India has a new coalition government but with the top four slots that make up for the crucial Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) retained by the BJP, the signal is for continuity in defence and security policies. The allocation of portfolios late Monday evening demonstrates Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to build on the reforms process initiated in the past decade in India’s defence ministry. There will inevitably be tweaks in some key initiatives that have fallen short of expectations but overall reforms in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are likely to be accelerated.
With Rajanth Singh reappointed as India’s defence minister, the Make in India initiative of the MoD to reduce the dependence on imported arms and equipment for the armed forces, is expected to be further refined. Indian defence industry is thus poised to play a bigger role in making India self-reliant in manufacturing military hardware.
One of the first tasks that Singh will have to undertake is to review and tweak the Agnipath scheme launched two years ago for short-term recruitment in the three armed forces. The military is already in the process of gathering feedback on the efficacy of the schemes. Singh has himself spoken about the need to tweak the terms of engagement for the young men joining the forces. The Opposition and some BJP allies have also demanded that the scheme be scrapped or reviewed. Since there is anecdotal evidence that the BJP had to suffer electorally in some northern belt states because of the anger against Agnipath scheme, this issue will be on top of Singh’s agenda in the first fortnight.
The defence minister, more popularly known as Raksha Mantri in the Indian system, has also to oversee the implementation of the reforms that have been initiated in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to make sure that cutting edge technology is inducted into the armed forces in collaboration with the private defence industry. But the most pressing decision that will be taken in the coming week is to select the next Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Gen Manoj Pande, the current incumbent, has been granted a month-long extension, presumably to enable the new government to choose the next Army Chief.
Simultaneously, the Raksha Mantri will have to sign off on the plan that has been prepared by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan in consultation with the three services to establish at least three joint or theatre commands to improve combat efficiency of the Indian military. Once the Raksha Mantri clears the plan, the CCS will have to approve it before the implementation is rolled out in the coming years. The CDS, according to all indications, is likely to brief the RM in the coming days on how the plan for theaterisation will take shape.
However, theaterisation will have to be a deliberate and slow process simply because India is currently in the fifth year of a major standoff with its primary adversary China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Himalayas. Given the live threat along the northern frontier the Indian military cannot afford too much turbulence even as it attempts to roll out the much needed joint or threatre command structure.
Nitin A. Gokhale
