guided Advanced Tactical Rocket (GATR) and Precision Guided Rocket Launcher (PGRL).
June 2013
DEF BIZ Cassidian’s new TPH900 Tetrapol radio Cassidian introduced a new version of its professional radio system solution for small to medium-sized networks, called Claricor. Made for up to 5,000 users, it offers a costeffective set-up for providing both outdoor and indoor coverage across sites such as airports, factories or power plants but also for larger areas such as cities. If needed, a Claricor network can be interconnected with multiple switches to cover a nationwide area. The new Claricor 3 version includes high-speed data (TEDS) and provides more than enough bandwidth for data in Smart Grid or SCADA applications. It is a smart choice for organisations looking for secure communications on a scale that can match their evolving needs. It includes advanced functions like data services, applications and dispatcher functionalities.
ATR 72-600 update
Alenia Aermacchi signed an agreement with Savunma Sanayii Müstesarligi (SSM), the Turkish UnderSecretariat for Defence Industries, to deliver two ATR 72–600 TMUA (Turkish Maritime Utility Aircraft) and six ATR 72–600 TMPA (Turkish Maritime Patrol Aircraft) to the Turkish Navy. The agreement is an amendment to a previous deal between Alenia and the Turkish government for the delivery of 10 ATR 72–500ASW to the Turkish Navy. The six ATR 72–600TMPA are designed as multirole assets to satisfy the Turkish Navy maritime patrol requirement. The AMASCOS (Airborne Maritime Situation & Control System) mission system relies on multiple sensors to detect, identify and track threats, maintain real-time tactical situation awareness, manage NATO and national tactical data links and deploy onboard weapon systems.
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CN295 on ASEAN tour Airbus Military and PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) promoted a CN295 military transport aircraft of the Indonesian Ministry of Defence in the ASEAN region. The aircraft made a tour of ASEAN nations to promote its capabilities and efficiency. The aircraft is a medium-sized multirole airlifter for both civil and military use. The aircraft made visits to Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia. The tour showcased the benefits of the aircraft which is suited for a wide range of humanitarian and defence tasks that ASEAN governments need
to cover. These missions include military transport, emergency response and medical evacuation, search and rescue, maritime patrol, or even more complex missions such as anti-submarine warfare or electronic surveillance missions. Thanks to its robustness and reliability, and with simple systems, this medium-sized tactical airlifter provides wide versatility and flexibility, necessary for personnel, troop and bulky/palletised cargo transportation, casualty evacuation, communication and logistic duties or certified airdropping capabilities.
BrahMos from INS Tarkash scores a hit India successfully test fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Indian Navy’s newest guided missile frigate INS Tarkash off the coast of Goa. The surface-to-surface missile with a range of 290-km has a capability of carrying a conventional warhead weighing up to 300-kg and was test launched from the Russian-built Project 1135.6 class warship. The missile can cruise at a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach and the launch was carried out by the Navy as part of Acceptance Test Firing (ATF) of the warship. The missile was launched vertically and performed high-level ‘C’ manoeu-
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vres on a predetermined flight path before successfully annihilating the target completely. The Indian Navy commissioned the INS Tarkash along with INS Teg in 2012. INS Trikand is expected to join the two others soon as part of $1.6 billion contract signed between India and Russia in 2006. INS Tarkash has been fitted with a multi-role combat suite to make it one of the most potent Indian platforms of the Indian Navy. The missile’s land and naval variants have been proved successful in both vertical and inclined launch configurations and the developmental trials are on for its submarine-launched version. The new missile frigates are designed to accomplish a wide range of maritime missions, primarily hunting down and destroying large surface ships and submarines. The weapons suite includes surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile systems, 100 mm medium range gun, close-in weapon system, torpedo tubes and anti-submarine rockets.
June 2013
DEF BIZ IDE signs export contracts
INTRACOM Defence Electronics (IDE) has signed two new export contracts worth €4m with German companies for its telemetry systems and field test equipment that is scheduled for completion by 2014. One of the agreements, with RAMSys, concerns the production of telemetry systems for the NATO surface-to-air Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) programme, which has shown successful international records and is in use by naval forces in 12 countries. The other contract, with Diehl BGT
Defence (DBD), is for the field test equipment (FTE) of the IRIS-T missile. The missile is considered as the most modern infrared guided short range air-to-air missile system worldwide. The contracts, involving products that have been developed in Greece, are being implemented at a time when there are particular challenges in the international financial and business environment and contribute to the establishment of IDE internationally as well as strengthening the national economy, development and competitiveness.
Thales-DGA rockets on French Tigers
Cassidian launches Claricor 3 Cassidian introduced a new version of its professional radio system solution for small to medium-sized networks, called Claricor. Made for up to 5,000 users, it offers a cost-effective set-up for providing both outdoor and indoor coverage across sites such as airports, factories or power plants but also for larger areas such as cities. If needed, a Claricor network can be interconnected with multiple switches to cover a nationwide area. The new Claricor 3 version includes high-speed data (TEDS) and provides more than enough bandwidth for data in Smart Grid or SCADA applications. It is a smart choice for organisations looking for secure communications on a scale that can match their evolving needs. It includes advanced functions like data services, applications and dispatcher functionalities.
SNPE to merge in GIAT Thales subsidiary TDA is currently negotiating a contract with the French defence procurement agency (DGA) to equip the national army’s Tiger attack helicopters with its roquette à précision métrique (RPM) system. The rocket has already successfully completed two safe separation firing manoeuvres onboard a Tiger support and protection helicopter (HAP) at DGA’s Biscarrosse test range in France, in January and April, while a final demonstration involving a 18.7lb rocket is scheduled to be carried out in July. Manufactured under a company-funded programme, RPM is a
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2.7 inch diameter rocket system capable of providing a circular error of probability accuracy of below 1m, from a maximum firing range of up to 6km. Capable of intercepting ground targets moving at up to 55kmph, the 1.4m-long rocket is not physically connected with the launcher unit due to use of wireless induction technology. The rocket is also designed to serve as a feasible solution for the French Air Force’s long-held requirement to deploy a low-yield weapon between the Rafale fighter’s internal cannon and Sagem AASM air-to-surface missile.
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Two major defence companies of France, GIAT Industries and SNPE, will be merging into a single entity. Both companies are owned by the French state which is in support of the move. The merger will retain the activities, strategies and customer base of each company. By unifying complimentary activities the merged entity will be able to shed redundant overheads. The merger is expected to be completed this year. GIAT Industries is one of the largest defence companies in France, focussing in land systems and munitions. Its main asset is the weapon manufacturer Nexter Systems. With a turnover of Euros 736 million in 2012, SNPE, through its subsidiary Eurenco, is the European leader in propellant powders and explosives for civil and military use.
June 2013
DEF BIZ
Show business at Paris
This year’s Paris Air Show promises to be a business show more than a PR event and it could well turn out to be important from India’s defence perspectives, as this curtain-raiser shows.
T
his year’s Salon International de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace or the Paris Air Show promised to be a historic one. To begin with, the show at the Le Bourget exhibition centre from June 17-23 will be its fiftieth one. As we go to press, there is news that all the show’s exhibition space has been sold out despite a sluggish defence market. The trade expo will bring together all the industry players across the globe to showcase the latest aircraft and aviationrelated technological innovations and the organisers are leaving no stone unturned to make this year’s edition a much bigger business event than any done over the last 10 years. Emeric d’Arcimoles, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the show, was quoted at a press briefing that this “new air show in 2013 will be a very, very big air show. I link this success with two things. The first is the success of aviation around the world, the boom in this industry…The second point is that, due to the decreasing of the military budgets of the different countries involved in the exportation of their own production, that is to say that now they say they have to compete more aggressively.” The 2013 edition has two objectives: provide more business and services to exhibitors and improve the air show experience for visitors - even though regular Le Bourget visitors will shudder at the thought of the traffic jams. On his part Gilles Fournier, Managing Director of the show, has been keen to make sure that companies receive value for their investment in the show. The organizers have, therefore, been focused on moving away from a pure PR event. “We want to take this show from a PR show to a business show, which we’ve done over the last 10 years.” Some 130 aircraft -- in static or flying modes -- will be at the show. To top it all, there will be a record-breaking number of exhibitors - 2,160 companies from 44 countries at the last count - with almost all the top 100 aerospace companies - perhaps, a notable exception will be Northrop Grumman and show-goers will miss the company’s Global Hawk. In fact,
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Northrop had not been seen at last year’s Farnborough International Airshow. From the military point of view, the show will be important for India as it goes about building its weaponry. One of the major stands that will be of interest to the IAF will be the one put up by MBDA that will show the whole range of weapon systems capable of optimising the IAF’s operational capabilities.
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MBDA’s exhibits will revolve around an indirect fire precision effects weapon for the future battlefield. It will also unveil a host of air launched weapons at the show. As India plans to upgrade its Mirage and Jaguar, the MBDA exhibition of weapon would be closely watched by India. MICA, a major combat weapon of the French Air Force has already been ordered by India for its Mirage upgrade. The
June 2013
DEF BIZ
Different variants: (Left) Su-35 making a come back, (below) Eurofighter Typhoon of Alenia Aermacchi, celebrating 100 years of the company’s operation, (above) Ka-52 (twinseat, co-axial helicopter of Kamov and (extreme right ) MBDA’s PARS 3 LR technology on Tiger helicopter which will be displayed during Paris Air Show
IAF is also looking for a weapon to provide its Jaguar bomber with the best means of defending itself from attacking aircraft and the Paris Air Show could well provide India that platform. MBDA is also going to showcase the latest version of Milan ER and will be displaying all the advantages associated with its digitised firing post. MBDA’s industrial partnership with India has become stronger after twin launcher for the Rudra was developed. PARS 3 LR weapon that was showcased in Bengalore (the Aero India Show) will again be displayed at Paris Air Show. MAITRI or SR-SAM has been talked about by both the French and Indian heads of states recently. The Indian Army is also currently looking for a weapon system to meet its VSHORAD requirement. The Mistral is being proposed for India’s VSHORAD needs and at Le Bourget, this highly versatile missile will be shown with the MPCV system, a mobile armoured vehicle equipped with twin Mistral turrets. The same Mistral missile will be shown with the remotely controlled Simbad RC
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launcher for inner level ship defence. MBDA’s much-awaited Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM), will also make its presence felt at Paris Air Show. Missile house MBDA will also be unveiling the micro-missiles for infantry and precision munitions for UAVs. The French apart, there will be strong participation from the big guns around the military world. Allaying rumours at the beginning of the year that the US military would not participate in this year’s show because of the budget cuts, the US presence will be strong. If it is any indication, the US pavilion has increased in size by 14 per cent. The country’s military presence will not see much change and the US Air Force, according to reports, will be present as usual. The US companies are looking for more international markets due to economic pressures and will be taking advantage of a grant programme launched by the Obama administration in conjunction with the National Export Initiative. The return of Russian fighter jets to this year’s show will be an added attraction. Absent from the show’s displays since 2001, aviation lovers and enthusiasts will have the pleasure of seeing the Sukhoi Su-35’s daily flight displays. The Su-35, the latest 4/5 Gen evolution of its Flanker, is all set to enter service with the Russian Air Force. In addition, there will be the Kamov twin-seat, co-axial attack helicopter, the Ka-52. Show-goers will
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be able to compare the Antonov’s An-70 airlifter with the Airbus A400M airlifter which enters service with the French Air Force this year and will also be at the show. Military rotorcraft from manufacturers around the world may provide another interesting theme at this year’s show. US defence helicopter requirements may provide an insight into next-generation rotorcraft designs - with co-axial and tiltorotors aiming to replace the ubiquitous Blackhawk in US Army service. With the UH-60 Blackhawk family in widespread service around the world, this competition will be of interest beyond US shores. The Paris Air Show 2013 will also celebrate hundred glorious years of operation by Alenia Aermacchi. Founded on May 1, 1913, the company will display a veritable squadron of its leading products, both past and present, at the show. On show will be Alenia’s current product lineup of trainer and warbird aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, M-346 Master, SF260 and the MC-27J Spartan in addition to some of their notable past models. The displays and business notwithstanding, this year’s edition of the air show will be another ‘must attend’ event with top aviation and aerospace honchos at one place. After all, the deals can take place in the boardrooms around the world but seeing and comparing the real thing is another. Inputs from Naveed Anjum
June 2013
Agilent’s major product lines include:
Test and measurement products such as oscilloscopes, logic analysers, signal generators, spectrum analysers, vector network analysers, Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM), automated optical inspection, automated X-ray inspection (5DX), in-circuit test, and Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software. ATE Test System Types Radar T/R Module Phase Noise Signal Switch Matrices Aerospace/Satellite Payload Solar Array Simulator Avionics Communications EGSG Calibration Systems Test Factory Automation
1. Radar Test & Electronic Warfare (EW) Test
Agilent Technologies is one of the company which produces advance state of art products to strengthen the capabilities of radars by incorporating high-performance test equipment. Equipment such as analog and vector signal generators, spectrum analysers, vector signal analysers, vector network analysers are meant to add extra wave length to the radars and also test the electronic warfare signals at high accuracy.
Products
Benefits
1 Achieve faster detection, assessment and response—Whether the mission is to intercept and collect, detect and eradicate, monitor and track, or trend and analyse, the Agilent technology base—and deep familiarity with wireless communications—gives a meaningful edge to the mission.
Network analysers
2. Aerospace/Satellite
Agilent’s Aerospace and Defence ATE Systems is a specialised team of measurement application experts and ATE engineers who does research and produces equipment, used to measure the payloads of the satellites and several communications equipment for the satellites and aerospace.The test equipment solutions produced by Agilent, delivers better test performance at lower costs and faster deployment. These benefits are often unachievable by using other test solution development resources.
2
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To meet present and future mission requirements, Agilent has introduced several compatible, multimode and software-defined digital systems that ensure easy interoperability in the battle field. To keep pace, measurement solutions must be able to test these versatile radios throughout their lifecycles. Agilent also produces interceptor devices that are helpful in intercepting enemies communication signals and can neutralise the signals by interfering in them.
3
Maximise system longevity— From LAN and Web to LXI-based synthetic instruments, the approach to ATE is designed in such a way to maximise system longevity and productivity.
Agilent provides premier network analysers in the market, ranging from handheld models to mm-wave instruments from 5 Hz to 1.05THz, which help in analysing the network strength and try to maintain the desired level required by the mission.
A
3. Military Communications
Spectrum and signal analysers
Enable rapid identification of faulty subsystems—The versatility of handheld and portable instruments accelerates troubleshooting at any level and provides insights that help in detecting any fault and quickly pinpoint failed modules and components in the system.
Agilent’s spectrum and signal analysers include an extensive array of products, from DC to 325 GHz and beyond, designed to accurately measure frequency, amplitude, and modulation, including distortion, spurious, phase noise, and 2G to 4G wireless communications signals.
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Signal generators
Agilent offers the widest selection of baseband, RF, and microwave signal generator products from baseband to 67 GHz, with frequency extensions to 500 GHz. Signal generator work as a backup unit which provide power needed by signal communication in satellites. The models available in the market are Vector models (44 GHz) to Analog models (67 GHz).
June 2013
GEO SPECIAL
About Agilent Technologies
Oscilloscopes
Agilent offers a complete line of oscilloscopes to measure the performance of the equipment incorporated in the aircrafts and fighter jets, it ranges from USB-modular units to high performance real-time and sampling oscilloscopes, with bandwidths from 20 MHz to more than 90 GHz.
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Logic Analysers
Agilent’s logic analysers is used to minimize the project risk by providing the most reliable, accurate data capture and the most complete view of digital system and act as a toughest digital debug. It helps in protecting the system from cyber-attacks and software viruses.
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The FieldFox handheld microwave analysers
are built to work in any weather conditions ranging from -45Âşc (Drasssector) to 71Âşc (Desert region) and hard to reach locations such as dense forests. Field Fox analysers cover satellite communications, microwave backhaul, military communications and radar systems and is one of the most advanced communication device available to the Indian forces.
June 2013
Compiled by: TRISHIT RAI, designed by: anshul sharma
Agilent Technologies is an American company that designs and manufactures electronic and bio-analytical measurement instruments and equipment for measurement and evaluation for Aerospace and Defence Sector and manufacture scientific instruments, semiconductors, optical networking devices, and electronic test equipment as well. Agilent has a long presence in Aerospace/Defence around the world and in India. Within the Aerospace/Defence industry, Agilent is known as a leader in measurement science and recognised for having a broad range of COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) measurement products than any other companies.
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MoD-DPR
SERVING AT SEA: INS Deepak, a fleet replenishment vessel of the Indian Navy
ENHANCING SEA-WORTHINESS
To develop blue water navy capabilities in the Indian Ocean region, the Indian Navy is looking for high-end, multi-purpose support vessels on a priority basis, writes Saurav Jha www.geopolitics.in
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June 2013
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Thus, besides the role of Re-Fuelling at Sea (FAS) which involves delivering of fluids such as Low Speed and High Speed Diesel (LSHSD), Aviation Fuel (AVCAT), fresh water and feed water, these ships will also perform the tasks carried out by combat store ships and ammunition ships by being able to deliver a variety of solid cargo to serve as true Replenishment At Sea (RAS) vessels. As such the RFI calls for each ship to have a Heavy Jackstay rig for transfer of loads up to two tons (which, incidentally, is quite standard for RAS ships) and specifies that a Cargo Drop Reel (CDR) be provided for the Heavy Jackstay. The ships should also have Light Jackstay rigs on either side and these should be fitted with auto tension winches to transfer loads up to 250-kg. Furthermore, each ship will also have dedicated cargo lifts for cargo spare gear, ammunition and stores. While the above refers to connected
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SAILING AHEAD: Indian Navy replenishment ship INS Aditya (A59) departing Portsmouth Naval Base
replenishment, the FSS naturally also has to be capable of vertical replenishment. This is achieved by the use of multi-role helicopters and the ships have to be designed to carry such operations. As per the RFI, the FSS should be capable of staging or handling helicopters up to a maximum of 16 tons. It must also use a helicopter traversing system to secure and manoeuvre the helicopter from the landing area to the hangar in all weather conditions. Now the projected size of these ships will make them only slightly smaller than the INS Vikramaditya when it enters service later this year. With an overall length of 200 m, a beam of about 25 m and full load displacement of 40000 tonnes, the FSS will easily count among the IN’s biggest ships and will match up with the projected aircraft carriers of the IN. These FSS will thus, be more than 10000 tonnes heavier than India’s latest fleet tankers of the Deepak class. Interestingly, the RFI also stated that the draught of these ships should not exceed 10 m, thereby allowing them to easily access the Suez Canal and shallower navigable channels if required. Relatively the large size of the FSS should allow it to hold, a minimum 20,000 tons of LSHSD, 2500 tons of AVCAT, 1000 tons of fresh water and 1400 tons of feed water. Commensurately, the FSS according to the RFI must be able to perform a 60-day mission with capabilities to operate for an extended mission on requirement. And the designed minimum
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endurance of the ship needs to be as follows (with 25 per cent balance fuel left on board): (a) 12,000 nautical miles at 16 knots. (b) 9,000 nautical miles at 20 knots. Irrespective of their large size, the IN wants these ships to have a high degree of automation and be able to accommodate about 190 crew members along with 24 officers. The RFI specified that the IN is in search of “automation system in hotel/domestic services, ship’s husbandry, maintenance, logistics and management services”. Power automation is also a requirement. Basically an Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) is to be provided, capable of controlling and monitoring the main propulsion system components, DAs, auxiliaries and ship systems including damage control systems. Further, in keeping with a contemporary integrated deck environment, the ship will also have to host an Advance Composite Communication System (ACCS) fusing together all external and internal communication equipment in all modes (voice, video, IP based data, etc.) and will be of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) technology grade. The ACCS will consist of two L-band radars, one E/F band radar, one log and two echo sounders. These ships will naturally be compatible with the IN’s maritime domain awareness network.
June 2013
WIKIPEDIA-Brian Burnell
I
n a clear signal that the Indian Navy (IN) is looking to push further into the southern Indian Ocean besides being ready to operate for a reasonable length of time even in theatres such as the Mediterranean and the South China Sea, the IN has issued Request For Proposals (RFPs) in April 2013 for the construction of five new Fleet Support Ships (FSS) for its fleet. According to reports, these new ships will be procured under the ‘buy global’ category of the defence procurement procedure. The decision to ‘buy global’ has apparently been guided by the fact that Indian shipyards, both public and private companies, are already overloaded with numerous orders and the ships are required on a priority basis by the Navy. In any case, the specifications laid out by the IN suggests that it is looking for serious underway replenishment capability from these ships which will have roles and capabilities beyond the standard fleet tankers of yesteryear. The Request For Information (RFI) sent out in 2011 for these support vessels, clearly specified the functions for these ships which included: • Transfer Fibre Optic Lans (FOLs) to all naval surface units while underway at sea, using the beam and stern transfer methods; • Transfer all types of stores, victuals and personnel to naval units, while underway at sea.
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• • • • • • •
The onboard communication equipment should probably have several indigenous contributions that would help the primary contractor to discharge mandatory offset requirements. Military grade indigenous content could be in the form Electronic Support Measures (ESMs) and Communications Intelligence (COMINT) equipment. The fact that the IN is looking to acquire high-end capability through the FSS programme can also be gauged by the level of RAS capabilities. A RAS speed of 12-16 knots is specified in the RFI which is pretty much in keeping with the highest international standards. The FSS clearly cannot be like a sluggish auxiliary of old and must maintain a speed of ‘not less’ than 20 knots of maximum continuous speed, at ambient temperatures of up to 40 degree Celsius, in the fully-laden condition up to Sea State 3 and while less than six months out of dock. It should also be capable of an economical speed of 15 knots. Minimum transfer rates for the FAS function will be as follows 2400 Tonnes Per Hour (TPH) for LSHSD, 1200 TPH for AVCAT, 750 TPH for both fresh water and feed water. Clearly, the FSS will keep pace with the IN’s principal surface combatants and
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US SUPPORT FLEET: The conventionally powered aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and the guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63) receives fuel during a replenishment at sea from the Royal Australian Navy auxiliary oiler replenishment ship HMAS Success (AOR 304)
US NAVY
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achieve underway replenishment even in trying circumstances. To facilitate this, the FSS propulsion setup has to be of relevant capability. The IN wants these ships to have combined diesel and diesel propulsion (CODAD) in a single shaft configuration with Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP). The FSS must have bow thrusters to commensurate with the size/ tonnage and design. It should be able to cater for overall power supply requirements through shaft generators and diesel generators of adequate capacity and required redundancy. Suitably rated emergency diesel backups must be located appropriately and should have double line shafting with CPP. The requirements laid out in the RFI at some level show that the IN is also confident of the seamanship standards in its ranks and want ships that can help in leveraging those standards. The sea-worthiness requirements for the FSS which is expected to serve for at least three decades underlines the same. As per the RFI, the FSS:
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Should be sea-worthy up to Sea State 8; Should be capable of operating helicopter in Sea State 5 on favourable headings; The combat systems should be operable up to Sea State 5; Should be able to survive on the best heading up to Sea State 9; Should be seaworthy after discharging all fuel and stores onboard; Should possess ballast capability; Should be capable of carrying out RAS up to sea state 5; The ship should meet all stability criteria as stipulated in NES 109.
Naturally good sea-keeping will require maintaining high construction standards. The main hull should be constructed of all welded steel DMR 249A or equivalent. Modern polymer paints approved by IHQ MoD (N) are to be used throughout the ship. The ship is to be built in accordance with IRS Classification Society Standards which includes conforming to an amendment to MARPOL regulations (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 and the Protocol of 1978) that requires tankers to be double hulled. The FSS should also have active anti-corrosion and anti-fouling measures. The FSS’s weapon systems will incorporate high indigenous content. For instance, The RFI explicitly calls for the fitment of an indigenous ‘Advanced Torpedo Defence System (ATDS)’. One Expendable Conductivity Depth Temperature Profile launcher is also to be incorporated in the shaft section, besides a store for holding ammunition. The ship will also be fitted with two 30 mm Guns and two 12.7 mm guns in addition to four chaff launchers all of which are likely to be supplied by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). The IN wants the first vessel delivered within 36 months of contract signing with one ship following after every six months. The RFP is likely to elicit responses from many major shipyards across the world. This procurement move of IN’s desire to build two large submarine tenders shows that its auxiliary fleet is coming of age. While the induction of destroyers and frigates has certainly improved IN’s striking power. It is an augmentation of the support ships that will truly make it a ‘staying power’ in the Indian Ocean region.
June 2013
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Tom Craig Trudell, Manager of International Business Development, Northrop Grumman talks about the Triton to K Srinivasan, a maritime surveillance platform and other unmanned aircraft programme that is under development and best suited for the Indian Defence Forces
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h c tiwari
DEFBIZ
‘Our focus is predominantly on E-2D’ On the E-2 campaign
I am the E-2 campaign leader for the E-2 Hawkeye for India and our sector is one of four sectors. Our sector deals primarily with both manned and unmanned aircraft, ISR battle management control systems and those type of things. So, where we are focussing in the sector is predominantly on E-2D and we are having some early dialogues with Triton which is the maritime surveillance platform for these unmanned aircraft and then the lighterthan-air vehicle. So, in terms of what we are focussing on right now are those big programmes. We are always looking for other opportunities which might become available and we will certainly engage when we will see a good fit between what we do and what the interests of the Government of India are.
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On the huge internal security operations in India
Well we’re actually in discussion with Border Security Force and Ministry of Home Affairs on lighter-than-air vehicles and like I said we don’t have a lot of detail on that but we are in active discussion now. We know that lighter-than-air right now is a developmental programme of the US army.
Is it like an aerostat?
It is not an aerostat. An aerostat is a tethered lighter-than-air vehicle. So it has no propulsion system. So that’s basically what it is. But the difference is that the aerostat is tethered and unpowered and this is not tethered and unpowered.
State of discussions with BSF?
Well, very, very preliminary, and some-
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times there are so many different sources for posting (of RFIs) and so on and so forth. Identifying the opportunities could be challenging. One of the challenges in any such programme is to reduce the ground level personnel required for such operations I would love to try and answer that but I really don’t have a lot of… I’m a manned aircraft guy and deal predominantly with E-2 Hawkeye. We do have a very large unmanned part of our business and one of the areas we really work on is try and reduce the infrastructure requirements both for maintaining as well as operating the system but I can’t give you any real specifics. We are always driving in all of our programmes to reduce the support cost, the logistics tail, the manpower requirements and so forth because it’s such a large driver for any programme.
June 2013
Something about the Triton
The Triton is a broad area maritime surveillance platform, based on a Global Hawk platform which is the US Air Force customer for that and this is with the US Navy. E-2D, that’s the plane that I work with. My history… a long time ago I flew the aircraft, did flight tests on the aircraft. I was Chief Engineer for the aircraft when I was in the Navy. So I’ve got a long history with the aircraft. The airplane that we are offering today—the E-2D - well, it looks like some of our older versions of the E-2, (but) is radically different. We use the same basic airframe—what we call the planned form or the shape of the aircraft—but the interior of the aircraft is completely redesigned. Of course, the heart of the system is the sensor sweep and the heart of that sensor sweep is the radar. And that radar is now incorporated (with) electronically scanned technology —and I don’t know how familiar you are with electronic scanned antennas, but for example, the DRDO-AW programme is electronically scanned. Those type of radars have got some significant advantages that result in an awful lot of limitations, which we recognise and we have basically worked through that. What we did was… one of the limitations of that aircraft is that you cannot see over the nose or tail because the antennas are facing out, they are looking out over the wings. So, in a surveillance aircraft, being able to see all the way around is a really important task. What we did was we took the elec-
The Advanced Hawkeye Designed and manufactured by Northrop Grumman, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is the newest variant of the E-2 aircraft platform. It comprises high-tech radar with a two-generation leap. It also has an upgraded aircraft system that increases speed. The Advanced Hawkeye manages the Navy’s warplanes by recognising and keeping track of wanted and unwanted aircraft while warning the seaborne fleet. E-2D is a multi-mission platform. Through its ability to coordinate concurrent missions, E-2D can provide land force support, rescue operations and manage a reliable communications network between widely-dispersed nodes. Hawkeye’s new glass cockpit and tactical fourth operator display provide the five-person crew more flexibility in fulfilling the diversified nature of work. Moreover, its ability to work near the coastline as well as over land helps in protecting the nation’s interests.
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us navy
Tell me something about E2D
soaring heights: The proposed E-2D Hawk Eye aircraft of the Northop for the Indian Defence Forces.
tronically-scanned antenna, we mounted it on the dome, and we mechanically rotate the dome. So, we get the benefits of electronic scanning with which you can establish tracks quickly, you can stare at something, you can change the beam to get more power. By mechanically rotating, we can still get a 360 degree view. For a surveillance radar, that is really important. We have several different modes of the radar—we go from pure mechanical, where you get a look at the environment every 10-12 seconds, to a mechanical plus electronic scanning that allows you to identify threat sectors and improve the range and detection capability in a specific sector but still maintain a 360 degree view; and we can go to a pure electronic scan, where you designate a target, or a geographic point, or a line of bearing and tell the radar: ‘I want you to stare at this’. The airplane will fly into its pattern, but since the dome moves, we just point the dome at the threat axis and we deal with that threat axis. So, we can take advantage of all those capabilities. We work really hard not to compromise the mission system which is the most important thing for the AW platform.
Discussions with the Navy
Well, the Indian Navy has issued an RFI, which we have already responded to. That was for four carrier-based aircraft. We have had continuing dialogues with the Indian Navy. The airplanes have been approved for release to the Indian Navy and we are waiting for indications from the Navy.
Has it been demonstrated?
They have not seen the aircraft demonstrated yet. The E-2C has operated in different exercises and so forth, where the
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Indian Navy had the opportunity to see.
Who else operates the aircraft?
It has not been sold to any other country yet. Our programme is fairly new. We have delivered nine aircraft to the US Navy. We have 11 more on the contract to be delivered. So, that is a total of 20 airplanes that have been contracted for. The US Navy’s, what we call the Programme of Record, formal intent is to buy a total of 75 aircraft. That will be to eventually transition from the E-2C to the E-2D over time. The airplane, like you said, has been approved for export to several countries. But we’ve not had any first international sale yet.
Maybe India could be the first?
India could be the first, depending on what some of the other countries do. We are just waiting to see what the Indian Navy’s plans are. So I’d suggest is, go talk to the Indian Navy, and when you get an answer, tell us.
Why is it best for the Indian Navy?
First of all, it’s carrier-capable and shorecapable. It is a maritime aircraft designed for maritime missions. The US Navy’s and the Indian Navy’s overall concepts of operation are very similar and the US Navy would never deploy without long range ATW in the battle group because of the threats of cruise missiles and aircraft and ships that can challenge the presence of the ship in any location. So, it is a really important mission to have and we have really designed this aircraft specifically for what the Indian Navy is looking for, and this airplane is the only airplane that is designed from the ground up: from the airframe, mission systems, data links and communications—everything specifically to do with this mission.
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Artillery modernisation moves ahead tenders are going to trials in the next couple of months in summer conditions in the Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan. The winter trials of the gun are scheduled to take place in Sikkim where its capabilities in high altitude areas would also be fully tested. French Nexter and an Israeli gun are in contention for the race where a number of players had to be rejected because of their non-compliance with the technical parameters. The Ministry had lowered
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the requirements and specifications in the Request For Proposal (RFP) issued in 2011 after the failure to procure these guns in three such failed tenders. The Army stipulated in the RFP that the two competing firms should do a Transfer of Technology (ToT) for the production of the remaining guns in India with a partner to manufacture more than 1,200 guns in the next two defence plans. In the 155mm towed guns section, the major development and hope for the
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Army comes from the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)) production of the indigenous version of the Bofors gun for which the last three validation trials have been successful. The Army will begin the user trials after one more test-firing by the OFB to test the strength of the barrel of the gun. The Army has committed to the Department of Defence Production that if the gun comes up to the mark, it will place orders for 414 guns against the present order of
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114 howitzers. This would also be the first case where any DPSU or the Ordnance Factories would have made use of the ToT done by the foreign vendor to produce the equipment indigenously. The upgraded version of the gun will be raised from a 39-calibre to a 45-calibre gun with mechanical and electronic suite upgrades.
The OFB has been manufacturing the major components of the gun like the barrel, breach mechanism, muzzle break, loading trough, recoil system along with the elevating and traversing cylinders. The ammunition required for the Bofors guns have been indeginsed and the OFB has been supplying these to the army as spares for a while. Another 155mm 52-calibre procurement would be that of the self-propelled tracked artillery for which two vendors, L&T and Russian Rosoboronexport, are in direct race. The Army would begin
Increasing Capabilities: The proposed US M777 Howitzer that India is eyeing to induct and will enable it to increase its capabilities
the summer trials of the tracked selfpropelled howitzers in the June-July time frame in Pokharan for procuring 100 of these guns. L&T is in the race in collaboration with South Korean Samsung Techwin and is based on its ‘K9 Thunder’ self- propelled howitzer. According to the contract between the two firms, the Korean firm will provide key technologies to L&T for local production of the howitzer. The Russian side is offering the SAU Msta self-propelled artillery guns for the Indian tender and Rosoboronexport had brought the weapon system at the Defexpo last year. Earlier, the Russians had offered a twin-barrel howitzer to the Indian Army but the proposal could not go ahead. The Army has plans of procuring 280 self-propelled howitzers of which 100 would be on a tracked chassis while the remaining have to be on the wheeled chassis. The wheeled guns procurement case suffered a major setback last year when the Government blacklisted Rheinmetall in the bribery scandal and the tender had to be cancelled. The other firm in the race to supply the howitzers was Slovakian Konstrukta.
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UPGRADE ROUTE
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The other major plan of the Defence Ministry is to bolster the howitzer fleet is through the upgrading of the M-46 130mm field artillery guns to 155mm standards. The gun being brought from the US is M-777 manufactured by the BAE Systems America for the US Army. Under the FMS route, the US Army would be selling the gun to the Indian Army. The case for upgrading these guns to the new standards was cleared recently by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) which also allowed the private sector along with the OFB in the tender for upgrading 300 of these guns. Indian private sector companies such as PunjLloyd, Tata and L&T have successfully developed 155 mm howitzers and are planning to take part in the tender. The upgrade of the 130 mm howitzers was stuck after the blacklisting of the Israeli Soltam guns. The Army envisages these guns to be inducted into its inventory by the year 2017. The Army’s most eagerly-awaited procurement would be that for procuring 145
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DRDO to make Arjun tank chassis
Hemant Rawat
STRENGTHENING ARTILLERY: The Chassis of the Arjun tank will now be the base for the Army’s selt propelled howitzers
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he Army and the DRDO may have been engaged in a war of sorts for more orders for the Arjun tanks but the defence research agency received a fillip when the force told it that it would place orders for 40 chassis of Arjun tanks for its self-propelled artillery gun. Under a new project, the Army is planning to get 40 of its M-46 130mm field artillery guns to be mounted on the Arjun tank chassis to create a regiment of selfpropelled tracked howitzers. The project would be completed jointly by a team of Army, OFB and the DRDO, sources told Geopolitics. Under the new project, the guns would be upgraded first to the 155mm 52-calibre standard by the OFB and then the DRDO would work to-
wards integrating the guns with the Arjun tank chassis. The 40 guns would be the initial project and then, if required, the Army would place orders for more of these guns and there can be procurement of these M-46 howitzers from erstwhile customers of the Soviet-era gun supplied in large numbers to Eastern Bloc countries in Europe. The M-46 guns to be used for this particular project are already mounted on the Vijayanta tanks and are known as the ‘Catapult’ howitzers but have been phased out. The Army had earlier also planned to develop a self-propelled howitzer on the Arjun MBT chassis using a turret by South African Denel Systems. The programme had to be cancelled af-
ter Denel was blacklisted by the Defence Ministry for its involvement in wrongdoings in Indian tenders. The gun was named as ‘Bhim’ which would have had a fully automatic ammunition loading system. With a range of 41 kms, the secondary armament of the Bhim howitzer would have consisted of a single 7.62-mm machine gun. The Bhim artillery system vehicle was to be powered by German MTU 838 Ka-501 diesel engine with 1400 hp. Denel had proposed another variant which was the T6 turret mounted on the T-72 M1 MBT chassis which has also been tested. The T6 turret is self-contained and can be mounted on any other suitable vehicle platform.
ultra light howitzers from the US under a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal. These will be deployed on the mountainous borders with China and Pakistan. The deal is in its final stages as India has received the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) from the US Government. The Directorate General of Acquisition is working to ensure that the contract for these guns is at least signed
this year to end the drought for the Army’s Corps of Artillery. The Army is also experiencing slow development in its plans to induct 814 mounted gun systems as efforts to initiate the procurement process have not been responded to by both global and local vendors. Army officials said that though Indian vendors have claimed that they
have completed development of their gun systems, none of the firms have approached the force offering their guns systems for trials and the offers have remained limited to media reports only. Under its artillery modernisation plan, the Army envisages induction of 2,814 guns of different types from both indigenous and foreign sources.
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NAVY PRO
IN SERVICE: The project -P 15A class ship inservice with the IN, was built at Mazagon Dock
SHIPYARD tie-up on hold—again With lack of clarity in the joint venture guidelines by the government, the tie-up between Mazagon Dockyard and Pipavav Shipyards has been stalled for the second time in as many years. A report. www.geopolitics.in
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or the second time in the last two years, the Defence Ministry has put on hold the joint venture between defence sector PSU, Mazagon Dockyards Limited and private sector Pipavav Shipyards due to lack of clarity in the joint venture guidelines issued by the Government. The JV has also been put on hold due to the allegations of non-compliance and favouritism levelled by the rival private sector shipyards, Defence Ministry
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sources said. There was lack of clarity in the guidelines on the formulation of Joint Ventures, price discovery mechanisms and the transparency aspects of the whole procedure, they said. To deal with the issues which have surfaced in the recent past, after the first such Joint Venture was formed, a Committee has been formed under Additional Secretary in the Department of Defence Production Ashok Kumar Gupta, sources in the Defence Ministry revealed to Geopolitics.
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MAZAGON DOCK LTD
PERFECT VIEW: An aerial view of the Mazagon Dock facility
The Committee has been tasked to look into the “joint venture formation, price discovery mechanism and several other aspects of the tie-up between the two shipyards,” Ministry sources said. Soon after the largest defence public sector shipyard MDL chose Pipavav as its partner, two other bidders ABG Shipyard and L&T, questioned the selection process. Both the companies had forwarded their letters to the Defence Secretary, the Secretary (Defence Production) and the office of the Navy Chief, while requesting Mazagon Dock to reconsider its decision. After the JV was formed in February 2011, the Defence Ministry in September that year put on hold any such tie-ups and prepared a policy to plug loopholes in the joint ventures between defence and private sector shipyards. As per the new policy, defence shipyards will not be allowed to share the contracts with the JV
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Company in cases where they have been nominated to build warships for the Navy or the Coast Guard. As per the new guidelines, for the tenders where the defence shipyards want to participate with the JV Company, they will have to go for a competitive bidding process. For sub-contracting the projects for which the defence shipyards are nominated by the Defence Ministry, they will not be allowed to award the tender to the JV Company without the tendering process. The policy was approved by the Ministries of Commerce, Finance, Law and Justice and Corporate Affairs after inputs were sought from all the stakeholders and the Cabinet Committee on Security had given its nod to it. The Defence Ministry had allowed its shipyards to form joint ventures in view of the large pending or-
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ders with them. Reacting to Defence Ministry’s fresh decision on the issue, Pipavav Chairman Nikhil Gandhi stated that there was a lack of clarity over certain policy issues and that was why the Government had taken this step and “we are sure that the JV will soon start functioning normally”. Pipavav has put in an infrastructure worth over `6,000 crore at its shipyard to produce big warships and merchant vessels and is awaiting clearance of the JV to start work on defence programmes. However, for the JV, the initial capital investment by the Defence Ministry and Pipavav Shipyard is only `5 crore of which over 90 per cent has been invested by the private sector firm. The Committee is also going to look into the JV clause which suggests that it will be given ‘preferential treatment’ by the MDL while distributing its workload.
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BUILDING FOR A PURPOSE: (Above) Oil tankers being constructed at a final assembly line in dry dock at Pipavav Shipyard, Gujarat and (below) The Indian Navy frigate Satpura class (F-48) that was built by Mazagon Dock
Babcock Group of the UK and Northrop Grumman of the US. It has also received domestic licence to build warships from the Indian Navy and followed this with a large order of `2,975 crore from the Navy. Pipavav has set high hopes from the defence sector orders that it is expecting from the JV firm and had said that the
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U S NAVY
The Ministry is against the interpretation of ‘preferential’ to be construed as ‘nomination’ by the JV and wants that the JV should be part of competitive bids to bag orders from MDL. The minimum economic quantities in terms of orders to be placed for the JV company by MDL are also being examined as only that many orders are to be placed that can help to sustain the JV company, which has a net worth of ` 5 crore, sources said. The tie-up had come under the scanner for other reasons too, as former MDL chief Vice Admiral H S Malhi’s name was suggested for heading the JV. It was under Malhi, who was CMD of MDL till January 3 this year, that the defence shipyard processed the proposal for tying up with Pipavav and agreements were signed in February last year. The Defence Ministry as well as the rival shipyards have taken exception to the nomination of former MDL chief as the head of the JV. The issue of transparency in the formation of the JV will also be scrutinised by the Committee appointed under Ashok Kumar Gupta which is expected to submit its report with regard to the shipyard’s joint ventures by the end of this month or early next month. The MDL is sitting on orders worth over `one lakh crore from the Navy and the Coast Guard and wants to utilise the facilities of private shipyards to carry out these orders. It has already committed the order of building three and half warships to its private partner for the Navy’s Project-15B under which a total of eight warships have to be constructed in the next one decade. MDL does not want to lose out on defence orders due to unavailability of infrastructure and that is why it is eager to form JVs with shipyards capable of fulfilling its commitments, MDL insiders said. MDL is working on several naval projects including the Shivalik Class follow-on project, P-75 Scorpene submarine project, and is expected to be involved in the construction of next generation dieselelectric submarines also. Following complaints by rivals of Pipavav, MDL has also signed a JV firm with L&T and is expected to forge a tie-up with ABG Shipyard also. After 2010, Pipavav Shipyard has been making a series of announcements and has forged technical agreements with international defence players such as
PIPAVAV SHIPYARD
DEFBIZ
MDL orders could keep its infrastructure busy for the next 10-15 years. Pipavav’s order to produce five Offshore Patrol vessels worth around `3,000 crore is also not on schedule as the private shipyard has had problems in finding partners for the design and development for the naval vessels.
June 2013
NUMBERSGAME
70
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The IAF is pushing hard for the modernisation of its 70 MiG 29 fighters with a new onboard radar system which is compatible with the similar system used in the carrier-based MiG29K fighters. The IAF will continue to operate the MiG-29 fighters it acquired at the end of the 1980s for another one or two more decades. India has floated a tender to modernise its Soviet fighters under the MiG-29UPG programme. The main objective of the modernisation is to bring the fighters up to the capability level of the MiG-29K and the MiG-29KUB, which are currently being supplied to the Indian Navy by Russia.
crore for Iranian port
India may contribute about `530 cr to develop the Iranian Chabahar Port and the matter will be discussed during External Affairs Minister’s visit to the sanction-hit middleeastern country despite Washington’s unhappiness upon New Delhi’s ties with Tehran. The two countries are also expected to sign about half-a-dozen memoranda of understanding to boost trade
and economic ties. India has assured the Iran of its commitments to develop infrastructure projects in and around the Chabahar Port . Sources said that the government’s decision might be formally announced shortly after the IranIndia conference. Discussion will also be on India’s energy ties with Iran. New Delhi and Tehran are also likely to discuss about the Iran-Pakistan-India oil pipeline project. India too is interested in developing the Chabahar Port.
fence Ministry and IAF recently informed the Parliamentary panel that they do not have a contingency plan in place for intermediate training. HAL now claims it will receive the Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) for IJT by December 2013. HAL is still in consultation with BAE system —manufacturer of Hawk advanced jet trainer — to resolve the design issues and the first squadron of 14 Pilatus will be inducted in the IAF by mid 2013 and in all the IAF will receive a fleet of 75 Pilatus basic trainer aircraft by 2015.
self-propelled howitzers for Indian Army
Indian Army is planning to procure 100 self-propelled artillery howitzers and for this purpose three Indian vendors, including two private companies, have been selected. For the procurement of 100 tracked guns
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`530
Notwithstanding the recent inclusion of the Pilatus basic trainer, flight training of Indian Air Force will continue to suffer as it is set to lose its Kiran intermediate jet trainer with no replacement coming in near future. Pilots in the Indian Air Force have been trained on Kiran Mk 1/1A aircraft since 2009 after the grounding of HPT-32 basic trainer fleet. Before this, Kiran was used for stage-II training at the IAF academy at Dundigal. As Kirans are to be phased out by 2014 with IJT nowhere on the horizon, the De-
of 155mm/52 Calibre (self-propelled) is in progress and the Request For Proposal (RFP) for procurement of
1,86,000 bullet proof jackets has also been issued. Ministry of Defence also told that the entire fleet of Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) is being modernised on basis of the operational requirement of the Army. The
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ICV fleet, armament and firepower capability are being upgraded with the latest generation Fire Control System, Twin Missile Launchers and Thermal Imaging Panoramic sights. The cost of upgrading the fleet has been estimated to `8,000 crore.
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MiG-29s to be modernised
hjt-16 kiran trainer jet to retire
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NUMBERSGAME
1,500 58,000
airborne crore arms export by troops to China in 5 years be raised China has exported with the bulk of their
5
rocket launches by ISRO in 2013
India’s space agency ISRO is planning to have a total of five rocket launches by 2013 from its rocket launch pad at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This will include a mission to Mars later this year. Four of the launches are expected to happen between June and December 2013, including the launch
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sales going to Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Pakistan being its primary customer for conventional weapons and China has engaged in both arms sales and defence co-operation with Pakistan. China is viewed as a provider of low-cost weapons with fewer political strings attached compared to other international arms suppliers by the Sub-Saharan African countries.
of communication satellite G-Sat 14 using heavier rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) powered with a domestic cryogenic engine and will be followed by Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-R1A (IRNSSR1A) and G-Sat 14 satellites. These launches will be followed by the
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Avro aircraft to be upgraded
IAF is all set to upgrade the one of its oldest warhorse, the Avro transport aircraft which will soon get a fresh lease of life, enabling it to soldier on for at least another decade. IAF said that the upgradation suite envisioned for the Avro includes incorporating a radar, installing an auto-pilot system and
a new communication system, besides advanced avionics. IAF have revealed that the aircraft still retains some residual technical life and their life extension is feasible. The move to upgrade these vintage aircraft comes in the backdrop of major acquisitions being delayed due to corruption charges.
3,000
child soldiers in Ne and J&K
wikipedia
Against the backdrop of China strengthening its capability to airlift soldiers, India is planning to raise 1,500 more airborne troops for deployment in the Northeast region along the China border. India is planning to raise two new battalions of the airborne troops with around 1,500 personnel under the elite Parachute Regiment of the Indian Army. The new raisings will be used to check any move by any nation to airdrop their troops within Indian territory and capture that area. The new units would also be used for the conventional roles in counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations.
arms to third world countries worth `58,000 crore in last 5 years and Pakistan remains Beijing’s primary customer for conventional weapons. China signed approximately `58,000 crore in agreements for conventional weapons systems worldwide, ranging from general purpose materiel to major weapons systems. According to reports, Chinese firms are engaged in marketing and selling its arms throughout the world
mission to Mars by the end of 2013 later this year. The launch of one more remote sensing satellite is also being planned before the end of this year. The space agency plans to launch the second navigation satellite three months after in-orbit tests of the first one and the remaining five satellites over a 14-month period by 2014-15. In February 2013 India launched the Indo-French Saral satellite.
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The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in its report has said that in India at least 3,000 children are members of militant outfits and 500 of them are in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. The recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups and militant outfits, including Naxalites, is very high and at least 3,000 children are serving such outfits. Out of which 500 are in the Northeast and
Jammu and Kashmir and about 2,500 in Naxal-affected states. The report has accused the Central Government of defending the records of the armed opposition groups on the recruitment of child soldiers before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. According to ACHR, India submitted a fake report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
June 2013
READY FOR WARFARE: Indian Army jawans during a battlefield combat training along with an Infantry Combat Vehicle
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June 2013
INDIAN ARMY
COVERSTORY
Men and Machines a Well trained, better equipped and motivated soldier can instil fear in the enemy’s mind, so important in winning wars, writes Vijainder K Thakur
COVERSTORY
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hey may not be on the TV but always in ‘Enemy Gun Sights’. That is the normal life of an infantry soldier. In peace, they serve as sentinels of the nation; and in war, they engage the enemy, neutralise him, capture and hold ground. ‘Wars are fought and won by Infantry soldiers.’ Other arms and services of the Army - armour, artillery, engineers and helicopters support infantry operations. Armour can breach enemy defences but it is the Infantry that must hold ground following an armour blitz. Artillery can soften enemy fortifications, destroy support equipment and demoralise enemy soldiers, but it is the infantry that must wrest the ground from the enfeebled enemy, thereby, giving a tangible form to victory. The boots on the ground are always those of the infantry soldier and every enemy assault rifle has infantry soldiers in its cross-hair, ready to unleash death and grief with the gentle squeeze of a trigger. The infantry soldier epitomises patriotism, tough, well trained, disciplined, and most of all, ready to lay down his life for the country. Thanks to our penchant of sensationalisation, we tend to focus more on weapons and less on the men who dedicate their lives to wielding them for their country, because weapon footage is more awe-inspiring and the wheelingdealing in their procurement more scandalous. Of course, weapons are very important. But ultimately, in winning wars, it is the men who use them. A battle is more effectively won by destroying an enemy’s will to fight, rather than by destroying the enemy. ‘A dead soldier can be replaced; a demoralised soldier makes the situation hopeless, because a dead soldier invokes anger and revenge, a demoralised soldier, fear.’ Sometimes, one gets the impression that the focus of our defence planners and Defence Research and Develop-
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ment Organisation (DRDO) on big ticket weapon systems is, perhaps, at the cost of the infantry soldier. It is a moot point whether the Agni missiles or the Airhant class ship Submersible Ballistic, Nuclear (SSBNs) would ever be used in a war, or if they could even be used in a war. But infantry soldiers have been relentlessly fighting forces inimical to the country since independence. It is their performance and sacrifice that have largely shaped our victories, and it is their neglect that has resulted in our single defeat at the hands of the Chinese in 1962. Nothing illustrates the importance of the infantry soldier more than the recent incursion by 40-50 Chinese border guards in the Despang bulge of the Daulat Beg Oldie sector in Ladakh. The handfuls of Chinese infantrymen made our nation of 1.3 billion look helpless for 20 days despite our Su-30MKI, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) and modest nuclear deterrent. When they retreated, the nation heaved a sigh of relief. Such is the power of the infantry. Today, our infantry soldier is in des-
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The F-INSAS programme, say senior Army officials, is to be seen along with the constant modernisation and restructuring of the Infantry to meet the changing threat scenario.
perate need of lightweight batteries or fuel cells to power his man-portable sensors. Struggling to breathe at an altitude of 12-18,000 ft, he is forced to lug heavy batteries to power equipment. Without the batteries, his sensors are dead weight. How much has the media discussed this
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INDIAN ARMY pro
CONSTANT VIGIL: Army jawans during training exercise ‘Rudra Akrosh’ in Punjab
problem? How much of an effort is the DRDO making to resolve it? The road to infrastructure continues to be poor, depriving the infantry of the mobility which gives it the tactical and operational flexibility that makes it more potent. It is worth repeating that a welltrained and motivated soldier can instil fear in the enemy’s mind more effectively than any weapon can. But then, the motivation of a soldier is critically dependent on his general wellbeing and weapons or equipments that he has. It is against this overall background that the Indian Army is paying a lot of attention to its Futuristic Infantry Soldier As-A-System (F-INSAS) programme—a multi-billion dollar modernisation programme that for the first time focuses on the Infantry. Of course, the F-INSAS programme, say senior Army officials, is to be seen along with the constant modernisation and restructuring of the Infantry to meet the changing threat scenario. Both China and Pakistan are nuclear armed, like India. As a result, the nature of any new war that India has to fight would be radically
June 2013
Interview
SKILL+DRILL +WILL=KILL Until recently, Lt. Gen. Jatinder Singh Bajwa was Director General Infantry. He is best described as a ‘tough as nails’ General and an affable scholar. He opted to join the infantry despite an enviable academic record at school. (He and the current Army Chief, Bikram Singh, studied at the same school: Punjab Public School, Nabha.) General Bajwa opted for the infantry over 40 years ago because, as he says, he wanted to be where the action is! He is comfortable with the high tech today, but unfazed by it. Geopolitics had an invigorating and enlightening discussion with the General, which spanned the gamut of the infantry’s current and future role, and focused on the Infantry soldier more than his equipment. Excerpts: Is the Indian soldier also better trained and proportionately more lethal than when you joined the Army?
There are three facets to an infantry soldier’s training: Training in skills which broadly includes use of individual weapons and sensors, team training, and general education in war fighting. Knowing your enemy is as much an education required at the highest field Command level as at the Section and Platoon level. An infantry soldier requires mastery in about 200 skills. The resulting simple equation is: SKILL + DRILL + WILL = KILL. When an infantry soldier goes to battle, he knows there is no turning back for him. The hallmark of an infantry soldier is his complete mastery over his arms and equipment, and an understanding of terrain that lets him leverage it to his advantage. There is no doubt that the infantry soldier today is more lethal; indeed, more lethal than the weapons and sensors because to them he adds his ingenuity.
What is the impact of Counter Insurgency (CI) operations on our soldiers? Has the added responsibility of internal security increased our vulnerability on the border, particularly at LOC and LAC? Infantry war-fighting landscape has changed. Wars won’t be fought just on the border. They will be fought on the border, deep in enemy territory, and, perhaps,
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deep in our own territory. The nature of wars has changed. The insurgency in Kashmir is really a low intensity war that the country has been fighting over the past two decades. The war within is as important to win as the war on the border. The Army is taking a holistic view when procuring equipment for its Infantry soldier. Soldiers are trained and equipped to fight in different environments and equipped accordingly.
A large number of infantry soldiers and officers are serving with formations raised for counter insurgency such as Rashtriya Rifles. Has this compromised the Army’s ability to defend our borders? No. The raising of CI formations has been well-calibrated. Any initial depletion in army strength at the time of raising CI formations has now been fully made up. So, now there is a substantial supplementary military force available for employment in certain conventional conflict contingencies.
With two hostile neighbours, long borders running through mostly difficult terrain, and multiple insurgencies, the Indian Army is clearly stretched. Serving as an infantry soldier in the Indian Army is a tough job, perhaps tougher than serving in any other Army of the world. Is the recruitment at the soldier level adequate in numbers and in quality? Recruitment isn’t a problem. Our recruitment camps attract big crowds; some-
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times they even get mobbed forcing us to seek police help! Unemployment amongst the less educated youth of the country is high and serving as a soldier is an honourable profession with good pay and pension. As to the quality of the soldiers joining, it doesn’t take long for the recruit to realise that the infantry isn’t just about smart uniform and ceremonial parades. It is for war-fighting. Wars start and end with the infantry soldiers. The feet that dare to tread on the enemy’s territory are those of infantry soldiers.
The Army is in the process of raising additional formations to meet the threat from China. Is recruiting for these formations going to be a challenge? No.
In a war soldiers die and get maimed despite the best efforts of the commanders to keep them out of harm’s way. They die in larger numbers when the commanders are willing to use them as cannon fodder. Is there a change in the Indian Army’s mindset to rely more on the lethality of weapons, rather than the bravery of its soldiers to win wars? Given enough time by the political leadership, availability of well-documented
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intelligence data and comprehensive round the clock surveillance, the infantry will not undertake frontal attack, relying instead on a swift build up of forces and weapons and targeting enemy mind through manoeuvre to exploit his weakness and vulnerabilities. Sometimes, as it happened during the Kargil operations, the enemy gains positional advantage by occupying heights. An attempt to retake the position can entail heavy casualties. Therefore, our aim should be not to let the enemy capture heights through sneak attacks. We are building intelligence capacities to enable pre-empting the enemy. The infantry is also evolving its tactics and tweaking its war-fighting manuals to reduce battlefield casualties when the enemy has positional advantage by leveraging new technology. There is much hype about the “transparency of the battlefield making night into day”, afforded through a plethora of surveillance and night vision devices, but we have been reluctant to change our existing organisation and war-fighting methods to leverage the new technology. One possible solution is to lay emphasis on “small team operations” and attacks in skirmish order, which would entail decentralised command and control to allow platoons and companies to operate independently, but in synergy to achieve the larger aim. Ingenuity often triumphs over superior firepower or locational advantage. Battlefield manoeuvring can give you a localised advantage even when the odds are stacked against you. Manoeuvring is not limited to armour formations and large battlefields. Manoeuvring can be equally effective at platoon level. Transparency coupled with lethality of the battlefield dictates small team operations, which are now easier to conduct because troops have better communication and access to realtime battlefield inputs through the varied sensors that are likely to be deployed in the conflict zone. Mind you, we are training and preparing to fight a “future” war, not 1971 war or 1999 Kargil Conflict, or depend heavily on too many lessons drawn from the Gulf Wars. Changes in environment need to be studied more to anticipate the evolution of warfare before making campaign plans. This is the “education” factor with regards to training.
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The Indian Army has looked at measures to reduce battlefield casualties. Reducing deaths due to bleeding for example. What else is being done?
Battle casualties are inevitable despite body armour, supporting fire or deft manoeuvring, because the enemy does as much to outwit you as you do to outwit the enemy! Body armour can protect you from a fatal injury by shielding your torso, but your limbs remain exposed. If you are hit by shrapnel or bullet on your leg there is no immediate danger, but you need to be evacuated to a field hospital quickly to stop the bleeding. Most battlefield fatalities are caused by an inability to evacuate the wounded in time. It takes many soldiers to evacuate a wounded colleague and an attempt to do so in the midst of a firefight is perilous. It will usually entail a withdrawal. Unfortunately, by the time the battle ends, the wounded have often bled to death. This is a stark reality. We are improving our FFD (First Field Dressing) and contents of the Medical Satchel. Considering the isolation of the infantry battle space, “First Aid” is seen as an essential ‘skill’ for an infantry soldier. Also selected soldiers are being trained as BFNAs (Battle Field Nursing Assistants) to ensure that requisite medical aid can be rendered in that period deemed as “Golden Hour” to control bleeding and administer aid in consultation with the Medical Officer, say over the radio, enhancing the chances of survival till evacuation is possible.
in Afghanistan, may not suit us in entirety. I have reservations about the shortened sensor to shooter loop, particularly in the sub-continental context of conventional wars. The Indian Army’s war aims would never entail indiscriminate destruction of life and property. The focus would be on depleting enemy strength through isolation and diminishing his will to fight. The Infantry would strike only those targets that would reduce either the enemy’s capacity or will to fight. So a direct sensor to shooter link would not be the best fit. The loop may have to be extended to allow a discretionary override. Our focus in the F-INSAS would be more on sensor hook-ups to get a composite picture of the battlefield.
Do you believe the programme will adhere to its rather ambitious timeline?
We are training and preparing to fight a “future” war, not 1971 war or 1999 Kargil conflict
Coming to F-INSAS, an infantry soldier may be disciplined, tough, lethal and brave, but is he able to handle the computers, sensors and datalinks that he becomes wired to? It’s all about the training, and no soldier is better trained than the Infantry soldier. Before they step into battle, our soldiers would know how to use the sensors and weapons as well as their own body parts. The F-INSAS concept would need to be tweaked for use by the Infantry soldier depending on the situation. The expeditionary force model of Soldier-As- A- System, like the one employed by US forces
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Yes.
Raising of additional Army formations is going to increase revenue costs, leaving less money for capital expenditure and weapon procurement. Is that something the Army and the government have factored in?
Soldiers remain combat fit barely for 15/20 years. The problem is exacerbated by the high altitude at which the LAC and the LOC run. Retaining soldiers on Army payrolls after they have served their useful life imposes a non productive cost. Retiring them early isn’t much better because of a waste of trained manpower and the associated pension liability. The Army has proposed that ex servicemen be absorbed in police and other paramilitary forces. The measure would result in dramatic cost cutting, both for the Army as well as the paramilitary / police force, as the latter wouldn’t be required to train Army personnel, as they have to the direct recruits. Unfortunately, the IA’s proposals have been consistently opposed by the bureaucracy and IPS - though the politicians understand the import of the matter, they seem helpless in the unique Indian democratic context. (V K T)
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COVERSTORY
PREPARED TO SHOOT: An Indian Army soldier with a 40mm under barrel grenade launcher attached to his rifle
different from the ones that it fought in 1962, 1965 and 1971. An all out conflict that threatens dismemberment or massive loss of territory would dangerously lower the nuclear threshold. As a result, wars between two nuclear armed adversaries are likely to be low in intensity and geographically confined, like the Kargil operations. Operating well below the nuclear threshold, the adversaries are likely to resort to intense skirmishes (punishing blows) rather than an all front (knock out) conflict. Special operations involving small teams with lethal firepower will dominate a conflict, requiring Infantry soldiers to be well armed and equipped with networked sensors and surveillance systems to help them accurately target the enemy, or call in supporting firepower from attack helicopters and aircraft. The sensor to shooter loop would need to be short. For example, infantry soldiers operating deep in enemy territory would need real time feed from sensors of an overhead Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Such an operation would require decentralised command and control with decision making responsibilities being shouldered by junior officers.
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Occasional complaints notwithstanding, the Infantry soldier today is said to be better trained, clothed, equipped and protected than 20 years back. He is typically armed with the INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifle and LMG (Light Machine Gun), which is based on the venerable Kalashnikov AK-47. INSAS weapons use 5.56 x 45mm NATO standard ammunition and can launch grenades.
Infantry battalions are being increasingly equipped with man portable anti-tank weapons and Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPADS). Battalion soldiers have access to passive night vision devices. The intelligence and surveillance platoon of Infantry battalions are starting to get man portable surveillance radars and UAV imagery. In the days ahead, these platoons would be equipped with man-portable UAV troop. More and more soldiers are getting body armour though provisioning is not yet 100 per cent. The armour is better quality and lighter than the one available to our soldiers during the Kargil operations. Infantry units have better combat engineer and air support, which, it is said, would get even better as the army expands its air arm. Programmes are underway to improve the mobility of the infantry using helicopters and Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs). Infantry battalions have undergone a lot of restructuring to absorb the new equipment being inducted. Most significant, perhaps, is the empowering of battalions to undertake their own special operations through the raising of a Ghatak (Special Forces) platoon. Every battalion has a Ghatak platoon of volunteers screened for physical and mental toughness and are trained and equipped to undertake special operations. With time, equipment and training of the Ghatak platoons are being improved regularly. F-INSAS is a programme of the Indian Army to enhance the ‘lethality, survivability, mobility, sustainability and situational awareness’ of future soldiers. It is spread over the 12th, 13th and 14th Five Year Plans (2012 to 2027) and is based on the following major technologies:
Multi-calibre modular weapons
Infantry battalions have undergone a lot of restructuring to absorb the new equipment being inducted. Most significant, perhaps, is the empowering of battalions to undertake their own special operations...
• Information, navigation and communication equipment to facilitate transmitting and receiving complex voice, data and streaming video. • Body armour and other individual equipment. • Weapon sights and hand-held target acquisition devices. • Portable computers in the shape of “wrist displays’’ for soldiers and “planning boards’’ for commanders. • Health and environment monitoring tools. Continued on page 54
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Infantry modernisation projects The F-INSAS programme isn’t the only big infantry modernization programme currently underway. There are quite a few: fantry battalions of the Army. Konkurs-M, which is locally produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), is a second generation, semiautomatic, antitank, tube launched, optically tracked, wire guided and aero-dynamically controlled missile. It is designed to destroy moving and stationary armoured targets with Explosives Reactive Armours at a range of 75 to 4000 meters. The missile is simple to operate and immune to ECM. It features a Tandem Warhead and is claimed to have a high hit and kill probability. It can be paradropped and launched either from BMP-II or from ground launcher.
Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) Modernisation Transparent Battlefield Equipment
The Army is embracing the “transparent battlefield” paradigm, and equipping itself to fight equally effective during day, or at night. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is in the process of procuring Passive Night Vision Devices (NVDs) for the infantry and Hand Held Thermal Imager (HHTI) for the mechanised infantry. Other equipment being introduced includes handheld battlefield surveillance radars (BFSRs) and stand-alone infra-red, seismic and acoustic sensors.
Anti-Tank Guided Missiles
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on October 25, 2012 cleared a MoD proposal for the purchase of 10,000 KonkursM anti-tank guided missiles worth `2,000 crore for the Mechanised Infantry and In-
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Indian Army’s entire fleet of Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICVs) comprising BMP2/2K to BMP-2M is being upgraded to enhance the fleet’s firepower and lethality at an estimated cost of `8000 crore. Upgraded ICVs will be fitted with the latest generation Fire Control System, Twin Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) Launchers, Automatic Grenade Launchers and Commander’s Thermal Imaging Panoramic sights.
Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV)
The MOD in October 2009 approved the development and procurement of a Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) for the Indian Army from indigenous sources and invited bids from Indian companies. Total order for FICV is expected to touch 2,600 over a period of 20 years; the project valued at $10 billion would be the largest indigenous defence programme
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HEMANT RAWAT
Future Projects
till date. The FICV project is strategic in dimension since it will replace the BMP2 Sarath in the Indian Army and define the Indian Army’s mobility, deployability and lethality in years to come. The Army wants a 22-24 ton, air transportable, lightly armoured, amphibious, all terrain tracked vehicle manned by a crew of three - commander, driver and gunner - and capable of transporting seven fully equipped infantrymen safely into battle, protecting them from gunfire and shrapnel. The FICV would pack the strike power of a 45 ton Main Battle Tank (MBT) and be armed with an anti-tank missile, a rapidfire cannon, a 7.62 mm machine gun, and a grenade launcher. Local firms bidding for the project are allowed to have tie-ups with foreign companies and suppliers as developing an engine and transmission for the FICV may be beyond the capability of the Indian industry at this stage. Private sector firms that submitted bids for the project in October 2010 included Mahindra Land System, L&T and Tata Motors. However, evaluation of the bids and approval, initially expected to be completed in eight months, has so far not been completed. Following technical and financial evaluation of the bids, two contenders will be invited to develop a prototype each. MOD will bankroll development costs to the extent of 80 percent, with the vendor bearing the remaining 20 per cent. The winning bidder will meet 65-70 per cent of the IA’s requirement, with the runners-up supplying the rest. VKT
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Bullet proof Jackets
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved the purchase of 1,86,000 bullet-proof jackets in 2009, but the forces are yet to acquire them and this has left the soldiers vulnerable to enemy bullets. The reason behind the delay was due to some technical problems in ballistic trials which were carried out in March 2011 and then a fresh request for proposal (RFP) had to be issued in December 2011. Till now, only six vendors have responded to the proposal. The first batch of 1,86,000 bulletproof jackets was to be purchased in the 2010 and the government planned to purchase a second batch of 1,67,627 bulletproof jackets by 2013. As the procurement of the first batch of bullet-proof jackets is way behind schedule, it is not clear how long the MoD will take to procure the entire lot. The new tender includes three categories of bullet-proof jackets based on their sizes. The small one should weigh not more than 10.1 kg and the maximum weight for medium and large-sized jackets should be 10.4 and 11.3 kg, respectively. The sizes of “soft body panel” and “hard armoured plate” vary for each category. All the bullet-proof jackets should be capable of protecting the soldiers against carbines, rifles and handguns. The bullet-proof jackets being procured for the Indian Army cost `50,000 per piece and will be at par with those being used by the US and the UK army personnel. Though the Army wanted “modular bullet-proof jackets” - parts of which can be detached and attached depending on operational needs - it is not clear if the current lot will include the modular ones or not. MoD has also issued a separate proposal for purchasing ballistic helmets as well but it does not seem to have made any headway, demonstrating India’s pathetic defence procurement process at a time when China is flexing its muscles in the Indian subcontinent.
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Continued from page 51
INDO FRENCH ties: French and Indian soldiers gearing up for a joint exercise
Multi-calibre modular weapons include close-quarter battle (CQB) carbines, assault rifles with detachable underbarrel grenade launchers, light machine guns equipped with third-generation night-vision devices and laser designators, new multi-mode grenades and disposable rocket launchers. As integral support, there will be the medium machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, new generation anti-tank guided missiles, anti-material rifles and suitable specialist vehicles to employ a portion of these in mounted mode. The infantry soldier’s primary weapon would be a modular rifle with interchangeable barrels for using different calibre ammunition - 5.56 X 45mm, 7.62 X 39mm, 7.62 X 51mm, 6.8 X 43mm and 6.5 Grendel. The rifles will feature holographic reflex sight and Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) for launching air bursting grenades. The modular design of the rifles will allow replacement of sub assemblies without specialised tools. Soldiers will use the 7.62 x 39mm barrels for counter-insurgency operations and the 5.56 x 45mm barrels for conventional warfare. Also on the Army’s shopping list, is a tripodmounted 12.7/14.5 mm heavy machine guns/Anti-Material Rifle, which can fire armourpiercing rounds. As regards the communication equipment, the currently used ‘Army Radio Engineered Network’ (AREN) is planned to be phased out and replaced by the Tactical Communication System (TCS), with high bandwidth connectivity up to brigade levels and lower bandwidth connectivity up to company
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indian army pro
Out of reach for Indian soldiers level. Tata Consultancy Services is reported to be developing the communication system, which is designed to improve situational awareness at all levels up the chain of command under the larger plan towards ‘Network Centric Warfare’. The soldier’s body armour will comprise a helmet with a visor and a light shrapnel-proof jacket worn over a weather adjustable vest. The visor will project targeting, location, navigational and other information using a helmet mounted display driven by an ‘Integrated Computer and Communication System’ with high-quality communication and data services. The system will also feature wrist display for soldiers and portable planning board for commanders, GPS, digital magnetic compass, dead reckoning module (in the case of GPS failure) and UHF and VHF communication. The army is looking for light weight and ruggedised ‘Hand Held Target Acquisition Device’ that can capture day and night view of the desired area (video and stills) and store, display and transfer the view. A medical sensor suite is planned. However, there are some F-INSAS ‘challenges’ as well. A challenge facing researchers developing the F-INSAS system is powering the electronics that come with it. There is already a concern about the overall weight burden of the F-INSAS kit on soldiers stationed at 16,000 ft altitude. Battery weight and life heighten the concern. Currently, individual systems are proposed to be powered by lightweight batteries capable of being topped up by kinetic chargers fitted on a soldier’s boots, and small lightweight solar panels. Back at base or in a vehicle, soldiers will be able to charge their batteries conventionally. A former fighter pilot, the author writes on security issues
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geopolitics INTERNAL SECURITY
TIME TO IMPROVE
With the passage of time and emerging challenges, “Indian Police” needs comprehensive reforms
internal security
b r ief s
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with five states, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand shared information about rebel movements, weapons and equipment used and have agreed to launch simultaneous operations in case of any attack by Maoists. This was decided at the interstate police meeting convened by the NIA in April. The NIA shared its findings and revealed how foreign made weapons reached Jharkhand. Last year, huge consignments of foreign arms and ammunition were seized by Jharkhand police.
Frail Intel setup
To further beef up the country's coastal security, the Ministry of Home Affairs is planning to install Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) tags and hi-tech chips on vessels plying the Indian waters that will help to track the movement of the boat and will have information regarding the people
and cargo on board. This will store the data regarding the identification and background info of the owners and the workers fitted on the boats, which the MHA officials believe can successfully plug a security breach. The pilot project has already started at Porbandar in Gujarat and in Odisha.
Pepper guns for Haryana
The Haryana state government is all set to replace lathis used by police with pepper-ball guns as part of its modernisation plans. The plan is being carried out by the state government to avoid firing casualities during mob control. The government is planning to buy 25 guns to fire chilli balls to control mobs. A pepper-ball
gun looks and works like a paintball gun and fires chilli balls like bullets which would burst immediately after hitting a target. Earlier, Haryana police used rubber bullets to control mobs but they proved fatal on several occasions. After that teargas and water cannons were the only non-lethal weapons used by Haryana police.
HEMANT RAWAT
NIA-States to work in tandem
RF-ID tags on vessels
FLICKR
Apex court on police reforms
In view of the proposed police reforms and constituting of State Security Commission (SSC), the Supreme Court has directed the Chief Secretaries of Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa to file their affidavits on compliance of its directions on police reforms and SSC. The apex court had sought from the Chief Secretaries details of the work done on constituting the SSC and also directed them to provide the minutes of the meetings. The bench will also consider giving any further direction and whether the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court can be asked to monitor the functioning of the SSC in the next hearing.
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Women to guard politicians
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seemed unsatisfied over the work of the intelligence setup in various states. The MHA had been advising states on the need to strengthen their intelligence setup but had “not seen much progress” on that front. Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh made a strong pitch for setting up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) to strengthen intelligence gathering in his statement given to the Rajya Sabha.
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An elite Special Protection Group of women commandos deputed from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is all set to guard high profile politicians from the Congress which includes Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka
Vadra and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s wife, Gursharan Kaur. The CISF has asked all its units to send nominations of women personnel below 35 years of age for deputation to the SPG. The agency is already guarding the PM and his immediate family, former PMs and Sonia Gandhi and her children. The SPG will now be getting women personnel of the ranks of inspector, subinspector, head constable and constable on deputation from the CISF.
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Govt to infringe
The government has initiated a project called the Central Monitoring System (CMS) giving it access to everything that happens over India's telecommunications network: online activities, phone calls, text messages and even social media conversations. It will be the single window from where government arms such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the tax authorities will be able to monitor every byte of communication. Privacy and Internet freedom advocates are concerned
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New Home Secretary from J&K
HEMANT RAWAT
Senior IAS officer Anil Goswami from Jammu and Kashmir has been appointed as the new Home Secretary and will have a two-year tenure from June-end. Anil
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) women personnel will shun saris and switch entirely to wearing shirts and trousers while on duty as per a committee's recommendations. The committee pitched for a change in uniform for women personnel. They are currently provided with two sets of uniforms, a sari and a shirt and pair of trousers. At places like the Delhi Metro or the airports, they have the choice to wear either kind of uniform, but are usually seen in a shirt and trousers for convenience. At PSUs and at functions attended by top political and constitutional functionaries, the CISF women are supposed to wear saris.
More women in police forces
In view of rising crimes against women, the Home Ministry will devote an entire session over this grave issue during the upcoming Chief Ministers' conference. The Home Ministry will also ask all state governments to aim for 30 per cent reservation for women in their respective police forces and an assessment of the present percentage of representation will also be carried out. According to the
Bureau of Police Research and Development as on January 1, 2012, there were only 84,479 women cops against a total strength of 15.85 lakh, which translates into a women representation percentage of just about 5 per cent.
public privacy that the government could end up snooping on people, possibly abusing a system that does not have enough safeguards to protect ordinary citizens. Work on `400 crore system has been kept under wraps for nearly two years. India has over 100 million users and is one of the fastest growing internet market in the world and incidentally, in the second half of 2012, the government made nearly 2,500 requests to Google for seeking information.
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Abolish orderly system
H C TIWARI
PIB
No saris for CISF women
Goswami is the first bureaucrat from Jammu and Kashmir cadre to be appointed to the top post. Anil Goswami was serving as Secretary in Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment before being appointed as new home secretary. He had in the past served in both the Jammu and Kashmir government as well as the Central governments in different capacities and was the first Chief Executive of the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board after it was taken over by the Government in early 1990s.
FLICKR
Modernising paramilitary forces
HEMANT RAWAT
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved a `11,000-crore project for the modernisation of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) including the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). The project will provide a futuristic and advanced look to India's coveted defence brigade. The project will be implemented
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The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home asked the Centre to abolish the 'orderly system' in police maintaining that the system affected the morale of personnel. The committee also wanted the government to issue a "mandatory direction" to all heads of forces including the Delhi Police to not use any security personnel or police personnel as drivers, washermen, or peons. If the government acts upon the committee's recommendation, it will spare thousands of trained hands for actual policing jobs at a time when the country faces a shortage of over 5.39 lakh police personnel.
on all paramilitary forces including Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), National Security Guards (NSG) and Assam Rifles along with ITBP. The modernisation includes providing more sophisticated arms, ammunition, night vision devices, patrolling equipment and vehicles and will be spent in the next five years, beginning this financial year. June 2013
INTERNALSECURITY
PERPLEXING POL
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Incoherent supervision and increasing politicisation of the Indian Police with multiplying adverse fallouts make it imperative for a comprehensive review of the police system in the country, argues Ajay K Mehra
ICING www.geopolitics.in
H C TIWARI
T
he debate on police reforms in India that sharpened following the Supreme Court’s decision on former BSF chief Prakash Singh’s PIL in 2006, though without much effect on the ground, has again been pushed into the public domain with a series of interrelated events in the past few years. A number of corruption cases recently, more particularly the coal scam, brought the charge against (then) Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar (since resigned) of summoning the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief with report on investigations on the scam and vetting the report before it was submitted to the Supreme Court. A fuming apex court observed that the CBI was like a ‘caged parrot’ (of the government) and that it should stand up to all (political) ‘pulls and pressures’ and not share its probe with anyone (in the government). CBI chief Ranjit Sinha agreed with the Supreme Court’s observations that the agency lacked independence of action as it was a ‘caged parrot’ with many masters. CBI is an institution of special investigative policing. Even the Intelligence Bureau, a more specialised agency, invited an uncharitable comment from the Bengaluru bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal: ‘It is like a chicken. A bird? Yes, can it fly? No,’ it also directed the Union Cabinet Secretary to head a nine-member panel to bring about integral competency and specific accountability of all intelligence services. More significant is a recent report from Maharashtra that State Home Minister R R Patil had taken over transfer and posting of thana-level officers from the police leadership and that he had been interfering with policing matters, too. Earlier, the handling by Delhi Police of a dharna by Baba Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi (2011), the Anna Hazare movement against corruption, also at Ramlila Maidan (2012) and December 2012 brutal rape of a girl named ‘Nirbhay’, invited criticism and intense public protest. While in the Ramdev case, the police
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is still explaining the use of force in the court, in the last case, the Supreme Court questioned the Delhi Police’s efficiency in crime prevention and commented on its use of force on the protestors saying that ‘Delhi Police has gone berserk … even animals behave better’. The case of a woman who complained of being sexually harassed by truck drivers being beaten up mercilessly by Punjab Police in Tarn Taran invited a strong reaction by the Supreme Court that clubbed similar such cases in other states, ‘We are bothered about what happens daily on the streets… helpless women are beaten up mercilessly’. The CBI is an agency under the Union government so is the Delhi Police. However, the police in India are statutorily (entries 1 and 2 of List II, Schedule 7, Constitution of India) under State governments. Hence, despite relevant entries of List I (2A, 8 and 9) and reinforced further with entries 1,2,3 and 4 of List III, police and policing are the arenas of state-action. India’s public security architecture is holistically an area of cooperative federalism. Keeping in view the transformation of the Indian political turf during the past three decades into an arena of contested federalism, it is not surprising that policing is emerging among the most contested one and this is where one would place the third recent notable contestation in policing: several States ruled by parties other than the Congress challenging the creation of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) as an attack on the State autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution.
Mired in troubled legacy
Within four decades of organising policing in India on a uniform basis following the 1857 revolt and the Indian Police Act 1861, the Indian Police (Fraser) Commission in 1902 said: ‘The police force is far from efficient; it is defective in training and organisation; it is inadequately supervised; it is generally regarded as corrupt and oppressive; and it has utterly failed to secure the confidence and cordial cooperation of the people.’ Similar views were expressed
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by all the Police Commissions appointed by various States following independence during the 1960s and 1970s. However, the pithiest remark on the police came from Justice A N Mulla of the Allahabad High Court in a case of fabrication of evidence, ‘there is not a single lawless group in the whole of the country whose record of crime comes anywhere near the record of
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that organised unit which is known as the Indian police.’ Obviously, the legacy has travelled from the mid-1960s to the second decade of the 21st century. This is a reflection of a continuing institutional malaise to which politicisation was added after independence and this has happened primarily in states. The recent order by the Maharashtra Home
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Minister to take away transfer and promotion of officers above the rank of SubInspector from the organisational chain of command, vesting these powers in the ministry, i.e., directly under the political leadership is the most recent example, for it institutionalises the process of politicisation of police. Transfers and postings in the police are handled by police headquarters and promotions at two levels. Police headquarters in each state takes care of promotion of officers from constables to Inspectors, while the senior officers are promoted by the state cabinet. The system is meant to ensure chain of command, professionalism and discipline in police organisation. For, both transfers and promotion at the cutting edge level is linked to ground level continuing assessment of professional efficiency by the organisational leadership, while at the higher level it is also a matter of accountability to the elected government. Patil’s move not only strikes at the time-tested process of professional functioning of the police, which in India is in any way at the low level of professionalism, but intensifies, centralises and institutionalises processes of political interference and politicisation. Whether or not other states would follow suit, this comes at a time when informally politicisation of the police is an established fact. Each regime change, not merely of the party through an election, but also during the rule of the same party, witnesses largescale transfers, more particularly in police. Despite the statutory hawk eye of the Election Commission on transfers once the election schedule is announced, parties in power in states effect transfers before the announcement. In fact, transfers to police stations are reported also to have been commercialised; ‘lucrative’ police stations are allegedly auctioned. Though definite information on it is not available, in an atmosphere of distrust, this is taken to be true. Appointment to the apex post in police was politicised in later part of 1960s; the situation since then has reached ludicrous levels, as some police chiefs claim to have been removed at the behest of certain Station House Officers with political reach. Not surprising, as the fourth general election in 1967 witnessed displacement of suave urbane political elite with rural elites; while the former could connect with urbane police leaders and use
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politically inclined ones to effect changes in police stations to suit their needs, the latter was more comfortable with the SHO level officers and did not feel the need to go the leadership to have their work done. It was a paradigm shift in Indian politics, and so in the Indian police. The chain of command could never be the same, yet it was not completely deconstructed. However, the current move by R R Patil is sure to prove completely destructive for the organisational structure and culture of the police. We need to refer here to the Supreme Court order of 2006 for police reforms and a series of suggestions that were made in the Model Police Act drafted by Soli Sorabjee Committee following that to enhance public participation in policing and reduce political interference while strengthening accountability structures. Formation of State Security Commissions and State Police Boards to depoliticise and denepotise transfers, postings and appointment to top posts and district and local level committees to bring people and police face to face in a cooperative endeavour to maintain peace and fight crime were some of the suggested measures that have gone completely unheeded. All the political parties are in the dock under the current political situation of India. Functional autonomy of the police within the larger framework of the rule of law is a major question that deserves attention. Administration and superintendence are of significance in this context, vaguely mentioned in the Indian Police Act 1861 have often been misused. There is a need to precisely define and accordingly operationalise these two and ensure that investigation reports, aside from being shared in the department with relevant officers should be presented only to the court, which too may ask for a reinvestigation in case of deficiencies, but should not direct as to how an investigation should take place.
States and the Centre
The move in Maharashtra is under Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition, UPA partners at the Centre. It is unlikely that the troubled UPA and Congress would take any step to rectify this. The states in India, ruled for the past three decades by various national and regional parties continue to pass the buck
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Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil’s decision to take away promotion and transfer powers from seniors has been another contentious move by the Indian political system.
Apex Court, terming CBI chief, Ranjit Sinha “a caged parrot” (of the government is another example of political interfernce in the policing system of India.
to the Centre while reneging their own responsibilities. Politicisation is only one of the many shortcomings, though an overwhelming one, afflicting state after state. The situation gets further complicated due to criminalisation of politics. The killing of a Deputy Superintendent of Police in March in UP allegedly by or at the behest of Raja Bhaiya, the uncrowned king of Kunda with many criminal cases against him, who then held the chair of Minister of Food and Civil Supplies and Jail in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet, is only an indicator of the extent to which criminalisation of politics can hamper policing and this extent has objectively crossed all democratic and institutional limits. Unfilled vacancies, undertrained personnel, rising crime, violent challenges such as terrorism and Naxalism and increasing traditional as well as technology-led complexities of policing are other major issues that most state governments have failed to tackle and there is little that the states have done to augment organisational efficacy of the police to meet these challenges. This brings us to the third point referred at the outset, i.e., beyond vesting the responsibility of policing in states; the constitution of the country creates an arrangement for cooperative federalism. As public security gets complex, needing interstate cooperation as well as linking with the Union government and its agencies, it must also acquire a bipartisan character where parties ruling India develop modalities of cooperating in a consensual model. The recent controversy with regard to creating a National Coun-
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ter Terrorism Centre, where non-UPA states blamed the Union government of violating federal spirit of the constitution, was avoidable to say the least. Obviously, none of these have studied the second Centre-State Commission report (Chapter 5) and the report of the Task Force 5 of the Commission (both are available at the Inter-state Council Secretariat) where NCTC was strongly recommended following the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. Given the emerging federal texture of the polity, it is significant that Union and state governments discuss and design instruments and institution of federal policing.
Lax Centre
Coming back to the first point made at the outset, the questions emerging on CBI and the ways and means to make it ‘autonomous’ need closer scrutiny. The CBI, so named in 1963, and having acquired its extended mandate in 1965, originated with Special Police Establishment set up in 1941 to investigate cases of bribery and corruption in transactions with the War & Supply Department during World War II. After the War, the need for a Central Government agency to investigate cases of bribery and corruption by Central Government led to its transformation in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act in 1946. Now under Department of Personnel and Training, the agency has been drawing flak for functioning under political pressure, though state governments too have been inconsistent in their cooperation. The major flaw is in its partisan use, influencing its investigation and appointment of its lawyers by the government. In effect, this means lack of autonomy. The suggestions to grant CBI a statutory status, budgeted to consolidated fund of India and the chief being selected by a collegium of the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India seems to have merit. The CBI should be empowered to select its advocate from empanelled advocates by the Ministry of Law. Public security architecture in India deserves autonomy of action under a sound accountability structure unfettered by political influence in public interest. The author teaches at Delhi University and is Honorary Director, Centre for Public Affairs, Noida
June 2013
SECURING INDIA AND ITS To stop terrorist networks from proliferating, it is time for India to set up its Homeland Security system. Sanjay Sahay believes that such a system will be a success provided administrative mechanisms, technologies and a managerial component to create and run the system are integrated www.geopolitics.in
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he attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001 has been, by far, the single most important event in the history of the modern world and more so because it forced the world to change its perception about the nature of organisation, the usage of technology, the responses, the consolidation of activities and spread of mechanisms needed to thwart ever-growing terrorism the world over. The creation of the Department for Homeland Security in the US has been the singular event that has brought about transformational change in the philosophy, blueprint and execution of any counter-terrorism initiative. The last 12 years stand as a tribute to the work being done ceaselessly by this organisation and its demonstrated capability of keeping the US safe and sound since 2001.
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professional expertise and also the capability to legislate and lay down correct operating procedures and also put in place the monitoring, supervision and oversight mechanism. In India a plug and play mechanism is still a long way off and so a technological framework is the need of the hour. This would lay a solid foundation for Homeland Security in India besides the CCTNS and NATGRID projects which aim at providing information to the police in general and thus caters to the anti-terror segment as well, sometimes directly and at other times indirectly.
CITIES As public safety and security are meaningless without talking about the anti-terror mechanism — that also takes care of most of organised crime — 0ne keeps on straying into this sector till the time one realises that Homeland Security was the future of internal security. Homeland Security pertains to the anti-terror mechanism laid and operated in the US. The features and functionalities remain the same across the globe; the difference is manifested in the technical and police
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Mega City
The Mega City Policing Project initiated in 2005 underlined the criticality of big cities as the economic growth engines of the nation and a counter-terrorism mechanism for these cities would be a formidable beginning in our war against terrorism. The consolidation of the same would lead to the connecting of the cities on a national network, functionally and otherwise, and help facilitate the extension of the network across the country at a later stage. Even if we consider 9/11 as the first major city terrorist attack, there is no denying the fact that the world is replete with incidents when its major cities have been the target of terrorist attacks and that life in the city and country got completely paralyzed. Returning to normalcy became a nearly insurmountable task,
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with the economy shaken to the core. The Mumbai 26/11 is a case in point and all of us have nearly accepted the fact that terrorist attacks are a part of city living and we have to live with it. In fact, there is no single Indian big city which has not been the target of this attack. How do we leverage technology to counter terrorism? The gaping holes in the technologies used for Homeland Security and its spread has a singularly dangerous impact on the counter terrorism scenario in the country. We intend to achieve the functionalities when the basic issues related to execution, backend processes and its robustness is still in question. The need of the hour is the identification of technological platforms as the first foundation stone of Homeland Security in India.
Technological Framework (TFSSC)
Technological Framework intends to be the game changer for Homeland Security, providing the precursor to generate the functionalities and the output of the Homeland Security System. Lack of standardisation and uniformity of technological platforms has been the major drawback. This is the basis for the creation of smart cities and their integration, a technological framework on which the nation’s Homeland Security Mechanism would function. This would lead to the creation of a National Homeland Security Resource Base and Incident Support Sys-
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tem (NHLS-RBISS).
Command and Control Centre (CCC)
City based command and control centres integrating all feeds — radio, audio, video, text, data, images and graphics from different channels — through a viable command and control centre software, creating in the process a state-of-the-art C4I command and control centre. It would have the capability to handle the worst of terror attacks and natural disasters at one end and day-to-day responsive policing at the other end.
Interception Systems (IS)
The capability to monitor and penetrate into any mode of communication and storage for the required suspected information/data and the capability to analyse and connect to our requirements on a real-time basis is the urgent need and utility of the Interception Systems which need to be put in place, upgraded or scaled up, as the case may be.
City Based Video Surveillance System (CBVSS)
Geospatial Technology for HLS (GTHLS)
Conventional inputs are unable to provide actionable data. The map of today is geospatial imagery/information, the third eye as it is nicknamed. Geospatial products and intelligence are critical to planning, preparation and response to terror attacks, natural and other disasters and supports incident management. It is a great tool for regulation, enforcement, monitoring and supervision.
ERP Solution, RDBMS and Integration (ERI)
RDBMS is critical to the functioning of any organisation and ERP provides for populating the data on a real-time basis, bringing the complete functioning of the department on the ERP, in Karnataka for example, the Police IT. The integration of the legacy systems with the ERP provides for the functionalities with which the endusers have been accustomed for long, on a single sign in, sign out concept.
Managerial Response to War on Terror (MRWT)
Gap analysis shows a huge gap in the learning, enactments technological CBVSS has the skills and attitude framework proven track reof internal secord for providing curity managers the best informawhich ought to be NCBVS tion (video footbridged. Human SYSTEM age) to investiresources should gators of terror be better than the administrative Managerial attacks across technical system integration resource the globe, Ajmal created and made Kasab, being the functional. Utility is how best we prime example utilise. Innovative methods inclusive of here. Technologically, way ahead of CCTV outbound learning need to be inculcated networks, with video analytics in-built as a part of high-end training. Change into the system, it helps find meaning in management is the most critical compohours and hours of video footage, giving nent of our way forward. Professionalism the precise output and the connects the leading to globally accepted deliverables investigator is looking for. It is a deterrent is the ultimate value addition. and a must for any big city today.
TETRA Radio Network (TRN)
TETRA telecommunications system takes police communication to the fully digital mode with a complete integration of all communication gadgets and delivery of high quality voice/data and other related outputs. TETRA eludes India. In reality it is an excellent public safety communication network, improving our response to War on Terror, organized crime and disaster management.
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Integration to NHLS-RBISS
All the technologies are extremely complex given the nature of planning, execution, robust functioning for a country the size of India and differential levels of technologies and differential levels of mental frames in existence in the establishment. All the mentioned technologies have to be executed at the division level in each of the seven cities, then integrated intra at the city level and integrated inter at the
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national level. For technologies that cannot be broken down to the division level, the infrastructure has to be created at the city level and integrated at the national level. Needless to say, it will not need intra-city integration. National integration of a single technology can be done at any desired place — depending on many critical inputs and the integration of all technologies — I feel should be done in or around Delhi and a mirror image of the same at a strategic location selected after considering all critical inputs. This integrated network would be called the National Homeland Security — Resource Base and Incident Support System (NHLS - RBISS)
National Homeland Security Blueprint
The beginning of this grandiose plan set to have a transformational impact on the Homeland Security scenario of the country is yet to be made. The world’s best buildings were a blueprint one day. A blueprint is the first to crystallise our thoughts, it could take a large number of revisions, nonetheless it has to start. Time seems to be running out. A documentary shape to this dream can be given by way of National Homeland Security Blueprint, which would later become a proof of concept and finally a working document ushering in the Homeland Security age in India, a robust Homeland Security functional mechanism, thus taking this dialogue to its logical conclusion. The American experience and its successes have been the reference points worldwide; our journey, at best, can be marginally different. The integration of administrative mechanisms, the geographies, the technologies and an ideal managerial component to create and run the system is only way out of the whirlpool we are in. Any delay will lead to resurrection, that is more and more difficult, and the chance of catching up with the enemies of mankind and beating them might be lost for a considerable time to come with unimaginable adverse impact on the economy, society, polity and the Indian psyche. National resolve is to solve the most intractable issue that terrorism is. The Technological Framework for the Homeland Security System that has been discussed in the article has been conceptualised by the writer who is Inspector General of Police Eastern Range Davangere, Karnataka
June 2013
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India & China are expected to play major roles in facing the emerging global challenges
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Barack Obama had, on his second day in the White House, signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba that had been established to (illegally) detain and interrogate suspected terrorists. This order was to be implemented within a year, but more than four years later, the facility still holds prisoners and continues to function full throttle. The Guantanamo bay detention facility issue was a central pillar of Barack Obama’s presidential election campaign in 2008 but all that seems to have changed now with no steps having been taken in these years.
Sharif Saga In the recent Pakistani parliamentary elections, Nawaz Sharif won enough seats to not face coalition pressures to push through needed reforms. These elections were Pakistan’s first democratic handing over of power since 1947. Sharif’s government will face problems ranging from power crisis, failing economy, Taliban resurgence and international relations with both the US and India. He now inherits an overall policy failure and faces a tough road ahead. Nawaz Sharif has previously been elected Prime Minister twice but has never been able to complete a term, the previous being the infamous overthrow and coup-d’état by General Pervez Musharraf, who interestingly also aimed at contesting these elections but his candidacy was rejected and he was arrested on orders from the Pakistan courts.
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The issue has once again come to the front in light of UN Human Rights experts calling for the facility to be closed as prisoners started to participate in a hunger strike that ultimately led to force-feeding. This caused Obama to once again renew his vow to close Gitmo saying that the facility is expensive, inefficient and damaging to America’s international standing and saying that the facility acts as a potential recruitment tool for extremists. Although it seems that Obama is committed to shut down the illegal facility, the US President is likely to need Republican support to close the base.
Shinzonomics Shinzo Abe, who earlier resigned just after a year as Prime Minister, is today a changed man. Not more than five months into his second term, he has put the Japanese economy back on track. His growth strategy is designed to get the economy out of a two-decade suspension by injecting new energy into Japan’s bureaucracy. The PM has laid out a plan of geopolitical rebranding and constitutional change that is meant to return Japan to what he thinks is its rightful place as world
power. He has been taking steps to electrify a nation that had lost faith in its political class: simply put, he has taken up the impossible task of pulling Japan out of its slump. One must note that after two decades, Japan’s nominal GDP is now the same as it was in 1991. If his plans are even half successful, he could go down in the history books as a great Prime Minister.
RAFSANJANI STUMPED In Iran, the president is elected for a four-year term in a national election, but the Guardian Council, a body controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, must first vet each registered candidate to ensure they satisfy the required criteria to serve as president. Therefore, when newspaper headlines across Tehran declared Hashemi Rafsanjani, the reformist-leaning former president, to be a registered candidate for the presidential elections in Iran this June, even political observers were stunned. But all that has now changed with the Guardian Council having changed its
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decision and cancelling Rafsanjani’s candidature. Rafsanjani is one of the founding members of Iran’s clerical government and served as president from 1989-1997 and is the founder of Iran’s nuclear programme. He is also in the expediency council, which holds an advisory role to the supreme leader. The possibility that Rafsanjani might recalibrate domestic and foreign policies to limit economic and diplomatic stress had already led to a groundswell of public support for him and his candidacy.
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KARZAI SEEKS INDIAN MILITARY AID In an attempt to better ties both economic and military - Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited New Delhi in May and discussed potential arms deals. This trip came at a time when tensions ran high at the Pak-Afghan disputed Durand line. At a time when Nawaz Sharif has just entered office in Pakistan and is trying to re-establish friendly ties with India, the move has riled Islamabad as it has for long resisted Indian involvement in Afghanistan fearing encirclement. Karzai’s concern for security and for strengthening Afghanistan’s strategic and security institutions comes at a time when Western military withdrawal draws near. Till date, Afghanistan and India have signed agreements ranging from strategic pacts to military training and arms pacts.
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Malaysian Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) leader Waytha Moorthy Ponnuswamy hit the Cabinet jackpot as Prime Minister Najib Razak announced his executive lineup. Waythamoorthy, a Malayasian lawyer of Tamil origin who fights discrimination against Malaysian Hindus, has been appointed a Deputy Minister and also appointed to the Senate. The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak redeemed his election pledge and unveiled the ‘transfor-
mation agenda’ by appointing him. Waythamoorthy is currently seeking to strike out Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution which acknowledges Malay supremacy and also wants the court to declare that Malaysia is a secular state and not an Islamic one. Prior to these elections, Waytha - as chief of HINDRAF - signed a MoU of support with Razak as he said that only the ruling coalition could take care of the Indian community’s welfare.
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Top Gun Leaving Cape Christine Fox, head of the US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel’s much- anticipated strategic review is leaving her post. As Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE), she has been a key player in the development of some of the Obama administration’s top national security strategy documents at the Pentagon. She has been a critical advisor to three secretaries including Hagel. Fox is considered as one of the preeminent and essential figures in the Office of the Secretary of Defence. As the top costing official, she is responsible for independently determining what any defence equipment would actually cost the taxpayers. Previously the president of the Centre for Naval Analyses, Fox held the position of an analyst at the actual Top Gun school and in the 1980s and acted as the inspiration for the Kelly McGillis character, Charlie.
MALDIVIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE
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Mohammed Nasheed Maldives will hold its 10th presidential election in September 2013 with both the incumbent Mohammed Waheed Hassan and the ousted Mohammed Nasheed contesting against each other. Waheed Hassan had earlier in February removed Nasheed by force
in a coup-d’état. Meanwhile, the war of words between continues and Nasheed calls Waheed’s government a dictatorship. Along with Nasheed, several leaders, currently aligned with Waheed, have publicly announced their candidature. Nasheed has
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Mohammed Waheed Hassan predicted that he will win the election in the first round. He has claimed that the country had tasted the ‘bitter lesson’ of incapability of coalition governments and described the idea of coalition governments as in contrast to the spirit of the constitution.
June 2013
India’s eye on Mediterranean and beyond
Israel will always remain a long- term ally of India, whatever be the nature of the governments in New Delhi and Tel Aviv points out Alexander Murinson
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ccording to an expert in geopolitics, Praker Bandimutt, at the beginning of the 21st century, the old adage about the role of NATO in Europe should be rephrased as the following: “What is the purpose of international affairs?” and the answer is: “To keep the Americans in, the Americans out, and the Americans down. “ The United States, as the world’s only superpower, provide the only game in town. How does a nation play this new game, depends on what it needs most and desire most. The Mediterranean is the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian civilisation. The Mediterranean Sea has served for millennia as the main commercial and military thoroughfare and it continues to command
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the attention of military strategists. Almost 90 years before Samuel Huntington wrote his famous essay on the impending clash of civilisations and later developed it into a book with the same title. Bipin Chandra Pal, a Hindu nationalist leader of India’s freedom movement, had foreseen this clash among various civilisations and predicted that the Hindu civilisation will side with the Judeo-Christian in West in its war against Islamic and Chinese civilisations. The ascending economic giants, China and India, are likely to challenge the supremacy of the Western countries, especially of the United States, as economic and military powers in the second half of this century. India serves as a dynamo of global economy (especially in the high-
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tech, Internet help-desk outsourcing and computer technology, and space exploration) and a real challenger to the rising power of China. Indian strategists are acutely aware of the coming geopolitical competition with China. Since India has become a nuclear power in the late 1990s, its significance for the United States has dramatically increased. The United States and its allies perceive, India as a swing state in the global power game. If India desires to become a major pillar in the international system in the 21st century, it has to evolve into a major sea power. In fact, Indian strategic thinkers agrees with such a role for their country. Pakistan military’s Patron Lt Gen (Retd.) Sardar F.S. Lodi argues that “The great Oceans of the world have at least two or more littoral states with both maritime and economic strength to provide a power-balance. But in the Indian Ocean it is only India among its littoral states that has the economic potential, military strength and the political will to dominate this vast expanse of water to the detriment of her
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Proposed Oil and Gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to India
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FUTURE PLAN: The proposed oil and gas pipeline which will be built through Turkmenistan to India
small neighbours.” Lodi acknowledges that Indian navy might play much greater role in the global affairs in the close future: “The present Indian Naval strength, their development plans, composition of the various carrier groups and fleets, is far beyond their legitimate defence needs particularly when there is no apparent maritime threat to India.” This strategic choice necessitates projection of its power into the Mediterranean or establishing (or rather extending) of an important linkage with the existing marine corridor: Azerbaijan-TurkeyIsrael, which allows the East-West rather than North-South option for Indian energy security policy. Historically, the eastern Mediterranean was geographically defined as the ‘near’ East — the lands of the eastern Mediterranean sometimes also known as the Levant. This orientation provides an extra benefit to India as it coincides with the American Grand Strategy since the second Clinton administration (1994-1998.) The United States in its efforts to contain the expansionist Iran
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(aligned with Russia) sought to enhance its allies and formed close ties with Mediterranean regional powers such as Israel and Turkey.
Defence Cooperation
It were primarily the Jews and the Parsis from Persia who “brought the benefits of maritime trade along with the economic and social progress” to the Indian sub-continent. Given the Indian long-standing threat perception from its neighbours, especially Pakistan, can endanger its land mass and sea communication channels. It is necessary for India to look for allies with anti-Islamic orientation in such important region as the Mediterranean. The increased capability of Israeli navy to project its power in the Mediterranean and access to the Red Sea makes it an ideal partner for India, in the regional balance of power. Israel’s acquisition of the Dolphin-class diesel submarines capable of delivering nuclear and conventional strikes in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf provides it with ability to respond to non-conventional threats from the Muslim world. A strategic understanding of Israel with India could allow Israeli submarines to find safe haven in the Indian ports
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on the Western Coast the Mediterranean. Another important factor in India’s future naval projection is the access to the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aqaba. This asset allows an alternative direct route of communication for India with the Mediterranean region. The completion of transportation corridor from the Caspian brings multiple opportunities for the future cooperation in fields such as energy, aerospace, defence and Internet communications and other high-tech areas. While the Tehran-Moscow-Beijing axis has taken more concrete shape after the meeting between former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the Russian ambassador, Aleksandr Maryasov, on 13 August 2001, it is prudent for India to firm up its strategic relationship with Israel. The parties involved already took the initial steps in this direction. The United States approved a transfer of missile technology to India after a joint memorandum was signed concerning the Arrow theatre missile defence in January 2002. This memorandum allowed Israeli defence minister Benjamin BenEliezer to express publicly Israeli intention to export the missile defence technologies to India in February 2002. By 2004, India acquired the
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oil and gas hub: The Mediterranean Region where oil and gas reserves are located in large quantities
advanced ‘Green Pine’ fire control radars from Israel. The ‘Green Pine’ radar is an integral component of the Arrow antimissile defence system. Negotiations on acquiring missile defence systems however did not make much headway after the coming of UPA government to power. India spends an annual $2 billion on purchase of foreign weapons systems. A significant part of this expenditure goes to Israeli Defence Industry. Despite the longstanding military cooperation with Russia, Indian political elites recognise the growing significance of cooperation with Israel. But the domestic politics of India is affecting the relationship with Israel. This became especially apparent with the electoral victory of the left-leaning coalition led by the Congress Party. With the coming to power of the new government in India in 2004, several other projects with Israeli military industry were suspended. India suspended the purchase of such systems as 16 Heron UAV’s and advanced Israeli howitzers. At the same time, the Congress Party government authorised the purchase of three Israeli systems of Falcon early warning radars. Israel and India also co-operate in the aerospace programme, as Israel launched its most sophisticated spy satellite to monitor nuclear and other military developments in Iran with the aid of India. On January 21, 2008, an Israeli Tescar satellite was propelled into space by the Indianmade rocket from the Sriharikota space station in India.
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is another area of growing cooperation between India, Israel and Turkey. This vector of the trilateral cooperation emerged because India and other pro-Western countries of the eastern Mediterranean are exposed to a growing threat of terrorism, potentially with the use of Weapon of Mass Destructions (WMDs). Even the change from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance to the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has not affected the growing cooperation in training and technology transfer for anti-terrorist operations between India and Israel. The Indo-Israeli
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Joint Working Group (JWG), established in 2000 to strengthen cooperation between the two states on counter-terrorism, has been meeting annually. The then Indian National Security Advisor, Brajesh Mishra, proposed that India, Israel, and the United States should unite to combat the common threat of Islamic fundamentalism in the speech to the American Jewish Committee in Washington in May 2003. He argued that democratic nations that face the menace of international terrorism should form a ‘viable alliance’ and develop multilateral mechanisms to counter this menace.
Energy security
Energy security, as a part of national security, has been the classical preoccupation of the political elite in the United States. But since globalisation has become the dominant force animating the economic reality of the international community, energy security has reached the top of the international agenda. In the globalised world economy, competition for the control of primary resources increases. Energy security has become integrally interlinked with issues of global security. India in order to boost its energy se-
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curity in view of the chronic instability that affects the alternative route, i.e. the crescent of Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran, needs to implement a forward-thinking policy and link up with the East-West corridor that transports the hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian region. This corridor, called the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), is supported by the United States and the European Union. The Mediterranean region is connected to the Caspian region by an increasing number of communication projects (including oil and natural gas pipelines, highways and the recently
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Leviathan gas and oil field Tamar gas and oil field
protected by the Israeli military. It would channel oil back to the Asian markets via the Red Sea. This dramatic rerouting of Central Asian oil and gas via the Eastern Mediterranean inevitably undermines the ‘direct corridor trading routes’ between the producing countries in Central Asia and their South and East Asian trading partners, including India and China.
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announced the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway that will extended to a trans-Central Asian railway link to China) that passes through the territory of Turkey. Recent discoveries of gas in the Leviathan and Tamar fields in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea have the potential to turn Israel into an important player in the natural gas industry. Estimates show that Leviathan has some 16 trillion cubic feet of gas, worth over US$160 billion. Tamar has an estimated eight trillion cubic feet of gas, and production has already started last month. India will certainly benefit from Israel’s government plan to sell a part of this windfall to the Asian players. The Suez Canal presents one of the passages avoiding two of the world’s most strategic chokepoints linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, namely the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca. The delivery of the Caspian and Central Asian oil via the Mediterranean to India can be stymied to shipping regulations and capacity limitations of the Suez Canal. Over 3,000 oil tankers pass through the Suez Canal annually, and represent around 25 per cent of the Canal’s total revenues. With only 1,000 feet at its narrowest point, the Canal is unable to handle large tank-
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ers. Other important passage is the Bab el-Mandab which connects the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea, to which Israel has access in the Gulf of Aqaba. The extension of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline through a submarine route in the Mediterranean from Turkey to Israel and beyond has a strategic significance for India and other Southeast Asian oil importers. Israel’s location at the bridge between the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa and its small size can serve as more economical passage for the Caspian petrochemicals. The next step is to connect the Turkish energy terminal via underwater pipeline in Ceyhan with Israel (Haifa or Ashdod). The bypass pipeline to the Red Sea port of Eilat provides an alternative and possible cheaper way for transportation of hydrocarbons to India and other nations in the Indian Ocean littoral, which is critically important for the energy-poor Western coast of India. The Israeli-Turkish pipeline project, which links up with the BTC consists of exporting Caspian oil and gas using Israel as a transhipment route, through the Red Sea to India and the Far East. From a geopolitical standpoint, the Ceyhan-Ashkelon-Eilat corridor would be
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The most significant of the constraints for a robust cooperation between India and Israel and the United States, perhaps, emerges from the Indian domestic political milieu. India cannot ignore the sentiments of its substantial Muslim populace of about 140 million that are overwhelmingly against Israel’s policy regarding the Palestinians. Fear of alienating its Muslim population has been a major factor that prevented India from normalising its relations with Israel for decades. India has also been a strong supporter of Palestinian self-determination. Another constraint on India’s enhanced engagement with Israel is India’s flourishing relations with Iran. The relations between India and Iran have definitely been on an upswing in the last decade. In this respect, Israel is concerned about India’s growing ties with Iran. Israeli worries over Iran figured prominently during the visit of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India in September 2003. Israel has been raising its concern over Iran’s nuclear weapons programme and its impact on the regional stability figured at the meeting of the Indo-Israeli JWG on counterterrorism held in November 2004.
Conclusion
India makes tentative steps to assert its global influence. The most populous democracy in the world endeavours to dominate the Indian Ocean. India has to carry out a build-up of its naval strength if India desires to control communication channels in the Indian Ocean. In the future if India deems to establish naval cooperation with Israel, it will gain valuable assets of the non-Muslim country in the Eastern Mediterranean. The author is a Researcher at Bar Ilan University, and Visiting Lecturer with the Ilan State University, Georgia. An enlarged version of this paper was originally prepared for Middle East Institute, New Delhi
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ith sharp fall in the natural gas production from KG-D6 basin and the fate of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline hanging in balance largely due to the security apprehensions and uncertainty prevailing in Afghanistan —India will soon come up with its first shale gas policy, followed by an auction by the end of 2013. The output of the KG-D6 basin (including D1 & D2 and MA field) has already come down by 9 per cent to 18.69 Million Metric Standard Cubic Metres per Day (MMSCMD) in the period of February 18-24, 2013 from 20.58 MMSCMD during the first week of February 2013, registering further decline of 16.46 MMSCMD in
March 2013 after reaching a peak of 69.43 MMSCMD during March 2010. The resultant impact has been on power plants as the KG basin stopped supplying gas to 25 power plants allocated in the past. Earlier in 2011 these power plants received gas on pro-rata cut basis. Most of the power plants are either receiving gas from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) or are importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). In case of TAPI, the security issue remains the biggest roadblock to the pipeline. The Post-2014 withdrawal of US forces is creating a scenario which is complicated not only for Afghanistan, but also for other countries which are part of the pipeline—India and Pakistan. This issue has kept all international consortiums away from this pipeline - despite approval
of a Special Purpose Vehicle - which would take up feasibility study and design work of the pipeline so as to meet the agreed timelines of the project. India, till now has missed the Myanmar bus to bring gas to its territory from Bangladesh, while the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is struggling due to the US sanctions on Iran and efforts by Iran and Pakistan to continue with this pipeline is drawing no dividends till date. It is obvious by now that India’s energy demand is outpacing its supply. With fall in supply and rising energy demand, India has started banking on other options to keep its objective alive of curbing down the energy emissions, which again is a daunting task given its tilt towards shale gas. Given the increasing energy demand and supply gap, India is pushing itself to-
EXPANDING ENERGY OPTIONS Shale gas is increasingly becoming an answer to the country’s energy woes. India is seriously working towards importing Shale gas from the United States, but there are some hurdles, write Manish Vaid and Tridivesh Singh Maini
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wards the shale gas option and is hoping to witness a similar shale gas success as in the US, despite the serious environmental concerns. The Government of India has already invited suggestions from the general public, experts in oil and gas sector, environment experts, NGOs etc on its Draft Shale Gas Policy. Shale gas is a natural gas produced from shale rock which is primarily composed of methane. Due to low permeability, the extraction of gas was not economically viable, but with new technology using hydraulic fracturing the same can be extracted more economically. This technology has made US the net exporter of natural gas within a period of less than two years. Natural gas is a preferred fuel for various sectors like power, fertilisers, transport and domestic cooking and provides an easy option of fuel switching due to lower input cost, environment friendly and ease of use. In India, according to the preliminary study conducted by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), four basins were identified namely Cambay, Krishna Godavari, Cauvery and the Damodar Valley and the sub-basins such as Raniganj, Jharia and Bokaro which have reserves of shale gas. Technically recoverable shale gas reserve has been estimated at 63 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in India. Later, using a performance-based geological assessment methodology, the US Geological Survey estimated this reserve to be 6.1 trillion cubic feet, in Mumbai, Cauvery, and Krishna-Godavari Provinces (The term
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‘provinces’ refers to geologically defined units assessed by USGS for the purposes of this report and carries no political or diplomatic connotation) of India, less than 10 per cent of what EIA estimated. India’s existing oil and gas companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance industries (RIL) would be given the upper hand and would be allowed to extract oil and gas from shale rocks in more than 250 blocks allotted by the government. India, concurrently in its effort to come out with its first shale gas policy is also looking at other options like securing LNG from the US to get a hold of the sectoral impacts resulting from non-availability of natural gas. With final decision to export natural gas still under way by the US Department Of Energy (DoE)—after it has been regarded as prospective LNG supplier resulting from shale gas boom India is quick in mulling LNG from the US. Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has signed a terminal service agreement with Dominion under which GAIL will procure its own natural gas and deliver it to the Cove Point pipeline for liquefaction at the terminal and loading into ships brought to the facility on the Chesapeake Bay. This, along with an agreement signed with Cheniere in 2011, will provide GAIL an opportunity to market about 6 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) of LNG from the US. Various risk factors like revocation of export authorisation and inability of the Indian market to absorb LNG volumes were also discussed. This exposes GAIL to a risk whereby the US may revoke the nonFTA authorisation. It may be noted here that Section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) in the US, as amended, authorises the import and export of natural gas, including LNG, to and from a foreign country, unless it would “not be consistent with the public interest.” The provision creates a rebuttable presumption that a proposed export of natural gas is in the public interest, and DoE must grant such an application unless opponents overcome that presumption. The authority to grant licences under this standard lies with the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE). The 1992 Energy Policy Act amended the NGA to require that applications to export to countries with which the US has a free trade agreement (FTA), requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas be
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“deemed to be consistent with the public interest” and “granted without modification or delay.” The law thus removes DOE/ FE’s discretion over exports of natural gas to such countries. Other risk pertains to ‘tolling model’ which makes LNG supplies from the US a unique one. Accordingly, the customers become the terminal capacity holders, while tying up with upstream as well as midstream gas supply and take exposure to risks associated with such element in value chain. Furthermore, if the US government—in order to protect domestic consumers from rising gas prices—reduces the price differential between their and prevailing gas prices in Asia by levying export tax through regulatory interventions then it could be detrimental to the capacity holders. All this could probably impact GAIL’s LNG deal with the US, thereby affecting its strategic energy tie-up particularly in shale business whereby Indian companies like RIL have joint ventures in the US shale play. The Iran Factor could also be detrimental to Indo-US energy ties. With India’s cut down of oil imports by 27 per cent from Iran during year ending March 2013, it has again given a nod for importing crude from Iran after its Ministry of Finance approved US $364 million (`2000 crore Approx.) to provide reinsurance to local refiners processing Iranian crude. This could irk the US, as no significant progress is still visible in the US-Iran nuclear talks. ONGC has already expressed concerns about its plans to acquire shale gas and other hydrocarbon assets in the US largely due to their investments in Iran. It has invested about $87.87 million (`460 crore Approx.) in Farsi block in Iranian Persian Gulf, holding 12.5 tcf of gas in Farzad-B gas field. Given these challenges and apprehensions, three important questions which India is confronted with today are: Whether shale gas has the potential of being a game changer as it has been in the US?; Can shale gas alone in any way improve energy security of India?; and, Should India go all out with this option, thereby giving less emphasis on other clean energy options? These questions need to be dealt with while keeping in view the recent geopolitical developments and the role of natural gas as a bridge to low carbon future. Natural gas has been dubbed as a cleaner option as compared
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OF GREAT POTENTIAL Shale gas is increasing as a source of natural gas in the US at a rapid pace. Ever since the use of new hydraulic fracturing technology, the estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States has increased and so has the number of unconventional gas wells. This trend is expected to continue all the way till 2020. Shale provided only one per cent of America’s gas production in 2000, but by 2010 the number rose to over 20 per cent. It is now predicted that Shale gas will provide over 45 per cent of US natural gas supply by 2035. The growth in production of shale gas has rapidly changed the dynamics of the global natural gas market. It has already led to a decline in the US requirements of imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The increase in supply has also led to a decrease in domestic natural gas prices in the US, while bringing in a drop in US Carbon dioxide emission to a 20-year low. This success of shale gas has spurred an interest in Europe, Asia and Australia, with many nations carrying out feasibility studies. The geopolitical repercussions of this could include a virtual end to US imports of LNG and the reduction in competition for LNG supplies from the middle-east could help stabilise prices and thus prompt greater use of natural gas (which would also significantly help in achieving the global environmental objectives). The US has now become the world’s lowest-cost producer of natural gas and it is projected that the US could outdo Russia and Saudi Arabia and become the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas by 2050. Shale gas holds the potential to change the geopolitics of energy, and its development in the US and elsewhere is effectively reducing the threat of the formation of Gas-OPEC type body. to coal and oil. But it should not continue to remain ‘a bridge to low carbon future’ for as long as it can provide a disincentive to the efforts made by India towards other renewable options like solar energy, wind etc. The fall in natural gas prices could enable this. The falling extraction cost has already dropped natural gas prices in the US, and this is likely to happen in India as well during the extraction phase. Further, the US shale gas boom has already thrown the gauntlet to India and many criticisms have been received during past couple of years within the country itself, mostly with regard to the possibility of environmental deterioration resulting from shale gas operations. Contamination of groundwater and accessibility of land are the two biggest challenges in India—as both are acutely scarce—creating enough space for conflict between landowners and the land-man (key person of an exploration team of an oil company seeking space for such operation). Pumping huge quantity of water along with chemicals not only contaminates groundwater but also shakes the earth around the well. Therefore, shale gas cannot be a game changer in India if you take into account the huge social costs involved in this whole life cycle of shale gas. In the US, such protests against hydraulic fracturing are now widespread, but despite that, huge amounts of
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money are being paid to landowners by exploration companies. Of course, lately US oil and gas companies have started to use propane gel as an alternative to water, commonly known as ‘water free fracking’ in order to deal with water and tremor issues. But again water free fracking in India is not much a policy discourse as yet. The just released IHS CERA report also suggests shale gas to be an unlikely game changer for India like it was in the US. The major hurdles cited in this report were the difficulties in accessing land in India from the landowner who has the rights on his land unlike the US where mineral and property rights are aligned to help production. Furthermore, with infrastructure bottlenecks like limited gas pipeline stretch, immature unconventional gas service sector, availability of water and prospective area lying in agricultural lands, India is still far off in reaping the similar benefits with that of the US. In the US all the aforesaid conditions are favourable with advances in technology. Therefore with poor ‘above the ground factors’, India has to rethink about shale gas being a real game changer. According to the report, India is a no match with China, which holds the largest shale gas reserves in the world. And for India which is soon going to be a net importer of natural gas amidst precarious domestic gas production it would
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be difficult to not overly depend on this fuel in the wake of its cheaper availability. This would create a situation, where the country slows down its approach towards renewable energy sources, which ultimately will raise the price of gas resulting in sharp rise in its demand surpassing its supply due to the inherited advantage of being a friendly fuel. Shale gas should be an alternative to crude oil and coal imports which can help India curb down its energy import bills, thereby controlling the current account deficit. Since, accuracy of recoverable and accessible shale gas reserves in India has not been established till date, uncertainty of availability of these reserves in terms of number of years still remains. India’s ‘Integrated Energy Policy’ has detailed out various policy recommendations so as to take the country towards sustainable energy security and Shale gas is one of them, others being energy efficiency, accelerating power sector reforms, promotion of energy research and development besides augmenting energy sources and supply. Therefore, India should continue to work towards other cleaner energy options and not over emphasise on shale gas boom as it happened in the US to actually go for sustainable and secure energy future. Also, India would be better placed if it strives for fulfilling its ‘Eight Missions’ as stated in the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which inter-alia advocates for solar energy as a substitute to fossil fuels, fuel switching to cleaner energy, use of less carbon intensive fuel for transport and better management of water resources. Therefore, finding a balance between rising demand-supply gap of energy and having a control over natural resources like water and land would be a win-win situation for India. Similarly, the upcoming shale gas policy should keep in mind not only the economics of shale gas but also the social costs likely to be incurred. Many lessons can be learnt from shale gas experiences from the US and other countries so as to make it a real game changer. And shale gas alone is not an answer to India’s energy woes and should be one of the options with which India can strive for energy security. Manish Vaid is Research Assistant at Observer Research Foundation and Tridivesh Singh Maini is an independent Foreign Policy Analyst
June 2013
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From China with love Behind Pakistan’s continuous increase of nuclear weapons in its arsenal, there is the unmistakable hand of China, evident from the recent ‘secret deal’ between the two countries. Sitakanta Mishra analyses the dangers of the Sino-Pakistan nexus
H
ow sombre the implications of the secretly concluded Sino-Pak nuclear deal for South Asia will remain a matter for introspection. However, the deal is symptomatic of four underlying realities that the contemporary world has to baffle with. First, it is a jolt to the US administration delusion that China is cooperating in US efforts to stem nuclear weapons proliferation and “sets the NSG on a slide into dangerous irrelevance”. Second, Pakistan has not given up the strategy of maintaining parity with India in strategic matters. Third, the ‘clandestine’ nature of Pakistani nuclear programme remains intact despite immense global reaction to the proliferation network it fabricated under A.Q. Khan’s leadership. Lastly, it suggests that Pakistan has a grand strategy vis-à-vis India that intersects with the China’s.
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The secret deal
Reportedly, during a visit by a high-level delegation from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to Beijing from February 15-18, 2013, an agreement was reached to construct another nuclear reactor at Chashma, located in the northern province of Punjab. The agreement calls for the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to construct a 1,000-megawatt power plant. Keeping in mind the sensitivity of such cooperation, Chinese government reportedly issued an internal notice within its nuclear establishment and to regional political leaders to avoid any leaks of information about the deal. So far China has aided and assisted Pakistan in constructing four power plants at Chashma. Chashma I and II were known to be 300 MW each and as per the previous plans the III and IV were stated to have 340 MW each. While I and II were already commissioned, III and IV were expected to be commissioned in 2016. Ac-
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cording to analysts, it is not clear whether the 1000 MW reactor would be a fifth one to be constructed there or the third reactor would be upgraded. According to Chinese official sources, the proposed plant was ‘grandfathered’ by a previous agreement that led to the construction and operation of earlier nuclear power plants at Chashma. Therefore, China asserts that it does not violate Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) norms; rather this cooperation is for peaceful purposes and in compliance with respective international obligations and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. In fact, sensing the difficulties in passing a waiver resolution, China and Pakistan avoided going to NSG and secured a safeguards agreement under the IAEA. China has cleverly moved the safeguard route as proceeding in the face of such disapproval from NSG would have put it in blatant violation of the nuclear regulatory regime.
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CHINESE ASSISTANCE TO PAKISTANI NUCLEAR AND MISSILE FACILITIES Golra Sharif Construction status unknown Possible Chinese assistance in production of uranium enrichment plant IAEA
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RAWALPINDI (pAKISTAN iNSTUTUTE OF nUCLEAR sCIENCE AND tECHNOLOGY) PAAR-2 research reactor Chinese assistance in construction and design of reactor Chinese design of reactor’s nuclear system
TURKMENISTAN U238
TARWANAH (OUTSKIRTS OF RAWALPINDI) FATEHJUNG NATIONAL DEFENCE COMPLEX Chinese provision of blueprints and equipment for construction of M-11 missile production factory Possible Chinese supply of machine tools for building rocket motors
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ISLAMABAD
AFGHANISTAN
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kahuta Chinese transter of 5000 ring magnets for use in gas centrifuges Chinese assistance in HEU production U236
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CHASHMA chasnupp 1&2 power reactors Chinese supply of two 300 MWe nuclear power reactors Pu
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khushab Chinese assistance in construction of 40 MWt heavy water reactor Possible Chinese supply of heavy water Chinese provision of special industrial furnace and high-tech diagnostic equipment
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FACTORY
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UNDER IAEA SAFEGUARDS
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NOT UNDER IAEA SAFEGUARDS
PLUTONIUM REPROCESSING
RESEARCh REACTOR
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POWER REACTOR
The nuclear nexus?
Though the latest secret deal may surprise many, the Sino-Pak missile and nuclear nexus has a long history. The two countries had signed an agreement way back in June 1976 during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s rule. Ever since, Chinese assistance to Pakistan ranges from transfer of weapon design, setting up of enrichment plant, supply of heavy water and nuclear test data, conduct of nuclear test, and supply of reprocessing technology. It is widely known that China had supplied Pakistan Uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) for a trial run of the Kahuta plant in 1979. In 1983, US intelligence officials reported that China had transferred to Pakistan complete design of a tested nuclear weapon with a yield of about twenty kilotons. It had also supplied enough weapons-grade uranium for two nuclear weapons. With the help of Chinese design, Pakistani scientists were able to fabricate and test nuclear weapon parts, and the whole with a dummy nuclear core. Pakistan is known to have conducted a ‘cold’ test in September 1986 in the hills west of Chagai to verify this design. Though China still denies the supply, Leonard S. Spector, a former US official, has pointed
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sargodha airbase Approximately 30 Chinese M-11 ballistic missiles stored in crates
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karachi kanupp power reactor Chinese supply of heavy water for KANUPP
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out the Reagan Administration’s “extraordinary step of halting for nearly a year the formal approval of a highly publicised nuclear trade pact with China, suggesting that the evidence available to the government was persuasive”. In 1986, Pakistan signed a comprehensive nuclear cooperation agreement with China. The same year, China reportedly transferred to Pakistan enough tritium gas for ten nuclear weapons and its scientists began assisting Pakistani scientists with the enrichment of weapons-grade uranium. Since then, Beijing has been ‘the principal supplier of equipment, material and technology for Pakistani nuclear programme’. On 05 February 1996, the Washington Times reported that the CNNC has transferred 5,000 ring magnets for use in gas centrifuges at Kahuta Research Laboratory (KRL). Later, the New York Times revealed that the shipment was undertaken after June 1994 by a subsidiary of CNNC— the China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEIC)—and was worth $70,000. Initially China denied any such transfer but later expressed that the sale was put through without the knowledge of the government. Also it justified that the ring magnets were not magnetised,
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IAEA
WEAPONIZATION Source: East Asia Nonproliferation Project, Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, monterey Institute of international Studies
therefore, their sale was not prohibited under the Trigger List of the NSG. Subsequently, under the intense US pressure, China though pledged in May 1996 ‘not to provide nuclear assistance to unsafeguarded facilities’, it never respected its pledge wholeheartedly. In October 1996, according to Washington Times, China had sold a ‘special industrial furnace’ and ‘high-tech diagnostic equipment’ to Khushab reactor. However, Chinese officials clarified that the sale took place in late 1995 and early 1996, before Beijing had made its May 1996 pledge. Recent US intelligence reports indicate that China is also in the process of modernising Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal, which is estimated to contain as many as 110 warheads. Sino-Pak strategic nexus does not confined to nuclear matters only. China is helping Pakistan in developing both ballistic and cruise missiles. Beijing has supplied the M-11 ballistic missiles, mobile launchers as well as dummy missile frames. They have signed a deal in the 1980s for the supply of thirty six M-11s, as well as for the construction of a factory to produce the missiles. China has also supplied the M-9 missiles which Pakistan
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named as Hatf-III. In 1998, six unexploded Tomahawks fired at Taliban bases in Afghanistan by US destroyers landed in Pakistan. It is believed that Pakistan and China seized upon the opportunity to dissect them to reverse-engineer and develop their own copy—the Babur. Chinese assistance is further speculated to have been taken to develop guidance system of Babur.
•
The Strategic Axis
Many would argue that the drive behind Pakistan’s quest for such a deal with China is the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation. Undoubtedly, the ‘India factor’ is prominent in the Sino-Pak strategic cooperation. When the Indo-US deal was confirmed, Pakistan immediately pressed Washington for a similar agreement to which US blatantly refused. For that matter, no one would object to such a deal for Pakistan except for the fact that ‘Pakistan had accumulated an abysmal proliferation record’. By overlooking Pakistan’s negative credentials, China certainly has disregarded its own non-proliferation obligations. More importantly, the nuclear deal symbolises Sino-Pak bonhomie which leaves India with a potential two-front theatre to deal with. Much of the Pakistan’s major weapon systems are of Chinese origin including armoured fighting vehicles, fighter aircraft, artillery guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. Also the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Heavy Industries have been built with Chinese collaboration. Recently the management control of the strategic deep sea port at Gwadar has been transferred by Pakistan to the China Overseas Port Holding Company. This is a part of China’s strategy of encirclement of India with the intention to confine it to South Asia and preventing to realise its global potential. In this scenario, Sino-Pakistan strategic axis bound to fuel Indo-Pak misunderstandings. Pakistan, having world’s worst nuclear proliferation records, has today the world’s fastest-growing nuclear-weapons. For the last few decades, Pakistan has also remained a ‘troubled state’ perpetually under threat from religious fanaticism, political instability and economic mismanagement. The recent nuclear deal will certainly foster Pakistan’s erroneous
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READY FOR WAR: HATF-III (Ghaznavi) short range ballastic missile added in 2012 by Pakistan
sense of parity with India that may culminate in many strategic misadventures in the future.
•
An assessment
Nothing more can be described about Sino-Pak strategic relationship than the Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani’s description that it is “higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey”. Further, Gilani has once told China that “your friends are our friends, your enemies are our enemies and your security is our security”. Certainly, the Sino-Pak relation is not matched by any other relationship between two sovereign countries. • When USA is preparing to pull out from Afghanistan, China and Pakistan are hand in gloves and the situation is likely to get increasingly volatile. Both the nuclear adversaries on its flanks with a nexus between them pose a tremendous strategic challenge to India. Foremost, it is high time for New Delhi to introspect on the Sino-Pak nexus in the post-2014 Afghanistan to devise options and their operational derivatives. • A stable Pakistan is in India’s interest. However, how China’s involvement with Pakistan is going to help Pakistan to bail it out from the current chaotic situation is a matter of serious con-
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cern. Will China’s strategic designs stabilise Pakistan? It seems, China has extended ‘collusive support’ to Pakistan as a dynamic strategy to pursue its own interests. While providing overt and covert military support, China seems using Pakistan as an instrument of its expansionist policy. In the event of any India-Pakistan conflict in future, Chinese support to Pakistan is predictable. In such as a situation, what are the options available for India to defeat Pakistan’s misadventure? India can shout this from the rooftops and denounce China with all its might and main. But that is unlikely to get it anywhere. For that matter, contemplating a war to redress the wrongs would be an act of lunacy. Allying more to US to settle scores with China and to pull Pakistan’s chestnuts out of the fire is not viable and it hurt India’s national sentiments. Any Indian grand strategy vis-à-vis China and Pakistan must have its principal aim to weaken the links between the two inimical neighbours. “How to achieve this is not the issue, because without such a strategy India will lose the game.”
India has managed to establish a mutually beneficial economic relationship with China. It now needs to shape the ties in such a way that Beijing is made conscious of the cost of alienating New Delhi. The best way forward for India is to locate and nurture a coterie within Chinese political, industrial and academic circles to lobby for India in the way a faction in India does the same on matter relating to China. Though a Sisyphean effort, normalisation of ties with Pakistan is a better option than adopting a hostile posture towards it as a ‘troubled state’ has a suicidal tendency. Carefully planned and executed engagement strategy with Pakistan is at least points to a way out. •
While raising dangers of Sino-Pak nuclear deal at the NSG meeting in June, India should put its best to win the NSG membership for itself which would neither be Pakistan’s easy reach nor Beijing’s gift to Islamabad. The author is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi
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Ensuring Ties: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid meeting with the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing
UNDERSTANDING CHINA
With global focus shifting to the Asia-Pacific region in the 21st century, and China and the United States emerging as principal competitors, India needs to quickly learn how to promote its national interests by developing proactive policies towards Beijing, Tokyo and Washington, writes Amit Gupta
A
s Indian policymakers and the media express concern over Chinese incursions along the disputed India-China border it is worth looking at the broader picture of China’s actions in Asia to understand what India’s options are in the new Asian century. What this article argues is that China and the US are playing two different games in Asia and New
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Delhi has only marginally learnt how to position itself to benefit from the Chinese and American strategies.
China’s strategy in Asia
Indian analysts tend to focus on China’s military manoeuvres in Asia ranging from the ‘String of Pearls’ strategy of creating bases across Asia to Beijing’s aggressive stance on various territorial disputes.
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What is forgotten in all this is the tremendous economic and soft power connections that China has made across Asia. Beijing has created a network of economic interdependency with other Asian nations which will have serious and adverse ramifications for both the US and India. South Korean analyst Chung Min Lee has written that while all the nations of Asia benefit from China’s economic
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nese make no pretence that they are disseminating their version of international affairs (propaganda), an increasing number of people are listening to them because as the country is slated to become the world’s largest economy, what they say and do matters a lot. Then there are the creative economic solutions that China is bringing about to increase its trade and economic relations with other countries. In April 2013, China and Australia decided to trade in each other’s currencies thereby bypassing the US dollar. This could well be the first of several trading arrangements that in the long run reduce the importance of the US dollar as a reserve currency. With the decline in the status of the US dollar comes a reduction in both US political and economic autonomy. The other real challenge comes from the Chinese proposal of a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to counter America’s proposal of a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that has been negotiated since 2008. Both economic arrangements are facing slow progress because of the number of nations involved and the notorious negotiating delays that are associated with some countries, particularly India. As a consequence of China’s economic creativeness and growth, we have reached a point where while the Asian nations worry about its aggressiveness they
are reluctant to openly bandwagon with the US against it. Thus, plans for an Asian style NATO have never got off the ground and, instead, these countries prefer to ‘plug and play’ with the US on specific issues. Add to this one more disturbing fact: China’s rapid military modernisation has led to better ships and aircraft, an antisatellite capability, and a range of missiles that are creating both anti-access and anti-denial problems for the US military by pushing it from the first island chain (Japan, Taiwan, etc.) to the second island chain in the Pacific and thus increasing the costs of containing China.
American and Indian plans
In such a China-friendly Asia how do US and India compete with Beijing? The United States’ Asian pivot has a military and economic component to it and India is reluctant to join one and shut out the other. New Delhi — like everyone else in the region — will not openly be on the bandwagon with the US partly because of residual concerns about non-alignment and partly due to the fear of angering Beijing. China’s ability to complicate India’s strategic environment is much higher than any parallel attempt made by India. China after all got nuclear deterrence on the cheap vis-a-vis India by simply transferring nuclear technology to Pakistan. And as seen along the border, any Chi-
Joint Exercise: Naval ships from the US, India, Australia, Japan and Singapore steam in formation in the Bay of Bengal during ‘Exercise Malabar’
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growth, they remain concerned about its military forays. As the chart shows (see chart on Page 73), China has now emerged as the largest trading partner of some of the most important nations in the world including the major countries of Asia. Thus, while South Korea, Japan and India may be concerned about China’s political and military ambitions, Beijing has emerged as the largest trading partner for Seoul, Tokyo and New Delhi. The importance of such ties cannot be underestimated for the economic health of these nations. Australia — for instance — was the only Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country not to go into a recession largely due to the fact that China increased its imports of Australian raw materials. In the Asian context, it is argued that it was the Chinese decision to use a financial stimulus that helped the larger Asian economies escape a serious economic slowdown. Three other factors add to China’s economic might in Asia: the Chinese Diaspora and its connection with the homeland; China’s growing soft power; and its ability to craft lucrative and imaginative economic deals. China’s global diaspora is over 65 million people but its largest concentration is in Asia. In Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia, the diaspora is a formidable economic force that controls large swathes of the economy. In Indonesia — for example — the Chinese are approximately five per cent of the population but may control as much as 70 per cent of the Indonesian economy. These diaspora groups have strong connections with the Chinese mainland and are seen as one of the reasons that China has been able to so successfully increase its trading presence in Asia. The United States or India attempt to penetrate these markets runs into a well-organised and efficient Chinese lobby that has monopolies in several key sectors of the economy. China’s soft power is helping to buttress these economic efforts because its Office of Foreign Propaganda is spending over $6.6 billion (`35,000 crore approx) to disseminate Chinese ideas, culture and political standpoints around the world. The Chinese are also rapidly establishing Confucius centres across the world to teach Chinese language, culture and history to eager foreigners. While the Chi-
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CHINA’S TOP TRADING PARTNERS 2010 ($ BILLION)
3
4
5
74.2 42.8
88.1 46.5
142.4 34.8
145.4 36.9
207.2
30.8
Taiwan
Germany Australia Malaysia 6
7
8
61.8 42.4
2
Hong Kong South Korea
62.5 47.5
RANK 1
Japan
32.6
United States
20.2
29.2
230.6
297.8
385.3
Volume % change over 2009
Brazil
India
9
10
Source: PRC General Administration of Customs, China’s Customs Statistics
nese manoeuvre along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is met with near hysteria in India’s media and strategic community. On the other hand, India’s traditional stonewalling in international economic forums may have borne fruit during the Cold War but in a globalised economic environment it only serves to frustrate other nations and impede India’s own developmental efforts. As one Australian trade ambassador told this author: “Negotiating with the Indians makes you want to pull your hair out.” The glacial pace of negotiations frustrates foreign diplomats who are seeking quick and mutually beneficial economic solutions. As Asia starts to economically integrate — through the TPP, RCEP and the China-Japan-S Korea Free Trade Agreement — India will find itself being economically marginalised in the region. Linking up with a regional economic arrangement, however, would make India into a stakeholder on Asian economic issues but more importantly give it political leverage with other nations that see profits to be made in the Indian market. Options? The US is betting that the TPP will allow it to use its comparative advantage in technology (both civil and military), software and services to reap the benefits of the growing Asian market. But — at the same time — its presence in Asia will possibly serve to make China play by the rules of the game that have led to prosperity in
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the Asia-Pacific for the last four decades. From an Indian perspective, therefore, New Delhi needs to move rapidly into an economic alliance — RCEP, TPP, or both - and to start working with the US on military cooperation in a way that sends a signal to Beijing. The signal would be that India is expanding its strategic horizons and hedging against the Chinese juggernaut. The danger is that India will do neither. In the case of economic cooperation, Indian bureaucrats and ministers will most likely go slow when such a turn of events calls for proactive measures. In due fairness to South Block, however, the fact remains that India has not been invited to join the TPP — and given that China is also not a prospective member one can ask of what value is this arrangement to the two largest Asian countries? Trying to move RCEP ahead might, therefore, make more sense. At the military level — to be seen as a reliable partner — India has to move out of the contagion that has impacted weapons purchases. Indian arms deals take forever to bring to fruition a good case in point being the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft purchase which has already take close to a decade to buy what is essentially off the shelf technology. As India lumbers through such weapons purchases it makes itself a market of lesser importance, especially in contrast to the Gulf States who in one short frenzied pur-
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chase of arms pumped close to $80 billion (`4,20,000 crore approx) into American arms manufacturers. Further, there has to be some visible military arrangements that not only show Indian willingness to work as a great power but also New Delhi’s decision to work jointly with the US on such issues. Good cases in point could be an anti-piracy regime for Asia and another one that clearly allocates resources for humanitarian aid in the region. The game plan is a simple one. Rather than directly challenge China, which is both a futile exercise as well as one where India loses the goose that lays the economic golden egg, it makes sense for New Delhi to be more proactive in operations that make the Chinese play according to the rules of the game in Asia. Those — according to Australian scholar Hugh White - include observing the United Nations charter — particularly the respect for national sovereignty and for the peaceful resolution of disputes. White’s argument is that there will be a concert of powers in Asia which will include China, the US, India and Japan. For that to happen, however, India has to move into the role of a major Asian actor. Playing a major role will entail first, getting economically integrated into the region because it will lead to a number of nations to hedge between India and China. Second, it will require working collaboratively with the other Asian countries to develop regional security arrangements. This may be less possible with the countries of South Asia but is certainly workable with the countries of Southeast Asia. Third, New Delhi has to make its relationship with the US into a more mutually beneficial one. In doing so it would send a strong signal to Beijing that dismissing Indian security concerns is to its own disadvantage. If India does not move proactively in this direction, the fear is that not only will China politically, militarily and economically marginalise it in Asia but if there is a future crisis between the two Asian powers, other countries will be reluctant to provide political support to New Delhi. Amit Gupta is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Security Studies at the USAF Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The views in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Defence Department or the USAF.
June 2013
RIGHTANGLE
LEARNING FROM CHINA
A
s I write this, the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang has concluded what he says, is a highly satisfactory visit. The spokesman of our Ministry of External Affairs is emphasising that the visit by the second most powerful man of China, which happened to be his first visit to a foreign country as the Prime Minister, is ‘useful’, ‘productive’, ‘important’ , and ‘substantive’. I have rarely seen such liberal use of adjectives in describing a visit, which, as I will argue, is full of hope but terribly short of substance. Admittedly, as partners India and China can change the world for better. But then, what is ideal is not real as far as India-China relations are concerned. In my considered view, India has four serious problems with China. One is the vexed border issue over which there has been a war. Despite 15 rounds of border negotiations over the recent years, China continues to shift its position from time to time. So much so that it refuses to give its own version of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as a temporary measure. The result is that we do witness periodic incursions by the Chinese troops into the areas under Indian control. The intrusion into Ladakh is the most recent example. Secondly, China is planning to control the water Prakash flow into India in the rivers that originate in Tibet. The case of the Brahmaputra River is conspicuous in this regard. Third, although the volume of India-China trade has grown manifold and about to touch $100 billion (`5,30,000 crore approx.)a year by 2015, the fact remains that the pattern of the trade is colonial in nature. China takes mainly precious raw material from India and floods the Indian markets with Chinese goods. The terms of trade are terribly against India. And there are hardly any Chinese investments of note in India. Fourth, though China talks of a multipolar world, it is systematically creating hurdles on the path of India for becoming such a pole. It has a created a so-called ‘String of Pearls’ to damage India’s vital interests in its immediate neighbourhood. Single-handedly China has made Pakistan a nuclear and missile power to pose a counterweight to India. And, the Chinese position on India’s legitimate quest for being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council remains most unhelpful. Against this background, let us see the ‘Joint Statement’ on the State Visit of the Chinese Premier to India and the ‘List of Documents’ signed during his visit. The Joint Statement does contain 35 points and covers the entire gamut of bilateral relations, no doubt. But on all the contentious points, it talks in a sugar-coated manner that things will be sorted out, without any concrete action plan, with the possible exception, perhaps, of the decision to “include cooperation on pharmaceutical supervision including registration, stronger links between Chinese enterprises and Indian IT industry, and completion of phytosanitary negotiations on agro-products”. As regards the
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eight concrete ‘agreements’ that were signed, these were all on non-contentious matters, one of which was a ‘Memoranda of Understanding’ on Buffalo Meat and Fishery Products! One understands that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has conveyed to his Chinese counterpart, that the overall bilateral ties are critically dependent on peace and tranquility in the border areas and speedy resolution of the boundary issue. If true, it is a significant change in our China policy. Because, so far we have been saying that friendship with China must not be hostage to the border problems. Singh is right in bringing out the change. Of late, China has been pursuing an aggressive policy on all its border issues with all its neighbours, be it Japan or the ASEAN countries or India. It is basing its claims on the spurious logic of history, knowing pretty well that it’s very difficult to draw a line; historically, there have been periods when a country was victorious and there were times when it was vanquished. After all, once the king of Tibet had defeated the emperor of China! It is really dangerous when China describes the territories where it is not prepared for fair compromises as its ‘core interests’. Earlier, China formally referred to Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang province as Nanda core interests, a phrase that connotes an assertion of national sovereignty and territorial integrity that will brook no compromise. Now, territories in South and East China Seas seem to fall under its core interests. Invariably, core interests of anybody or any country involve a few basic and vital issues. But in China’s case, the list of its core interests has been expanding every passing year. It is against this background that the ambiguity about China’s traditional nuclear doctrine that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons— a doctrine which India also shares with China—is a matter of great concern. According to James M. Acton from leading American think-tank, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China’s just-released white paper on defence omits, unlike the previous white papers, the promise that China will never use nuclear weapons first. So far, that explicit pledge had been the cornerstone of Beijing’s stated nuclear policy. The latest white paper endorses the use of nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack but does not rule out other uses. This development could have some dangerous implications for India in the sense that China could always argue that it is free to use nuclear weapons when situations falling under its core interests go out of its control and domination. That simply means that if India thinks of strong retaliation against the Chinese advancements in Ladakh, Beijing may well use nuclear weapons against India. Today, the Chinese ambiguity on the subject has further aggravated the matter. Is India prepared to meet the Chinese threat? Will India ever define its own core interests? It is time we did.
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June 2013
Postal Reg No.DL(E) 01/5363/2011-13, RNI No. DELENG/2010/35319, Publication Date: 1st of every month, Posting Date: 8-9th every month
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