Public reactions by military veterans to Defence Minister’s advice to the Army Chief portend a dangerous course ahead. This can be reversed by having an honest debate on civil-military relations.
Well, so it turns out that the Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor — after much dithering earlier — has followed the advice of [...]
The next army chief says Indian Army is designed for defence of India within the sub-continental domain.
Here is an excerpt from an interview in Salute with Lieutenant General VK Singh, who — in all likelihood — will be the next army chief in a few months time.
Warfare [...]
…if the defence ministry continues to avoid, bypass and confuse those asking the right questions.
In its report on national security in February 2001 — constituted in the backdrop of the Kargil Review Committee report — the group of ministers had recommended that “the Government should constitute a high powered expert committee to reorganise, reform and [...]
The problem of corruption at higher ranks in the defence services can only be tackled by systemic reform.
Law shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people. It must also reach men who possess themselves of great power. ~Robert Jackson
Indian Express has a news story highlighting corruption cases at the top echelons [...]
Even if there is no connectivity gap, a cultural gap between the civil and military leadership can lead to strategic and political failures.
When Mrs. Indira Gandhi completely trusted the then army chief, Sam Manekshaw in 1971 and went solely with his advise, it led to creation of Bangladesh and her being hailed as Durga. When [...]
Venn diagrams to describe the model.
Tim Hsea, on the civil-military relations, in the At War blog:
At West Point one of the most spirited debates I witnessed as a cadet revolved around a discussion concerning civil-military relations. The class was divided into three camps, one group which argued that the military was a microcosm of American [...]
Great in theory, problematic in practice.
The Times of India reports that senior army officers — with expertise in guerilla and jungle warfare — will be directly supervising a major offensive to be launched against the Maoists by the police and paramilitary forces in Jharkhand next month. From the contents of the report, it is difficult [...]
Many reasons. None substantial.
Lieutenant General (retired) S. K. Sinha lays bare the reasons “that have been militating against the introduction of this appointment” of the Chief of Defence Staff [Journal of Defence Studies, Volume 1, No 1, Pages 135-136]:
First, is the political leadership’s fear, of the man on the horse back. It is apprehended that [...]
An important debate on national security.
In a guest post few days back, BeeCee had sought to reconsider the necessity of a Chief of Defence Staff[CDS] for Indian defence services. Now, Anil Kumar makes a case for the defence minister to push for appointment of the CDS [LT: The Acorn]. His arguments:
The demands of interoperability can [...]
[This guest-post by BeeCee is on a very topical subject, something very close to this blogger's heart. When many retired generals, admirals and air-marshals lament about a lack of jointness and political dithering over creation of a Chief of Defence Staff, this is a contrarian -- and dare I say -- a more prudent view.]
There [...]
Public oversight of legislative oversight of executive oversight of a willingly accountable, self-policing military.
Amidst all the insinuations and smart quips (civilian control is not civil services control etc.) that one has been buffeted with over the last few months in the Indian media, here is one authentic definition of the ideal state of civil-military relations [...]
A red herring that serves little real purpose.
Indian Express reports that the centre is planning to open new army cantonments in LWE-infested areas, with Koraput and Jagdalpur being the ones to come up soon. The home ministry, which has proposed this idea, believes that these cantts will be a big help in countering the burgeoning [...]
This is a symptom of the malaise.
In a sense, the procurement of golf carts from operational funds by an army commander is an old story now. It has travelled to far corners of the world, being reported about in The Times of London and The Irish Times, among others. For all the attention the story [...]
It was about central pay scales, not about military and its personnel.
[This guest post has been penned by this blog's favourite guest blogger, BeeCee. His earlier guest posts on the SCPC imboglio are here, here and here.]
The debate on the Civil vs Military aspects of the VI CPC report, it seems, will continue to simmer, [...]
From Anit Mukherjee and Nitin Pai.
Anit Mukherjee, an ex- army officer and now a scholar based in the US, in the Seminar magazine [the complete article can be accessed online next month when full issue will be available on the web].
While there are many issues that need to be addressed in the nature and form [...]
The Brits are reviewing theirs. Can we at least frame ours now?
Global Dashboard informs us that egged on by incessant calls from various think-tanks to do so, the British Ministry of Defence has announced that it will be kicking off a root and branch review of Britain’s defence policy. This will result in an interim [...]
Defence ministry had promised a National Security Strategy, National Military Strategy, National Military Objectives/Capability by December 2009.
From the Sixteenth Report [pdf] of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence in the Fourteenth Lok Sabha:
The revised Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (2007-22) is being prepared following a deliberate and integrated ‘Top Down’ approach by articulating National Security [...]
Can Omar Abdullah match the execution of his plan to his statement of intent.
At the insistence of the Chief Minister of J&K, Omar Abdullah, the CRPF has been withdrawn from Baramulla district and replaced by the J&K police. The Union Home Minister has welcomed the move by stating that the “young chief minister in the [...]
Talk about practice, it is not even there on paper.
In theory, the acquisition of capital assets and defence modernisation flows from 15-year Long-Term Integrated Perspective Plan [LTIPP] to a Five-year Defence Plan and ultimately to the Annual acquisition plan. The period of the latest LTIPP was changed at the last moment while the Eleventh Defence [...]
Sans a national strategy review.
From the Report of the Estimates Committee of the Parliament in 1992-93 (Paragraph 1.65):
The committee is apprised that the force level under the Ministry of Defence is determined by the dynamic perspective of the security scenario coupled with the annual availability of resources within the plan period, competing demands of other [...]
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