geopolitics_june_2011

VOL II, ISSUE I, MAY 2011 n ` 100

geopoliticsCAN INDIA UNDERTAKE SPECIAL FORCE OPERATIONS?

Brain is as important as brawn for a world-class army.

MANAGING THE BORDERS

FIGHTER AIRCRAFT:UPGRADATION

CHALLENGES

D E F E N C E n D I P L O M A C Y n S E C U R I T Y

The Thinking

OMINOUS SIGNS IN

NEPALSPECIAL

VOL II, ISSUE II, JUNE 2011 n ` 100

GEOPOLITIC june 2_GEOPOLITIC COVER2.qxd 5/30/2011 6:08 PM Page 1

The C-130J is more than the aircraft that redefines airlift capability. It is a symbol of commitment and partnership. Configured and equipped to meet India’s unique needs. Meeting every development and delivery milestone on time and on budget. Building a foundation for long-term partnership is all a question of how. And it is the how that Lockheed Martin delivers.

THIS IS HOW C-130J Super HerCuleS

unique needs.unique solutiona for

india’s

lockheedmartin.com/c130j

301-61040_C130J_India_Solution_Geo.indd 1 5/9/11 4:15 PM

in 2011

(4)June 2011www.geopolitics.in

COVERSTORY

(P42)

Sophisticated weapons are impor-tant, but new ideas in tune withchanging times are also vital in winning wars.

MMiinndd MMaatttteerrss

PROLONGED LIFE

SPECIAL FEATURE (P32)

While acquiring new fighter aircraft, India wants to upgrade

its existing squadrons, ranging from the MiGs to the Jaguars.

ONE OF ITS KIND

PERSPECTIVE (P16)

The Black Hawks are unique and hence successful

in special operations.

SPECIAL REPORT (P36)

SURVIVING THE SCAMControversies surrounding its procure-ment and performance notwithstanding,multi-barrel rocket launcher Smerch ispopular with the Army.

DEF BIZ (P30)

SCANNER SCAMThe single tender route has become the standard to favour a select few in procurement.

INTERNAL SECURITY (P54)

NEW ROLESThe Border Security Force is slowly and steadily catering to multifacetedchallenges.

Contents.qxd 5/30/2011 6:12 PM Page 2

(5)www.geopolitics.in June 2011

DARING MISSION

SPOTLIGHT (P8)

What lessons should India learn fromAmerica’s Abbottabad exercise? CanIndia undertake special missions to nabits enemies from foreign soil? What arethe challenges involved?

THE CURRENCY OFCHAOS (P58)The Pakistani ISI is trying its bestto destabilise Indian economy bypumping into the country croresof fake currencies, which are alsobecoming handy for the terroristsin financing their misdeeds.

FISSILE EQUATION(64)It has forty per cent of theworld’s uranium reserves, butAustralia’s concern over India’sstand on NPT is a huge hurdleto energy relations betweenthe two countries.

THE MAOIST MENACE (P66)After controlling the Nepalesepolity, the Maoists are system-atically indulging in anti-Indiacampaigns and promotingChina’s interests instead.

THE OCEANIC FACTOR (P69)The Indian Ocean is witnessingmany developments of greatgeopolitical significance. WillIndia rise to the occasion?

Editor-in-Chief

K SRINIVASAN

Editor

PRAKASH NANDA

Assistant Editor Senior Correspondent

JUSTIN C MURIK ROHIT SRIVASTAVA

Publishing Director Director (Corporate Affairs)

ROHIT GOEL RAJIV SINGH

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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 formaterial lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise

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Readers are welcome to send their feedback at [email protected].

G E O P O L I T I C S

gDEMOCRACY IN MYANMAR IS ONLY

SKIN-DEEP, WITH THE MILITARY

CONTINUING TO BE THE MOST

SIGNIFICANT FACTOR. AND YET, MANY

COUNTRIES, INCLUDING INDIA, FIND IT

DIFFICULT TO DISENGAGE WITH

YANGOON.

MYANMAR IMBROGLIO

DIPLOMACY (73)

VOL II, ISSUE I, MAY 2011 � ` 100

geopoliticsCAN INDIA UNDERTAKE SPECIAL FORCE OPERATIONS?

Brain is as important as brawn for a world-class army.

MANAGING THE BORDERS

FIGHTER AIRCRAFT:UPGRADATION

CHALLENGES

D E F E N C E � D I P L O M A C Y � S E C U R I T Y

The Thinking

OMINOUS SIGNS IN

NEPALSPECIAL

VOL II, ISSUE II, JUNE 2011 � ` 100

Cover Photo:Press Information Bureau, Government ofIndia

Cover Design:Ruchi Sinha

Contents.qxd 5/31/2011 3:59 PM Page 3

Controversial competencyTUMHARE PAAS stealth hai, hamre paas kshamata hai! Forthose of you who have no idea what Kshamata means, a literaltranslatation would be ‘competency’? And that’s what GeneralV K Singh said when he was asked if India had the option ofdoing what the Americans did in Abbotabad. But Singh was putthe wringer for what was perceived as a foot-in-the-mouthremark. For starters the Prime Minister categorically ruled outany hot pursuit option by many in the bureaucracy. The waythe Army chief was publically silenced didn’t go well with themen in uniform. The army feels that as a chief what GeneralSingh said was correct and as usual all the blame for this gaffewas put on media’s wrong translation of word ‘Kshamata’. Nowwill the army tell us what the correct interpretation of the wordis? But for them, the real insult wasn’t the PM’s statement butDRDO chief’s ‘Its against our culture’ comment which was likeadding insult to injury. So don’t be surprised if they challengethe Kshamata of the DRDO in the coming months.

Promotion bluesTHE PROMOTION of “approved officers” in the armed forceshas got delayed due to the existing confusion in the promotionpolicy. Ministry is not clear whether it wants the new promo-tion policy as suggested by the army or continue with the oldpolicy. And for those of you who want to know what the newand old is, it is nothing but the age old question between staffpostings and staff and command postings. Should there be onestream or two ? Officers who are waiting for the promotion areanxious. With passage of time the excitement of promotion haschanged into frustration and depression. For some, this delaycould jeopardise their long term career prospects as unlike civ-il services the armed forces have fixed tenure and if you can’tmake it you retire. This possibility is giving sleepless nights tomany two-star generals, who are at the verge of make or breakin their career.

gg

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WHOM SHOULD media follow for coverage? Whatshould be the order of precedence for media coverage?The Ministry of Defence (MoD) seems to have solvedthis problem. The personality will have precedence overevent. Defence Minister A K Anthony and UPAChairperson, Sonia Gandhi were to grace two separateevents of MoD almost back to back in two corners ofcountry. Antony was inaugurating the naval facility atKarwar in Karnataka and the Goa Shipyardmodernisation programme and Mrs. Gandhi was goingto Udhampur to lay the foundation stone for a bridge tothe valley. The media was to accompany Mrs. Gandhi.

But this whole arrangement didn’t cut through to thejournos, neither did it please them. No one was ready tospare four days for a non event. The officials of publicrelation directorate were seen beseeching the media tomake the trip .Normally, a media trip by MoD toKashmir in summer can be the perfect two in one, workcum pleasure trip. But, boy, this was a grueling trip byroad up the mountains for a half an hour photo opsprogramme.

But the taciturn Anthony made sure that he had nomedia following him on the two big sorties to Karwarand Goa as he normally does. The idea was that thepatrakars must report on the foundation stone layingprogramme by Soniaji. While the local press reportedthe speeches at the two big ticket Navy events, the Delhimedia huffed and puffed its way to Udhampur. For therecord, the foundation stone is for a bridge over theriver Ravi linking it to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. A592-meter-long bridge that will cost `145 crore and takethree years for completion.

RM Kehte hain: soniaji, soniaji

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Single tender virusTHE ABILITY to gently sweep away the competition andcraft the rules in a manner where just one vendoremerges on top is something that our babus are pastmasters in. If reports are to be believed an RTI has beensent to the Prime Minister’s office seeking details of single tender procurement in the government over thelast five years including government-to-governmentsales. While the G to G is no big deal in that sovereignsare dealing with each other, the PMO is apparently wor-ried that in the post 2G era, the last thing they want isanother big scandal centering around procurement,particularly in defence. The Lok Ayukta is discussingmaking it mandatory to have all tender results outlinedin respective ministry websites. Toh twada ki hoyegaRaksha Mantralaya, twade yahan to single tender normhai exception nahin! In the Defence Ministry this is thenorm, not the exception, so they have a big headachecoming their way.

June 2011www.geopolitics.in

{GOLDENEYE}

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Silence is GoldenHERE IS a story on Maun Vrat. One by design and the other,well, also by design. Bhai chup rahoge, to life mein koi problemhi nahi! The first will, hopefully, it will now end consideringAir Marshal NAK Brown has been now formally appointed asthe next chief of the Air Force. For the past six months, Brownhas turned down request after request from the media for for-mal or informal interaction simply because he was fearful thathe could say something that could well end up hurting himand his chance of succeeding Air Chief Marshal Naik. Par whoto ab issue nahin raha, to bologe kya sirji? Unlikely. Unlike inthe US where Commanders are ratified by the Senate and liter-ally grilled with rounds of intense questioning by Congression-al committees on a wide variety of issues from time to timeincluding on their appointment and one knows where theyexactly stand on operational matters. Unfortunately in India,2iCs never speak and one only hears them when they takecharge. Pity, Brown saab, pity. Now how do we know what’syour take on hot pursuit, on Kashmir, on China and on theMMRCA (a little bird tells us he supports Eurofighter and Naikprefers the Rafale?). Todo Maun vrat!

And the other one relates to that feisty and straightforwardman in charge in the Kashmir valley, Lt Gen Atta Hasnain. Thismagazine was the first off the mark in featuring this unusual offi-cer and his efforts to present a humane and positive image of thearmy to Kashmiris. That’s been followed this last two months bya blitz of interviews and profile of the highest ranking Muslimgeneral ever to serve in the valley. Now comes word that Hasnainhas been asked to take it easy and go silent. Looks like the faujiHigh Command isn’t happy with the reams and reams of positivenewsprint that Hasnain has brought forth in the last threemonths. After all, the great media success of Lt Gen Hasnain,GoC in C, 15 Corp has created quite a buzz in army circles. As arule every 15 Corp commander has to make necessary political-ly correct statements, it is part of his mandate. Officials felt it hadgone a little too far and became anxious to rein him in. The sec-ular army wasn’t very happy about media labeling him as a Mus-lim general. Their secular credential was at stake. The seniormost media spin doctor from army himself told him: “Sir, it’senough now you should keep quiet”. So don’t be surprised ifthere is Maun Vrat in the coming months. That’s what the topbrass wants. It’s in the national interest to keep a stiff upper lip!

gg

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ASWIFT raid by USNavy’s SEAL teamin the heart of

Pakistan killed Osamabin Laden. Forty-minuteoperation sealed adecade-long man huntin a surgical manner

which will find its place inthe annals of military history and be cher-ished for its finesse by military profession-als world over.

While the exact plan may never beknown, but from its execution it appearedan uncomplicated one — having the ingre-dients of surprise and simplicity. Air threatfrom Pakistan’s western skies was minimaland drone attacks from Afghanistan by theUS were a routine affair; patchy air surveil-lance deployment by Pakistan Air Force wasrightly appreciated and exploited.

A punitive raid in Pakistan by Indianforces has been a much-debated issueunder the sobriquet — “Hot Pursuit”.Unfortunately, it has never materialised.During the nineties, India and Pakistanindulged in raiding border pickets acrossthe Line of Control (LoC) and even acrossinternational border. Pakistan beat us to itby staging Kargil, wherein during the winterof 1999-2000 it made a huge intrusion inLadakh region of Jammu and Kashmir(J&K) resulting into Operation Vijay.

India has suffered gravest provocation inthe form of proxy war from Pakistan since1989. Yet, our response has been reactive.


gGEOPO L I T I C S

gSPOTLIGHT

SATISH MALIK

Can India replicate Operation Geronimo if need arises? Are Indian special forces up to themark? Some noted experts try to answer below

UNCOMFORTABLEQUESTIONS

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India also has many other reasons and com-pulsions to flex its strategic muscle. Today,cumulative strength of special forces (SFs)in India is over 9,000. Despite such animpressive force level India has not exploit-ed many opportunities which went begging.

Pakistan reads Indian leadership as dog-matic and habit-ridden, which wants toplay safe. Our demand of handing over ofperpetrators of Mumbai bombings, Kand-har hijacking, Parliament attack, 26/11Mumbai attacks and terrorism in Kashmir isrepeatedly avoided. Perhaps the time hascome to change this perception.

SFs in India have been raised in a

parochial manner. Ministry of Home Affairs,Cabinet Secretariat, Army, Navy and Air Forceall have their own SF organisations. There isno convergence at the top to streamline theirtasking, employment, training and equip-ping. In the absence of a national mandatethese are reduced to service-specific, task-specific, theatre-specific organisations withlimited vision, reach and capability.

Growth of Indian SFs has suffered forwant of a clear mandate and doctrine. Thishas stunted the evolution of their commandand control structure, organisational devel-opment, synergy, employment, training andequipping. The political leadership/

bureaucracy does not understand the valueof SF operations. Even this choice at higherlevel of military leadership is restricted.Correct employment of SFs is always a forcemultiplier. Hope Operation Geronimo willmake us realise their real worth and someattention will be paid to the forces’ require-ments and updating.

Command and control of certain SF unitshas been a matter of heartburn for very long.For instance, the Special Action Groups offamed National Security Guards thoughentirely staffed by Army but at the apex levelits command is vested in the hands of anIndian Police Service officer with zero expe-rience to handle such trained manpower.

Raising a commando or SF unit is not anassembly line operation, because only afraction of human resource is bestowedwith right kind of aptitude, attitude andphysical prowess to be trained as comman-do. Commandoes cannot be mass pro-duced; no matter how much resource anorganisation has at its disposal. Black over-alls and an AK rifle do not make a comman-do. A commando is there because of his orher grit and determination, correct selec-tion and skill at arms. Organisations maysurvive on their mass but SF units excel dueto their pristine professional qualities.

SF operations have many ingredients.Intelligence acquisition and collation, com-munication, voice, data and video link, sup-port operations, electronic counter-measure,suppression of air defence, fire support,means of infiltration and ex-filtration throughland, air or sea and actions at the objective aresome of the essential support and back-upelements. Intelligence gathering, constantsurveillance and use of spy satellites are againmost crucial. Fortunately, we have all these.Only requirement is to rightly integrate theseand provide to our SFs for regular training,familiarisation and operations.

Indian SFs are islands of excellence. Theyare capable of doing a Geronimo, providedthese are duly backed up with these essen-tial elements and political will at the highestlevel. They need to cover the entire strategiccanvas. Hence, a synergy-building work tointegrate SFs into decision-making calculusof politico-military leadership. Let’s make abeginning. There are many justifiable rea-sons and opportunities to flex our strategicmuscle. We should rather exploit suchopportunities primarily to convey the rightmessage to the adversaries and also to testthe mettle of our SFs.

(The author, a retired Brigadier, wastrained by the Israelis in counter terrorism

operations)

gSPOTLIGHT

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SETTING THE BENCHMARK: Withthe bin Laden hit, the US Navy Sealshave raised the bar for all specialforces


(10)June 2011

OP E R A T I O NGERONIMO servesto highlight the

glaring contrast in theAmerican and Indianapproaches to counter-terrorism. The Americanshave a non-partisan con-sensus on such opera-tions. The Clinton, Bush

and Obama administrations relentlesslypursued their quarry for well over a decade.The Americans have a clearly articulatedcounter-terror policy which states inter alia“When terrorists wanted for violation of USlaws are at large overseas their return forprosecution will be a matter of the highestpriority and shall be a continuing centralissue in bilateral relations with any state thatharbours or assists them.”

It continues: “If we do not receive ade-quate cooperation from a state that har-bours a terrorist whose extradition we areseeking, we shall take measures to inducecooperation. Return of suspects by forcemay be affected without cooperation of thehost govt.”

Herein lies the primary lesson for India forits counter-terrorist operations. A Home Min-istry list indicates that India’s 50 most-wantedterrorists are ensconced in Pakistan. Pakistanbegan its asymmetric warfare offensiveagainst India not in 1989 in J&K but 10 yearsearlier by promoting terrorism in Punjab. For30 years the Indian State has tamely surren-dered the strategic and tactical initiative toPakistan. It has eschewed all retaliatoryoptions and hot pursuit and solely confinedits operations to defensive campaigns in itsown territory. It took 10 years to quell terror-ism in Punjab (where the terrain was flat andthe communications infrastructure exten-sive). It took over 20 years and huge force lev-els to contain terrorism in J&K. While the restof the world followed the “War against Terror-ism” model of CT operations, India aloneinsisted on a “Criminal-Justice” approachbased upon laws enacted in the 19th Centuryto deal with ordinary criminals. The US incontrast , had set up military tribunals to trysuch terrorists under stringent new lawsdesigned to deal with the new threat.

What then are the Indian responseoptions to foreign instigated terrorism?Experts on low intensity conflict like RogerTrinquier, David Galula, John McCuen,Julian Paget and Frank Kitson have all unan-imously insisted that external involvementin internal conflicts must be deterredthrough offensive action. What are the initia-tory forms that this offensive action can

entail? The aim must be to raise costs for theaggressor in a graduated manner that catersfor the need for escalation dominanceagainst a nuclear backdrop. The initialresponses must be pin-point and focusedand place the onus of any further escalationsquarely on the aggressor. Should he chooseto escalate further, air power/naval powerresponses must set the stage for a limitedwar that seeks to further raise costs andensure compellance. The matrix of initiatoryresponse options could be as under:-� Precision Air Attacks: These can bemounted on the headquarters/traininginfrastructure of the terrorist group respon-sible for the strike or against key individualsinvolved. With its SU-30s, Jaguar and Mirage2000 aircraft and Precision Guided Muni-tions, the Indian Air Force is highly capableof executing such precise attacks not just inPOK but anywhere in Pakistan.� Naval Cruise Missile Attacks: Should theterrorist facilities/ leadership in Pakistan belocated close to the sea board, the IndianNavy with its Brahmos Cruise Missiles couldvery well attack such targets in a precise andeffective manner.

� Naval Aviation Strikes: Naval aviation inconcert with the IAF’s SU-30s Jaguars couldengage such terrorist command and controlnodes and significant leaders near the seaboard with a very high probability of success.� Special Forces Heliborne Assaults: Indianspecial forces could very well mount preciseand surgical operations to kill/capture keyterrorist leaders and target HQ facilitiesespecially as many of them are located closeto the international border. The Indianarmed forces have the requisite capabilitiesto conduct such attacks not only in PoK butequally across the international border.Theadvantage of such Geronimo-style comman-do raids is that they can be very precise, theycould get confirmatory intelligence that thetargeted individuals have been eliminatedand the levels of collateral damage could beless (provided the raiding force does not getseriously engaged with defending forces).� Grey Areas: The grey areas for all theseoptions are the need for specific targetingintelligence and the chances of collateraldamage to Pakistan’s civilian population. Iftargeting intelligence is precise, such collat-eral damage can be minimised. Indian

gSPOTLIGHT

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G D BAKSHI


(11)June 2011

intelligence agencies should be able to pro-vide such precise intelligence.� Escalation Dominance: The probablePakistani response to begin with would be“mirror imaging”— they would try to retali-ate within the limits to which India hasbreached the escalation threshold. Thiswould leave the advantage with India —especially if air power and naval power havebeen employed to initiate the strikes. Indiahas a marked edge in air and naval powerover Pakistan.This will only grow apace inthe years ahead. The onus of escalation inthis model is squarely placed on the aggres-sor. Pakistani counter-escalation in factcould help India’s air power and naval powerto set the stage for a limited war. This limitedwar should take the form of an air-landoffensive designed not so much to captureterritory but simply to raise costs for Pak-istan by bringing to battle and degrading itsoperational and strategic reserves on Pak-istan’s own soil.

Such a limited war between the spectralends of nuclear war and sub-conventionalconflict is very much within the currentcapabilities of the Indian armed forces. In

times to come such abilities will only growand become more potent. That should be anatural corollary of our impressive econom-ic growth. However we need to rapidly trans-late economic power into usable militarycapabilities.

Should the enemy seek to escalate theconflict in terms of vertical/horizontal esca-lation, we should be fully prepared to launchan Air-land offensive that seeks to bring tobattle and degrade the enemy’s operationaland strategic level reserves on his own soiland inflict substantial damage. It must targetthe ISI complexes that plan and execute thewar of a thousand cuts against India andseek to destroy as much of the terrorist infra-structure as possible.

Covert vs Overt Action: A strong and logi-cal pitch has been made that India should goin for a tit for tat policy and respond in acovert manner using assets within Pakistanto do this job. This option has its difficultiesin execution but is feasible. Deniability isinbuilt in this mode of response. The ques-tion however is of losing the moral highground in this struggle against terroristprovocations. Such a response brings usdown to the level of our adversary in moralterms. An overt response may carry the riskof escalation but permits us to retain themoral high ground and international sympa-thy. Legally it is covered by the right of hotpursuit. Let us therefore examine the overtoption in greater detail.

Special Forces Command: India has aplethora of special forces. The special forcesof the army alone have been increased tosome 9000. However these mostly provide

“Ranger” type capabilities for actions in theTactical Battle Area (TBA). They generally donot contribute to capabilities in the DeltaForce or Green Berets league. The expansionin numeric terms has entailed dilution ofquality and high-tech resources. Howeverthe manpower is highly motivated and capa-ble and some selected special forces unitscould pull off a Geronimo style operation ifprovided accurate intelligence. The Navy hasits SEAL equivalent in the MARCOS and theAir Force has the Garuda compliment. Mostof these are confined to tactical and at bestoperational art level tasks. There is littlethought given to strategic tasking. The Cabi-net Secratariat has its Establishment 22. TheHome Ministry has milked the Army SpecialForces to raise the NSG and placed themunder a police officer who usually knowsvery little about special forces operationsand generally never rises up from the ranksof this force. Turf wars and intense competi-tion are quite destructive of overall synergy.The need therefore is to create a specialforces command that skims the cream of thisspecial forces zoo in India and combines tri-cap capabilities under a joint command thatfocuses on strategic level tasks under thePMO and NSA (through the HQ IDS). Theneed for a CDS to oversee such joint com-mands is paramount and overriding. Wehave the wherewithal to do an op Geronimoon Pakistan. We must develop the politicalwill and hone the instruments for ready use.

(The author is a retired Major General)

(Continued on page 14)

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ON GARUDA

GARUDA HAVEspecial trainingwhich is for Air

Force specific operation.Some of the capabilitiesare overlapping with theother special forces.Depending upon the

contingencies Garuda can participatealong with other forces if there is anyspecific requirement. If a contingency isof high value like Maldives, where AirForce went along with Navy, Air Forcewill participate. It all depends upon task,specific templates for specific task.

ON AIR FORCE CAPABILITYWe have certain technology like anymature air force would have. We have

electronic warfare capabilities like elec-tronic counter-measure and electroniccounter-countermeasure. What is impor-tant is the capability that they have interms of anti-anti. (Pakistan’s anti-jam-ming capability).

We will have to be prepared for anyform of counter-measures. Any matureair force will cater for any contingenciesand will take measures to make the mis-sion successful.

Case-by-case it will be decidedwhether any such operation will be sin-gle or joint service operation. In anyoperation where the air force will providethe air coverage through fighter aircraftsthe probability of escalation is very high.

(The author is a retired Air Marshal and ex-Vice Chief of Air Staff)

PK BARBORA

PRECISION STRIKES: TheSpecial Forces operatorsconduct extensive trainingbefore potential attacks


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FLY, FLOAT AND

STING

June 2011

TO PUT it bluntly, it was not anordinary machine. And the verdictfrom defence and chopperexperts from around the globe,particularly America, is clear: The

helicopter destroyed in the bin Laden com-pound in Abbottabad is a Sikorsky BlackHawk stealth machine that, to use a classicMohammad Ali phrase, “floats like a butter-fly and stings like a bee”.

So is it a new aircraft? Unlikely. The USArmy has a long history of heavily modifyingexisting rotorcraft for secret missions. Expertsare finally coming around to the view thatwhat was left behind in Pakistan was mostprobably a heavily-modified and upgradedstealth-optimised MH-60 Black Hawk.

The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, manu-factured by Sikorsky, first entered service withthe US Army in 1979. Since then, the $44-mil-lion helicopter has become a workhorseacross all branches of the American military.There are numerous variations on the basicdesign, with the Special Forces typically usingthe highly-modified MH-60 variant. The BlackHawk has a crew of three or four and can car-ry 11 soldiers equipped for combat.

What has made modification relativelyeasy is that the US had this technology foryears and may actually have taken from thenow-cancelled RAH-66 Comanche helicopter.

That bird featured shrouded rotor headsand unspecified absorbent materials, saidone expert. The Comanche was designed tobe an armed reconnaissance craft capable ofcarrying only two people. Just two proto-types of that machine were built before theUS Army cancelled the programme in 2004.At that point in time it was announced thattechnologies developed in the Comanche

programme would be “retained” and “muchof what we’ve gained out of Comanche wecan push forward into the tech base forfuture joint rotorcraft kinds of capabilities aswe look further out”.

Was it used in the Black Hawks in

Abbottabad? The WhiteHouse and Department ofDefence have refused tocomment on what type ofhelicopter crashed in the raid. Sikorsky alsodeclined to comment on the aircraft.

The aviation world has been abuzz withspeculation about the uber-stealthy mysterychopper used in the bin Laden raid. Here is whatwe have learnt about the ‘Ghost of Abbottabad’

Shorter and thinner: Theblades on the tail rotoralso appear to be shorterand thinner than typicalBlack Hawk helicopterblades. More blades andshorter blades means thehelicopter would makeless noise in flight. Theblades themselves arethreaded, which meansthat these are carboncomposite rotor bladesas opposed to conven-tional metal rotor blades.

Blades: Photos from Ab-bottabad show that thechopper had a five-blad-ed tail rotor, on a con-ventional Black Hawk,you have four blades. Theaddition of the extra rotorblades on the tail rotorhub reduces the acousticsignature of the helicop-ter, thereby making ithard to hear.

Noise suppression: The five tail rotorblades are partially covered by a disk-likeobject that experts have called a ‘hub-mounted vibration suppression system’.This could provide better noise sup-pression and possible protection for thetail rotor from shrapnel. And it’s nottypical on military helicopters.

Fuselage: Parts of the heli-copter appear similar to non-secret stealth aircraft. It’s ashape that’s synonymouswith fixed-wing stealth fight-ers such as the F-22 and theF-35. Essentially, it’s designedto defeat radar.

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So why did the chopper go down?When air molecules heat up, air becomes lessdense and helicopter blades can lose their liftability as they land. These newer Black Hawkscame equipped with special General Electricengines that were to reduce the risk of a hotlanding problem. US Senators and Congress-

men, who were briefed on the mission, saidthe damaged helicopter had not malfunc-tioned. Instead, they said, it got caught in anair vortex caused by higher-than-expectedtemperatures and the high compound walls,which blocked the downwash of the rotorblades. As a result, the helicopter lost its liftpower while hovering over the yard and hadto make a hard landing, clipping one of thewalls with its tail. The SEALs were about to‘fast rope’ into the courtyard in front of binLaden’s house when the Black Hawk lost lift.The pilot nudged the Black Hawk forwardinto a controlled crash but sheared off its tailsection. The SEALs were able to continuewith their mission and, before they left, blew

up as much of the Black Hawk as they could— presumably to hide the secret stealth components — but had to leave the tail

section intact as it fell outside thecompound.

Vertical Magazine’s story on the stealth hel-icopter offered that radar-evading technologymight have added weight to the aircraft andcontributed to the hard landing that crippledthe craft during the raid. The Black Hawks onthe mission to capture or kill bin Ladenappear to have had a modified exterior akin to

the F-117 Night Hawk stealthbomber built by Lockheed Martin.

Sikorsky and Lockheed have a long historytogether and the two share a key Naval Sea-hawk contract, in which Lockheed receives abasic Seahawk helicopter and upgrades it tofight submarines.

While a standard MH-60 Black Hawkweighs as little as 11,124 pounds empty,

reports suggest a stealth-modified version might

weigh more than 12,000 pounds. The tailrotor, for instance, had extra blades to make itquieter in the air, and was covered with a disc-shaped device sometimes referred to as a“hubcap”. The main rotor would also havebeen modified and, according to somereports, the entire helicopter would havebeen given a “silver loaded” paint job to avoiddetection by infrared sensors.

There’s also speculation that thestealth helicopters may have been out-fitted with larger fuel tanks, to increasetheir range. All that additional weight

might have contributed to what aviatorscall “settling with power”, when a helicopterdescends too quickly. But given the amount oftraining before the mission, it seems unlikelythe pilot wouldn’t have known about the chal-lenges caused by the additional weight. Thatwould include making the sides of the heli-copter both flatter and slanted as a way ofdeflecting radar signals.

Colour: Most Black Hawk Army helicoptersare painted olive green, but this one isgray. Not just any gray; it’s infrared-sup-pressant gray, and the purpose of the IRgray, as it’s known, is to help reduce the vul-nerability of the helicopter to ground-launched heat-seeking missile systems.

THE PUNISHER: The stealth chopperwas instrumental in taking out America’sEnemy No 1

THE GHOST OF ABBOTTABAD: The mystery chopperused to take out bin Laden is thought to be a highlymodified Black Hawk with stealth features

THE WORKHORSE: The Black Hawk isthe mainstay of the American armedforces since it entered service in 1978

Graphic courtesy: www.aviationgraphic.com

Panorama.qxd 5/30/2011 2:38 PM Page 19

(14)June 2011

PO S T- O PE R AT I O NGeronimo, there ismuch inquisitive-

ness whether Indian spe-cial forces can undertake asimilar raid as US NavySEALS to take out notori-ous celebrities likeDawood Ibrahim, HafizSaeed, Ilyas Kashmiri,

Mahmood Azhar etc. The answer is yes pro-vided our boys could be landed in the samecompound but could they have been landedthere? Answer to the second question is a bigNO in absence of national will and our inabil-ity to revive the concept of HUMINT that wasthrottled during Prime Minister Gujral’s time.An operation like Geronimo cannot beundertaken purely based on TECHINT. If theUS was not 200 per cent sure about Osama’sprescence, the raid would never have gone in.

Our special forces come into focus peri-odically when incidents like ParliamentAttack, 26/11 and Operation Geronimooccur. There are calls for revisiting our spe-cial forces but the end result is only unwar-ranted expansion in complete disregard toglobal norms. The annual expansion rate inUS Special Forces Command (SOCOM) is 3.5per cent albeit for 2012, a special sanction isbeing sought to hike it to 4.12 per cent due toincreasing commitments. This growth rate isdespite President Obama sanctioning

deployment of US special forces in 85 coun-tries last year, over and above some 100

countries they were already operating in. In sharp contrast, our Army special forces

expanded by about 110 per cent in period2000 to 2003. This year, we have gone andraised the eighth special forces unit, causinga manpower shortage of 80-90 per cent per-sonnel in all special forces units. Already,India’s special forces are at par in numberswith SOCOM, considering 2/3rd strength ofSOCOM is “in support’ role comprising civil-ians and military which are not specialforces. Our Army special forces are short ofmanpower, officers (no unit has even 50 percent of authorised strength of officers), criti-cal equipment like night vision and surveil-lance devices, combat free-fall equipment,laser target designators etc. The system doesnot even provide for proper rucksacks tospecial forces personnel and the ICK Kit pro-vided cannot accommodate the amount ofammunition that needs to be carried. Unitsare left to improvise and get such equipmentusing their own funds. Unlike foreign specialforces, we do not also have a separate specialforces budget. Despite this mad expansion,with plans to create yet another two specialforces units in the Army, the special forces

training school, responsible for impartingadvanced special skills training, remainsunexpanded for past decade plus and with-out requisite training facilities.

Specialisation has remained a casualty inthe Army. We are the only country in theworld where special forces are grouped withnormal parachute battalions, latter essen-tially being regular infantry battalions in air-borne mode. A special forces regiment wasformed in 2004 with Lt Gen. Vijay Oberoi asthe Colonel of the special forces regimentbut the concept got stymied when GeneralBC Joshi died in harness. His successor, GenShankar Roy Chowdhury dissolved the spe-cial forces regiment under pressure fromserving and retired parachute officers.

Today, we have a stupid situation wherespecial posts like Additional Director Gener-al Special Forces in Military OperationsDirectorate in Army Headquarters are heldby Parachute Regiment officer who havenever served in special forces.

Non special forces officers taking decisionon special forces subjects indicates completelack of understanding of the special forcesconcept. No country other than India sendswhole special forces units and sub units onUN missions. They would have beenemployed much more gainfully in covert sur-veillance of India’s areas of strategic interests.Many times foreign special forces are exer-cised with our parachute units and eveninfantry units. Earlier, a team of paratrooperswere even sent to Russia to train with Spetz-naz instead of special forces. It does not sinkin that parachute units should actually betraining with foreign counterparts like 82ndand 101st Airborne Divisions of the US andsimilar counterparts in other countries.

Establishment of an Integrated SpecialForces Command (ISFC) should be treated asa national imperative. The three models thatcould be adopted are: One, establish ISFCunder CDS (COSC in interim) with a StrategicSpecial Forces Cell (SSFC) in the PMO; Two,establish ISFC parallel to Strategic ForcesCommand under NSA with SSFC in PMO,Three, establish ISFC directly under PMOwith SSFC in HQ Integrated Defence Staff.Establishment of an SSFC in the PMO is vitalas strategic deployment and strategic taskingof special forces will require express sanctionof the PM. SSFC in PMO will also be central toevolving and implementing a National Strate-gy for Employment of Special Forces, which isabsent today. Personally, I am for Model Twosince the CDS may not be appointed fordecades to come and this does not imply thatrequirement of services will not be met.

(The author is a retired Lt. General)

www.geopolitics.in

ACOVERT opera-tion by the Indi-an Navy special

forces of the MarineCommandoes on acoastal target on aneighbouring site isvery much within theircapability but as with

USA’s recent operation it will needmuch training, access to detailed intelli-gence of the target and its defences andthe latest C4ISR equipment for commu-nications. The government will have toweigh the ramifications of the action ona nuclear neighbour and be ready todeal with escalation. Such action fromsea from a submarine to inject andretrieve marine commandoes is verypossible, but actions on land on terrortraining camps may not yield results asthese are mere indoctrination camps invillages with IED and bomb-makingtrainers. Getting there and back will notbe easy except in PoK.

(The author is a retired Commodore)

RANJIT RAI

gSPOTLIGHT

g

PRAKASH KATOCH

CONSTANT VIGIL: India lacks thepolitical will to commit SFoperations across the border

(Continued from page 11)


n o t h i n g c o m e s c l o s e

Eurofighter Typhoon: The Best Multi-Role Capabilities for IndiaEurofighter Typhoon: the world’s most advanced new generation multi-role combat aircraft. Representing the combined strengths of

Europe’s leading aerospace and defence companies, the Eurofighter Typhoon provides engineering and industrial benefits for all customer

nations. Designed with an established technology insertion programme, Eurofighter Typhoon is an open platform offering industrial

partnership, shared development and affordable logistics solutions.ww

w.e

urof

ight

er.c

om

Document3 2/27/2011 12:31 PM Page 1

HEADQUARTERED AT FortBragg, North Carolina, the USArmy Special Operations Com-mand has five active duty spe-cial forces groups which are

doctrinally focussed on a particular region ofthe world; Afghanistan coming under thepurview of the combination of 3rd and 7thGroups and it is likely that the 160th SpecialOperations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), beingthe pivotal unit, carried the SEALS for opera-tions-OBL at Abbottabad under the directsupervision of the CIA.

Apparently, though it should have beenthe jurisdiction of the 160th SOAR to carryout the special forces operations, being anextraordinarily super-sensitive and super-secret semi-political-cum-terrorist issues inone of the most dangerous areas of Pakistanand Afghanistan’s landlocked terrain, theCIA came into fore to use force. Hence, the

SEALS (which implies men drawn from sea,air and land forces of the USA) special unitswere created and placed at the disposal ofthe CIA at Abbottabad’s Operation OBL.

And not surprisingly, the mission virtuallyfollowed the SOAR’s operation doctrine of“insertion, extraction, resupply, aerial securi-ty, armed attack, medical evacuation, elec-tronic warfare and command and controlsupport”. But what made the difference in themission capability and success undoubtedlylay in the helicopter quality for swift and sur-reptitious deployment to, and the subsequentmovement and retreat from ground zero.

It all began in January 1988 afresh withthe order placed for the US army specialoperations for Sikorsky MH-60K helos. Fea-tures to be included in the rotorcraft wereprovision for additional fuel tanks plus“flight refueling capability; terrain following,ground mapping and air-to-ground ranging

radar, engines and up-rated transmission,provision for Stinger missiles, missile warn-ing receiver, pulse radio frequency jammer,laser detector, chaff/flare dispensers, andinfra-red jammer”.

At the Sikorsky plant production level,there are several types/versions of the BlackHawk for different combat missions. Thus,when MH-60M “special forces derivative,intended to replace existing MH-60 fleet”came up for production, few details wereavailable to anyone who was beyond theactual user of the flying machine. The onlyauthentic news was that the helicopter wasexpected to provide new 20-year airframelife with improved avionics, electrical anddynamic systems and a replaced engineresulting in “superior hot-and-high perform-ance”- with a delivery schedule of early 2009.

Not surprisingly, therefore, more than2400 Sikorsky MH-60 multirole medium


gGEOPO L I T I C S

gPERSPECTIVE

Mission-Abbottabad was not a military operation but an intelligent action by an intelligenceagency of the United States. It also proved that the US Black Hawk is the best helicopter as itcan successfully emerge unscathed from, and victorious in, the most harsh, hostile and hotscenario, writes ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA

THE ABBOTTABAD

LESSONSSTEED OF THE WARRIORS: TheBlack Hawk is an essential part ofthe Special Forces equipment

THE ABBOTTABAD

LESSONS

Perspective 16-18.qxd 5/30/2011 2:43 PM Page 26

gPERSPECTIVE

g

helicopters have been sold across the globe.With a two-man flight-deck, “with pilot andco-pilot on armour protected seats”, a thirdmember could be stationed in the cabin asgunner, adjacent to forward cabin window.Accommodation for fully equipped troops,or “14 in high-density configuration”explains the reported use of four BlackHawks to hunt OBL at Abbottabad.

Again, the external cargo hook, having a3630 kilogram-lift capability reveals the pos-sible carrying of the dead human as cargo tomake a swift exit from the fighting site of theAbbottabad abode of OBL. With advancedavionics, configurations vary between heli-copters. Nevertheless for a mission like thatof “OBL in Abbottabad”, additional avionicsand self-protection equipment must havebeen installed in the helicopter “on mission”.

The other known features of Black Hawktoo appear be “good” enough to carry out

conventional special operations deploymentas the first and foremost criteria thereofrevolves round being undetected; and ifdetected, to defend or deflect the fire and

then thwart the threat with counter-fire. Todo so, one requires what Black Hawk

appeared to be equipped with, even beforethe “super-secret stealth” technology isreportedly used by the fleet of “operationOsama” at Abbottabad.

With IFF (identification friend or foetransponder; voice security set; integratedcommunications system; “nap of the earth”digital radio; terrain-following/terrainavoidance radar; automatic flight controlsystem “with digital three-axis autopilot”;very-high frequency omni-directionalrange/glideslope receiver; electronic flightmanagement systems; thermal imaging sys-tems; electro-optic sensor system; laserrangefinder; image-intensifying televisionalong with various self-defence devices like“pulse radio frequency jammer; radio jam-mer; warning receivers; laser detector;chaff/flare dispenser and infra-red counter-measures and incorporation of combinedcommon missile warning system/advanced


WHAT MADE THEDIFFERENCE IN

MISSIONCAPABILITY ANDSUCCESS LAY INTHE HELICOPTER

QUALITY


TRUSTED MOUNT: The UH-60 has performed exemplarily in a variety of harsh and extreme conditions across the world

gPERSPECTIVE

g

threat infrared countermeasures”.That the Black Hawk is essentially

designed and developed for mobile, agileand quick reaction time Special Forces oper-ations for tactical purposes can very well beunderstood from the overall geometry andphysical features thereof. Thus , whereas theinternal payload of the rotorcraft is 1200kilogram, the under-slung capacity of themachine stands anywhere between 3629kilogram and 4082 kilogram, which clearlyreveals the deployment of the man-machineratio. Eleven/twelve fully-equipped troopersaboard going for the “kill” with anywherebetween 3.629 and 4.082 tonnes of under-slung military hardware.

Along with the two Sikorsky MH-60 alsoparticipated three Boeing Chinook medi-um-lift helicopters (which have accumulat-ed close to four million flight hours eversince their induction into the US Army in1968). Of the various models, Chinook MH-47D, 47E and 47G are special operationsmodel the fundamental characteristics ofwhich are “defence first”, “electronic count-er-measure, early warning and jamming ofthe enemy signals second” and “assault last”for mission accomplishment. With morethan 24 customer nations using 1412 heli-copters across the globe, the versatility ofthe Chinook is unquestionable. Yet, Chinooktoo had faced serious “mission software

problems” in the past thereby delayingdelivery to the US Army Special OperationsCommand in 1994.

It needs to be remembered that onlyeight countries (China, India, Japan, SouthKorea, Poland, Romania, Russia and theUSA) today make helicopters; and the fiveEuropean producers have stopped manu-facturing on their own. Instead, they(France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK) areinternational collaboration/partners witheach other in joint venture programme.

Post-OBL Abbottabad, it has, however,often been asked whether India is capableenough to undertake similar special forcesoperations across the border, should theneed arise. Theoretically, the Indians do have

the capability and strength as found from the(Jane’s) published order-of-battle:- “Specialforces consist of five para-commando battal-ions: 1, 2, 9, 10 and 21 Para (SF) Battalion.Their role is to provide rapid reaction andcounter-terrorist forces, and to attack anddisrupt enemy vital points, lines of commu-nication and the command and control sys-tems during conventional operations and atleast one unit is trained in deep-penetrationoperations”. India also has the basic aerialwherewithal to operate through from “takeoff to target” missions.

With 110 multi-role Dhruv advancedlight helicopters, several squadrons Mil-8,Mil-17 and Mil-26 with the Air Force, India’sproblem is not the paucity of capability, butlack of intention and inherent vacillation ofIndia’s non-military bosses, which is under-standable, given the complicated demogra-phy of South Asia with a nation (in India’svicinity) infested with terrorism, funda-mentalism and afflicted with congenitalhatred to every possible country in theworld. Moreover, the “operational spots” forthe Indian forces, unlike the Americans, aretoo close for uncontrollable fundamentalistand religious backfire and backlash withinIndia.

(The author is alumnus of the NationalDefence College)

MORE THAN 2400 SIKORSKY

MH-60MULTIROLE

MEDIUMHELICOPTERS

HAVE BEEN SOLD



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O N L O O K E Rgg


THE SUNDAY Times reacted angrily to the SriLanka External Affairs GL Peiris’ recent visitto Delhi. Read it to get a perspective of themindset in the Island nation.

“Going by the joint statement (‘joint’ is theoperational word), the Minister committedhimself, his government, and his country todoing all what his hosts wanted from him, hisgovernment and his country. This documentdisplays, sadly, how the Sri Lankan Ministerhas succumbed to the heavy breathing downhis collar. It has reference to unsolicitedcounseling on the one hand, titillating offersof gifts and tantalizingly veiled threats, butnothing beats the reference to urging the

Government of Sri Lanka to provide for ‘gen-uine reconciliation’. This is nothing but anunmistakable slap that Dr. Peiris has timidlyaccepted on behalf of the Mahinda Ra-japaksa administration for the inclusion ofthe word ‘genuine’ before the word ‘reconcil-iation’ is nothing but a reflection that Indiaviews present efforts at reconciliation to be‘farcical’.

“There seems to be little or nothing that SriLanka has gained from these talks. Leavealone not getting any assurances of support tooppose the UN panel report on allegations ofhuman rights violations, there is not a humeven about Indian support for Sri Lanka’s bidto host the Commonwealth Games in 2018.Then the minister has not only agreed to de-velop on the 13th Amendment, but to do so inconsultation with Tamil parties in Sri Lanka.What about other political parties? It has beena dismal performance, to say the least.

“One of the more significant aspects of thePeiris visit was that none of the Foreign Serviceprofessionals accompanied him. It was an un-precedented step taken. Usually, the secretaryto the ministry is by the minister’s side shouldany professional advice be required; so too is

the director in charge of India. But on thisoccasion, and for the first time, such a

high profile visit on such important issues waswithout a single Foreign Service official.

“Peiris was meeting not only his counter-part SM Krishna and Indian Prime MinisterManmohan Singh but also senior External Af-fairs Ministry officials, known as the ‘Brah-mins’ of the much-admired Indian publicservice. For Peiris to go to that den alone, ac-companied only by a junior MP, Sajin VaasGunawardene, was brave if not foolhardy. Theresults showed that it was more of the latter.

“Having said that, there was at least onesilver lining in an otherwise hopeless per-formance by the Minister of External Affairsthis week, i.e., the congratulatory letter hewrote to Jayaram Jayalalithaa, the newlyelected Chief Minister of the southern Indianstate of Tamil Nadu, thus re-opening thedoors for a dialogue with that importantstate. We have long urged such interactionbecause such a political and diplomatic ex-change is a sine qua non to stability in SriLanka’s immediate neighbourhood.

“Next week, a new headache opens withthe UN Human Rights Council meetings inGeneva as Sri Lanka tries to ward off any pos-sible moves to bring ‘war crimes’ charges upfor discussion. If the Sri Lankan Governmentfeels it is being encircled and besieged by theInternational Community, including India,this is true. But it has no one but itself to blamefor most part”.

DIPLOMATIC DEBACLE?

EXCERPTS FROM President Obama’sspeech on America and the Arab World

The question before us is what roleAmerica will play as this story unfolds. Fordecades, the United States has pursued a setof core interests in the region: counteringterrorism and stopping the spread of nu-clear weapons; securing the free flow ofcommerce, and safe-guarding the securityof the region; standing up for Israel’s secu-rity and pursuing Arab-Israeli peace.

We will continue to do these things, with

the firm belief that America’s interests are nothostile to peoples’ hopes; they are essentialto them. Yet we must acknowledge that astrategy based solely upon the narrow pur-suit of these interests will not fill an emptystomach or allow someone to speak theirmind. Moreover, failure to speak to thebroader aspirations of ordinary people willonly feed the suspicion that has festered foryears that the United States pursues our owninterests at their expense. Given that this mis-trust runs both ways — as Americans havebeen seared by hostage taking, violent rheto-ric, and terrorist attacks that have killed thou-sands of our citizens — a failure to changeour approach threatens a deepening spiral ofdivision between the United States and Mus-lim communities.

That’s why, two yearsago in Cairo, Ibegan to broadenour engagement basedupon mutual interestsand mutual respect. I be-lieved then — and I believe now —thatwe have a stake not just in the stability ofnations, but in the self-determination of

individuals. The status quo is not sustain-able. Societies held together by fear and re-pression may offer the illusion of stability fora time, but they are built upon fault linesthat will eventually tear asunder.

So we face an historic opportunity. Wehave embraced the chance to show thatAmerica values the dignity of the street ven-dor in Tunisia more thanthe raw power of thedictator. There mustbe no doubt thatthe United States ofAmerica wel-comes changethat advances self-determinationand opportu-nity.

SEMINAL SPEECHOBAMA ON his Secretary of State:I want to thank Hillary Clinton, who has

traveled so much these lastsix months that she is ap-

proaching a new land-mark — one millionfrequent flyer miles. Icount on Hillary every

day, and I believe thatshe will go down asone of the finest

Secretaries of State in our nation’s

history.

QUIP METER!

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ggO N L O O K E R

www.geopolitics.in

AMERICAN WEEKLY, Newsweek recentlypublished a report on how Pakistan is aggres-sively accelerating construction at theKhushab nuclear site, about 140 miles southof Islamabad. Satellite images published bythe magazine reflected that Pakistan willsoon have a fourth operational reactor, great-ly expanding plutonium production for itsnuclear-weapons programme.

“The buildup is remarkable,” says PaulBrannan of the Institute for Science andInternational Security. “And that nobody inthe US or in the Pakistani government saysanything about this — especially in this dayand age — is perplexing.”

It also had an interview with the father ofPakistan’s nuclear programe, Dr AQ Khan:“Pakistan’s nuclear program has always beena target for Western propaganda and falseaccusations. I would like to make it clear thatit was an Indian nuclear explosion in May1974 that prompted our nuclear program,motivating me to return to Pakistan to helpcreate a credible nuclear deterrent and savemy country from Indian nuclear blackmail.

“The question of how many weapons arerequired for credible deterrence against Indiais purely academic. India is engaged in a mas-sive program to cope with the nonexistentthreat posed by China and in order tobecome a superpower. India doesn’t needmore than five weapons to hurt us badly, andwe wouldn’t need more than 10 to return thefavor. That is why there has been no warbetween us for the past 40 years.

“Don’t overlook the fact that no nuclear-capable country has been subjected toaggression or occupied, or had its bordersredrawn. Had Iraq and Libya been nuclearpowers, they wouldn’t have been destroyed inthe way we have seen recently. If we had hadnuclear capability before 1971, we would nothave lost half of our country—present-dayBangladesh—after disgraceful defeat.

“We achieved credible nuclear capacity bythe second half of the ‘80s,

and the delivery systemwas perfected in theearly ‘90s. For a coun-try that couldn’t pro-duce bicycle chainsto have become anuclear and missile

power within a shortspan — and in the

teeth of Western oppo-sition — was quite a

feat.”

(21)June 2011

PAKISTAN’S NEWSLINE Magazine re-cently published a revealing piece on thedrone attacks, Imran Khan’s anger and op-position to these attacks and what theyperceived as his double standards:

“Imran Khan promises to free Pakistanof injustice, poverty, homelessness, illit-eracy and unemployment while empow-ering women and se-curing equal rights forreligious minorities. ButKhan’s critics label hima Taliban sympathiserwho garners supportby using the anti-UScard when anti-US sen-timents already arehigh. Whereas Khanstaunchly opposes thedrone strikes in Pak-istan and repeatedlyblames them for risingterrorism in the coun-try, critics feel he hasnot been vocal enoughin condemning reli-gious fanatics acrossPakistan. And while he has not protestedagainst suicide attacks on the civilianpopulation, he has led several sit-insagainst CIA-operated Predator drones.His claim: the menace of terrorism (whichthe US claims the drones contain) can beuprooted within 90 days under his

leadership if the drones stopped raining‘hellfire.’

“Imran Khan does condemn all formsof terror, but why does he fail to protestagainst these terrorist organisations andagainst their distorted teachings with thesame vigour he employs when rallyingagainst US drones? And, ironically, why

does he instead seek sup-port from them? Wherewere the sit-ins against theideology that led to the as-sassination of SalmaanTaseer or Shahbaz Bhatti?What if there were no droneattacks, would Taseer andBhatti have been saved?Would the thousands thatcelebrated their death andforbade prayers at theirdeath suddenly have be-come champions of inter-faith harmony and preach-ers of pacifism? Wouldstopping drone attacks andfighting the war on our ownstop extremism?

“Imran Khan claims he can end thedecades-long menace of terrorism bybringing an end to drone attacks. To that,I respond: if the aim of your sit-in really isto end terrorism and not just garner po-litical support, Mr Khan, then shift insite… that’s all.”

HIDING BEHIND THE DRONES MR KHAN’SEXPLOSION

WESTERN SECURITY officials worry cru-cial intelligence on terror groups in NorthAfrica will dry up as repressive — but effec-tive — security services are dismantled orreorganised following the Arab revolts.

Those concerns, expressed by Euro-pean and Israeli intelligence officers ininterviews with media, add urgency toreports of foreign fighters with suspected

al-Qaida links crossinginto Tunisia.

Extremistgroups such

as al-Qai-da in theIslamic

Maghreb (AQIM) are not believed to haveplayed a big role in the uprisings inTunisia, Egypt and Libya. But concerns aremounting they will exploit the instabilitycaused by the sudden collapse of autocrat-ic regimes that clamped down hard on ter-rorism and cooperated with the West.”Theintelligence coming from our partners inNorth Africa has been very important overthe years,” one European security said.“Although the agencies were seen as beingparticularly brutal, they were often veryeffective,” he said. “I think it’s too soon tosay what will happen in North Africa, butit’s fair to say that we’re concerned furtherinstability could affect intelligenceexchanges.”

Another intelligence official from a dif-ferent European country said therealready is a noticeable drop in the flow ofintelligence from North Africa. While Pak-istan, Afghanistan and Yemen are consid-ered priority countries in the fight againstal-Qaida, North Africa has been a stagingground for various terror groups affiliatedwith, or inspired by, al-Qaida leaders.

ARAB UPRISING DISTURBS FLOW OF INTEL

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KEEPING IN SHAPEAn upgraded Mirage 2000 will remain, as in the past, lethal

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HINDUJASEYE THE

AEROSPACESECTOR

The Transport Aircraft Division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over anoth-er Dornier-228 multi-role maritime surveillance aircraft to the Director General of CoastGuard recently. This was the 100th Dornier 228 aircraft, which has been produced forIndian Coast Guard by HAL.

Over the years, HAL has produced 4-seater transport aircraft(HS-748), 18-seater multi-role transport aircraft calledDornier-228, Rohini & ITG-3 gliders, an agriculture aircraft

In yet another example ofprivate involvement in the de-fence industry, the HindujaGroup is developing its base inIndia to enhance its productsofferings and enter the aero-space industry. Hinduja Groupunit, Defiance Technologies,has already started work ontesting and validation for aero-space systems even as AshokLeyland Defence Systems car-ries out design and engineeringfor sub-systems in India. AshokLeyland is already involved in

several projects with the armedforces of India as well as othercountries. It recently show-cased its models for the de-fence forces in the UAE forlucrative projects in the region.The Hindujas already have aconsiderable experience in theMiddle East for several yearsand have developed special au-tomobiles for the armed forces,including light recovery vehi-cles, high mobility vehicles,field artillery trucks and firefighting trucks. According to asenior official from the group,the Hundujas created a sepa-rate entity for defence salesand have seen improved results.

He also added that defencewas the thrust area and thegroup was expanding its products through two jointventures.

MILAP CARBINE OFFERED TOINDIAN ARMY

Continuing the trend of indigenisa-tion of weapons, the Ordnance FactoryBoard has offered the Milap carbine tothe Indian Army. The weapon has left atrail of controversy in recent years afterthe Army began its hunt for a new ver-sion of the carbine for a couple of yearsago. Carbines are usually used for closequarter battles. OFB has tied up withDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation to create the gun after anarrangement to make a carbine in as-sociation with Singapore Technologieswas put on hold following an allegedcorruption scandal. Called Milap, after

the joint venture,the OFB-DRDOcarbine is ex-pected to be pre-sented to the Armyfor trials soon. TheMilap costs about`50,000 to makecompared to thenearly ` one lakhprice tag envis-aged with the ver-sion to be madewith SingaporeTechnologies. Ap-proximately 20prototypes of thecarbine, made at

the Small Arms Factory in Kanpur, areto be presented to the Army, afterwhich the bulk production would startsubject to the requirement of thearmed forces. Whether the OFB bagsthe order or not manufacturing of thecarbine selected by the Army will takeplace at a new factory coming up atKorba in Chhattisgarh. The OFB hadearlier developed a 5.56 mm carbinecalled the Amogh but it did not get theacceptability among the armed forces.Sources say the Milap has better rangeand accuracy compared to the existingcarbines used by the armed forces.

HAL DELIVERS DORNIER

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ggESSAR TO

SUPPLY STEEL

FOR WARSHIPS

Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), hasbeen conferred with the Association ofOld Crows (AOC)’s award for the “BestContributor in Electronic Warfare (EW)from Indian PSUs”. Association of OldCrows is a non-profit, international or-ganisation comprising 30,000 membersspecialising in electronic earfare, tacti-cal information operations and relatedtopics. Mr IV Sarma Director, (R&D), re-ceived the award from DRDO chief DrPrahlada, at a function organised byAOC’s India chapter in Bengaluru on

May 7, 2011. MrSarma was conferredwith the award forhis contribution tothe development,manufacture, qualifi-cation and inductionof a number of EWsystems on differentplatforms for thethree Services. BEL, amajor player in thefield of electronicwarfare, designs andmanufactures a widerange of EW systems

to suit the exactingstandards of the Indian armed forces.The range includes

ground-based, airborne, shipborne andsubmarine- based EW systems for elec-tronic support measure, electronic intelligence, communication intelli-gence, electronic counter-measure and integrated electronic warfare appli-cations. Earlier the Navratna PSU re-ceived the Dun & Bradstreet-RoltaCorporate Award under the ‘Electricaland Electronic Equipment’ category forthe year 2010. The awards felicitated 54of India’s leading corporate namesacross sectors.

NO 100

AWARDS FOR BEL

Russian Helicopters, responsible forthe design and manufacturing of all hel-icopters in Russia, has sweetened thedeal for three Indian tenders worth $4bn by offering local production. In amove without parallel in the Russia’s his-tory, the Russian Helicopters announcedit was ready to estab-lish manufacturing ofmilitary helicopters inIndia with the right tore-export to thirdcountries. Aviationexperts say the arrangements to estab-lish local production in India with theright to re-export could be a substantialargument in favour of the Russian heli-copters involved in the tender. Threetenders involve supplying the Indian Air

Force with light highlander choppers,cargo carriers, and assault helicopters inthe deal worth more than $4 billion intotal. Russian officials believe the oddsof the Russian company winning thetenders is quite high, because theirequipment meets the India’s require-

ments and India hasthe necessary infra-structure and trainedpersonnel for operat-ing Russian-madehelicopters. The

biggest tender is the one for light heli-copters to be used in high-altitudemountain areas, for 197 helicoptersworth $2 billion. The tenders wereannounced in 2008-2009 and the resultsare expected this year.

Mr IV Sarma, Director (R&D), receiving theAssociation of Old Crows Award from Dr Prahlada,DS & CC R&D (Ae&SI), DRDO, at a functionorganised in Bengaluru

Essar’s Steels plate products have nowbeen approved by the Indian Navy andthe company has received an order fromMazagoan Dock (MDL) to supply 13,000tonnes of heavy plates to build state-of-the-art ships. This is the first time thatMDL has placed an order for such a largeconsignment of steel plates from adomestic steel mill. With an annual pro-duction capacity of 1.5 million tonnes,along with cutting-edge technologysourced from Siemens Voest Alpine, themill is the only one of its kind in thecountry capable of producing 5-m wideplates conforming to global standards.Until now, these products were largelyimported but with these approvals, ourcountry’s dependence on imports hasreduced significantly, especially for thecritical defence sectors.

called HA-31 Basant and a basic traineraircraft called HPT-32. Future projects ofthe division are Intermediate Jet Trainer(IJT), SARAS light utility aircraft, and a 60to 90-seater regional transport aircraft(RTA) deliveries for which would com-mence in 2012-13. Till date, 99 aircrafthave been supplied as flyway/produced

in the division for cus-tomers like Indian AirForce, National Airports

Authority, Indian CoastGuard, Indian Navy and

Vayudoot. The division isgeared up to produce

another 12 aircraft for IndianCoast Guard. Two aircraft, inmaritime surveillance version,

have been exported to Mauritius.

RUSSIA OFFERS TO MAKE INDIA CHOPPER HUB


(24)May 2010

gg

www.geopolitics.in

DEF BIZ

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The Defence Research and Development Organisation,has begun to lay the ground work to create a 155 mmArtillery Gun. According to a DRDO source, a project hasbeen conceptualised towards development of a 155mmArtillery Gun to meet the objective of developing theexpertise in this field. This is being done to create a tech-nology base towards indigenous manufacture of artilleryguns. The Armament Research & Development Establish-ment (ARDE), a DRDO lab, is leading the plan to createtechnology base to meet innovative requirements.Though some private sector firms have shown their inter-est in the project, it is probably too early to form alliances.Experts have said that the Ministry of Defence must bringtogether a public-private consortium in which the DRDO,the Indian Army, and the private sector have financialstakes. The Arjun Tank uses a 120 mm rifled gun devel-oped by ARDE. In 1972, ARDE had developed the 105 mmIndian Field Gun (IFG) and later up-gunned the IndianArmy’s 130 mm gun to 155 mm.

The Dhruv helicopterwould be armed with theDRDO developed HELINAmissiles by 2013. HELINAwhich stands for Helicopterlaunched Nag, is the air toground version of the Nag anti-Tank missile. Both HELINAand Dhruv have been designedand developed in India.TheHELINA has been captiveflight-tested, with a scheduledfirst firing for later this year. Ac-cording to sources in theDRDO the weaponised ver-sion of the ALH Dhruv heli-

copter will be able to fire HE-LINA’s by 2013. HELINA wouldbe offered by the DRDO foruser trials in 2013. HELINA isan upgraded version of NAGmissile developed by theDRDO as per the user require-ments. The project will see up-graded propulsion that willenable HELINA to strike ene-my armor at a distance of sev-en to eight kilometers.Nag is athird generation “fire-and-for-get” anti -tank missile devel-oped by DRDO which has atop attack capability.

June 2011

DRDO TO BUILD BASE FOR NEW ARTILLERY GUN PROJECT

The Dhruv helicoptersimulator cockpit for thecivil/conventional applica-tions is now certified toLevel D by India’s Direc-torate General Civil Avia-tion (DGCA). This wasannounced by officials at ajoint venture between CAEand Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL).

The helicoptersimulator cockpit iscombined with aCAE full-missionsimulator used atHATSOFF. The sim-ulator is somewhatplatform agnostic,allowing cockpitsfrom multiple heli-copter versions tobe used in the simu-lator. AdditionalHAL-built Dhruvand Eurocopter

Dauphin cockpits are to beincluded in the training cen-tre for the Indian Army andAir Force by 2012. The full-mission simulator makesuse of a vibration platform,a common motion system,and visual display system,as well as four separatecockpit modules that can beused in the simulator.

HELINA FOR LCH BY 2013DGCA CERTIFIESDHRUV SIMULATOR



TECH SCANgg

A SILENT bird soars in the night skies of Afghanistan. Unseenand unheard by anyone but its operators, the machine silent-ly captures images of extremely sensitive locations on theborders of the troubled country. All that the world has seen ofthe mysterious droneare a few grainy andblurry images aroundthe skies of Kandahar.Online photos havealso shown the myste-rious bird at a GeneralAtomics AeronauticalSystems’s hangar inKandahar.

The puzzling shapeof the aircraft and thetailless flying wingdesign clearly indicatea stealth design, slight-ly reminiscent of the B-2A Spirit, but it’s muchsmaller. And this is nobomber; it’s anunmanned aerial vehicle that has captured the imagi-nation of the aviation world. So much so, that the aviationexpert Bill Sweetman has dubbed it the ‘Beast of Kandahar’.But it’s not believed to carry any missiles, and the few photo-graphs available don’t point to it being armed.

Even as the online frenzy was building up the US Air Forceconfirmed the existence of the new craft, designated the RQ-170 Sentinel. The ‘Beast of Kandahar’ is widely believed to bea product of Lockheed’s celebrated Skunk Works, home of theF-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter.

According to the US Air Force, “The RQ-170 is a lowobservable unmanned aircraft system (UAS) being devel-oped, tested and fielded by the Air Force. It will providereconnaissance and surveillance in support of the jointforces commander.”

But what exactly does the Beast do? It’s a mystery why the stealth Beast even patrols Kandahar,given all the other drones in the skies above. Sweetman saysthe RQ170 “could be an effective ‘stand-in’ jamming platformto support other aircraft”.

On the basis of the few publicly-available photographs ofthe RQ-170, Bill Sweetman has assessed that the UAV isequipped with an electro-optical/infrared sensor and possi-bly an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. He

has also speculates that the two fairingsover the UAV’s wings may house datalinksand that the belly and above wing fairingscould be designed for modular payloads,allowing the UAV to be used for strike mis-sions and electronic warfare.

And what is the point of a stealthy jam-mer against an enemy like the Taliban

who don’t have radar and whose home-made bombs don’trely so much on cellphone or radio signals for remote detonation?

Sweetman also writes that the “Judging from the bellyshape, the Beast could be configured for strike missions or tocarry a high-power microwave source”.

Who is the target?That is the million-dollar question, but given the UnitedState’s apprehensions about their nuclear programmes, therehas been considerable speculation that the drone is beingused to spy on Pakistan and Iran.

It was even reported that an RQ-170 orbited overhead inAbbottabad, Pakistan, as the SEALS launched an assault onthe compound housing Osama bin Laden. The US militarydid not confirm these reports but could the microwave ability explain why certain parts of Abbottabad experiencedpower failure and the why the intruders slipped in virtuallyundetected?

BEAST OF KANDAHAR

Tech Scan.qxd 5/30/2011 3:12 PM Page 25


AFTER THE Akashdeep system, theDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) is all set todevelop a bigger and better aerostatsystem with additional payload.

India’s new eye in the sky will carryout surveillance up to a radius of 450-500 km and is being created accord-ing to the feedback from the Air Forceand the Army during the Aero India2011. Paramilitary forces have showedinterest in the aerostat, which can beused for surveillance activities in theMaoist-infested areas.

The aerostat system, to be devel-oped by the Agra-based Aerial Deliv-ery Research and DevelopmentEstablishment (ADRDE), will beequipped with a wide range of pay-loads. It will be able to carry out sur-veillance during night and in low-vis-ibility condition and also intercept avariety of communication.

Defence experts say the deploy-ment of aerostats at the bordersalong with the Airborne Early Warn-ing & Control System (AEW&C) willredefine the battle surveillance capa-bilities as armed forces can neutraliseattacks from adversaries well inadvance.

Defence experts say the deploy-ment of aerostats at the bordersalong with the Airborne Early Warn-ing & Control System (AEW&C) willredefine the battle surveillance capa-bilities as armed forces can neutraliseattacks from adversaries well inadvance.

TECH SCANgg

AFTER ITS successful debut in the insur-gency-affected areas in India, it is now theturn of the US Department of HomelandSecurity to use technology developed byDefence Research and Development Organi-sation (DRDO) to detect explosives. TheDRDO has signed a deal with American com-pany Crowe and Company LLC to improvethe Explosive Detection Kit (EDK) beforeintroducing it in US Army and HomelandSecurity forces.

Developed by DRDO’s Pune-based HighEnergy Material Research Lab (HEMRL),EDK can detect explosives of any combina-tion based on TNT, dynamite or black pow-der. The technology is being widely used bythe Bomb Detection Squads (BDS) of theIndian Army, paramilitary and police in Jam-mu and Kashmir, Assam, Maharashtra,Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

IT MIGHT sound like a propout of a James Bond flick butif the Pentagon has its wayflying cars could soon berolling out of America’sbases shortly. The DefenseAdvanced Research ProjectsAgency or DARPA, as it ispopularly known, unveiledplans to create a shape-shifting, multipurpose car.The idea is to transporttroops over harsh terrainand area infested withmines and improvisedexplosive devices. TheDARPA’s Transformer TXconcept leapfrogs over cur-rent vehicles like the Ter-rafugia Transition, whichneeds runways for takeoffand landing, and can’t oper-ate in bad weather. DARPA’ssolicitation for prototypes,calls for the all-terrain abili-ties of SUVs, a thousand-pound capacity, and theability to carry four troopsor a stretcher and a medic.DARPA wants the ‘fullyautonomous’ vehicles tohave vertical takeoff andlanding ( VTOL) capability,the ability to climb to 10,000feet, with a range of 250miles. And they want it test-ed in the air by 2015. It’s atall order, but the biggestchallenge could be theminiscule $55 million budg-et that the DARPA has allo-cated to the developmentand testing of prototypes.

MORE GOOD news for the intelligence-gathering community, as an Amer-

ican company has developed theworld’s first nano bird, whichflies only to spy. AeroVironment

has now succeeded in devel-oping a remarkablesmaller aircraft, theNano Hummingbird.The company has

pioneered the con-trolled precision hovering

and fast-forward flightof a two-wing, flap-

ping wing aircraft that carries its own energysource and relies only on its flapping wings forpropulsion and control. Nano weighs just 19grams, which is less than the weight of an AAbattery. The developers have managed to fit allthe systems required for flight, including bat-teries, motors, communications systems andeven a video camera into this tiny package.The achievement was part of a contract award-ed by the US Defense Advanced Research Pro-jects Agency (DARPA) to design and build a fly-ing prototype “hummingbird-like” aircraft forthe Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) program.

AND NOW…AN ARTIFICIAL

SPYING BIRDSHARPEREYES IN THE

SKY FORINDIA

US GETS DRDO’S DETECTION KIT

PENTAGON’SNEW FLYING

CAR

Tech Scan.qxd 5/30/2011 3:12 PM Page 26

gGEOPO L I T I C S

gDEFBIZ


WE ARE appalled to read the article“Howitzer Misfires Again” (page31) of the April 2011 issue

of Geopolitics.The article states: “There is spec-

ulation in the Defence Ministry thatSingapore Technology is behind theleak. But the ministry seems deter-mined to go ahead with the deal.Sources associated with ST havedenied these allegations and clari-fied that they have no interest inthis deal, as being an FMS with USthey always knew they had nochance. But they also pointed outthat why any deal, which has USconnection, never gets postponedand go through mostly of latethrough the FMS route, even whenthe alternate system is available at acompetitive price.”

We would like to categoricallystate that ST Kinetics has no knowl-edge and no interest in the saidreport and any allusion to that effectis incorrect.

ST Kinetics’ bids for the variousprogrammes pertaining to interna-tional tenders issued by the Ministryof Defence (MoD) are governed byregulations set out by the Indiangovernment. In all bids and also inthe ULH tender, the company fol-lowed the proper Indian DefenceProcurement Procedure Manualprocess. ST Kinetics’ Pegasus wasdelivered to India two years ago,after being down-selected in anopen tender, and is awaiting theIndian Army’s notification on theway forward after the project was put onhold. To date, we have yet to receive anyofficial notification on this matter. To thebest of our knowledge, the RFP on the ULHcontinues to be an operational tender as wehave not been advised to the contrary.

Customised to meet the Indian Army’s

operational requirements, the Pegasus is aproven heli-portable, self-propelled,

powered light weight howitzer, with theoption for retrofit to allow for immediatemobility. It scores consistently high accura-cy for both direct and indirect hit with itsunique balance of weight between lift andstability for firing, and has been deployedby our customers in numerous training

exercises, including some held locally inIndia. When used in high-altitude frontiers,

the gun’s built-in automationenhances operational effectivenessand reduces crew fatigue.

Since the allegation against STKinetics began, the company hasmade numerous attempts to meetup with the officials to deal with theissue. In fact, ST Kinetics has offeredfull cooperation in the investigation,and even offered to open our booksfor checks by the Indian authorities.However, to date, we have notreceived any response to ourattempts to resolve the matter.

ST Kinetics has exercised a greatdeal for patience and belief in theIndian justice system. ST Kineticshas also taken a fully open andtransparent approach throughoutthe entire controversy. It came as acomplete surprise to learn about theinsinuations that ST Kinetics couldbe involved in the reported leakedtrial reports.

Despite the issues surroundingthe current situation, ST Kinetics isstill committed and ready to sup-port the Indian Army in its ULH andmodernisation programmes.

Jinny Claire SimAVP/ Head, Corporate Communica-

tionsSingapore Technologies Kinetics

LimitedDID: (65) 6660 7448

E mail: [email protected]

Editor’s note:The specific mention of Singapore Technolo-gy was inadvertent. The correct inferencewas “sources in Singapore” that include allthose interested in furthering Singapore’sinterest in the Indian Defence Market. Theerror is regretted.

ST KINETICS SAY “NOT US”

Singapore 29.qxd 5/30/2011 3:14 PM Page 17

In a new twist to the continuing saga ofsingle-tender operations that govern-ment agencies indulge in, the latestline of logic is “Required urgently forsecurity reasons in J&K”. The recent

global tender by Central Board of Excise andCustoms (CBEC), Directorate of Logisticsfor purchase of High Energy X-RayCargo/Pallet Scanner (dual view) comesunder this category. As per the tender (no01/2011 dated 18.04.2011 open forparticipation till 18.05.2011), theprocedure was crafted in a man-ner where most vendors, barringtwo, would be automatically ruled outon ‘technical grounds’. And the reason forfast-tracking the highly unusual purchase isthe garb of national security and require-ments in Kashmir!

In a detailed letter to Prime Minister DrManmohan Singh and Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee, Member of Parliament,Adhi Shankar said: “It appears that

Directorate of Logistics, CBEC have pub-lished very restrictive specifications of the

operating software i.e.‘windows’ onlywithout anya l t e r n a t i v e s ,

whereas many manufacturers use otheroperating software.”

It may relevant to mention here that inthe recent past, the same CBEC had ordered59 scanners, that are being used at airportsand ports, where this restrictive clause wasnot inserted. So why the sudden change?Elaborating on this point, Shankar added:“In all the tenders of Government of India

in the past, all alternate options areprovided, so that all X-ray manufac-turers can participate and there isopen competition. Organisationslike Ministry of Home Affairs, CISF,

SSB Delhi Police, and Air-ports Authority of India etc.all allow open specifica-tions of software and otherconditions. Even the CBEC

is fully aware about this, but has still nottaken any action. For instance, the X-raybaggage scanner procurement tender fromSashastra Seema Bal, (no 7/SSB/Proc/X-Ray-B-Scanner/2010(1)) in its clause onoperating system specifies “Window Vista


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gGEOP O L I T I C S

gDEFBIZ

The security situation in J&K has become the excuse for fast tracking the purchase ofscanners by the CBEC. It has the makings of a big-time scam. A special report.

TIME TO SCAN THE

TENDERS

CLOSER SCRUTINY REQUIRED: Thetender was crafted in a way that mostvendors would be ruled out on ‘technicalgrounds’

Scanner 30-31.qxd 5/31/2011 3:06 PM Page 26


Business or Linux”. Similarly CISF tender for11 X-ray scanners of (Tender No. PR-13013(10)/12/X-ray BIS/2010-2011/Proc/17dated 07-09 March 2011) doesn’t even men-tion the operating system in its technicalspecification. In this tender due to ‘restric-tive’ specifications, five-six manufacturershave not quoted and only two bids (Rapisanand Schneider) are received, out of whichone is not compliant so it is virtually atutored single-bid purchase.”

It may be mentioned here that most ofthe other institutions mentioned by the MPuse scanners all over the country includingJ&K. The fact of the matter is that the operat-ing system doesn’t increase or decrease theX-ray scanner’s efficiency. But if the desiredoperating system is not available with theother manufacturers then the selection willbe among the manufacturers with thedesired operating system. What is most sig-nificant is that the operating system can’t bechanged for any tender, whereas many ofthe mechanical and electronic specifica-tions can be altered for any tender if eco-nomically feasible.

The MP goes on to make a few othertelling points: “In this purchase the depart-ment has not asked for any ‘technical demo’of the X-ray machines. So it is only ‘papercomparison’ that the CBEC is dependingupon. The bye-passing by CBEC of thisclause is a security compromise, as any Tom,Dick and Harry can claim to comply with theterms and conditions of CBEC on paper. Inall government or private purchase of X-raymachines, it is always a two-bid system anda ‘technical demo’ is a must.”

Shankar goes on to specify that one of the

two shortlisted vendors has failed “repeated‘technical demos’ by Civil Aviation, MHA, AirIndia, Jet Airways etc. therefore removal ofthis mandatory clause raises serious doubtsabout transparency”.

Finally, Shankar hits at collusion: “It isalso important to note that two companieswho have quoted for the above bid are Ms.Rapiscan & Ms. Schneider. The bidderSchneider is not an X-ray manufacturer.This company has not supplied a single X-ray machine to any customer in India. Themost astonishing fact is that the OEM Astro-physics (which is the principal company ofSchneider) has not made a single X-ray bag-gage inspection system of the capacityspecified by CBEC (1800x1800, dual view),they only make lower versions; this fact canbe verified from the website of the compa-ny. This means that the Schneider/Astro-physics bid is invalid and should be reject-ed, which means that only one bidder is left,and that is Rapiscan.”

It is important to note that any manufac-turer just can’t launch an X-ray machine ofany type or dimension in the market withoutgetting an approval from AERB (Atomic Ener-gy Regulatory Board) and the local regulatoryauthority of that country, which in India’s caseis BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security,Ministry of Civil Aviation). These institutionshave clearly mentioned that if any manufac-turer has to install a machine at airports, theymust get approval from three internationalregulatory authorities in different countriesand also the X-ray baggage inspection systemmust have been in operation for more thanone year. It seems CBEC has convenientlyignored such an aspect and there are no such

pre-qualification criterion in the CBEC ten-der. In case CBEC had put such a pre-qualifi-cation criteria then Schneider/Astrophysicswould not have been able to put in their bid.

It seems the whole arrangement has beenplanned to avoid single-vendor situationand possibility of cartelisation cannot beruled out. It also worth mentioning that theprevious two tenders by CBEC for scannersof different specifications have not been pur-chased, even after two years of selection.Rapiscan was the L1 bidder in Gamma-based mobile cargo scanner and is waitingfor the order for last one-and-half years. Sim-ilarly, BEL has been waiting for its orders forthe last two years for nine Mev-fixed cargovehicle scanner for three ports.

We need to ask a larger question, why wecan’t have a single technical authority whichsets the technical specification for purchaseof these systems. Numerous governmentagencies are purchasing similar systemsseparately, if government puts down all therequirements together and purchases sys-tems for different departments at once, theneconomically and administratively it will bevery beneficial. It cannot be ruled out thatsame systems with same requirements arenot being purchased separately. The indus-try insiders suggest that government orderfor next few years could be for a couple ofthousand scanners including all sizes andspecifications.

It is time a holistic measure is taken tostreamline the technical requirements andthe adhocism in technical specificationsshould come to an end. And the big-timecorruption associated with it. We need anAnna Hazare for the CBEC.

NEW-FANGLED RUSE: The ‘securityconditions in Kashmir' seem to be thelatest ruse for single-tender specifications

gDEFBIZ

g

Scanner 30-31.qxd 5/31/2011 3:06 PM Page 27

EVEN AS the MMRCA downselectcontinues to grab headlines thereare a number of other measuresbeing taken by the Indian Airforce(IAF) to augment its capabilities.

One such area is platform upgrades thatseeks to keep existing systems contemporarywell into the 2020s. The IAF’s various

upgrade programmes gain importance giventhe ongoing effort to increase squadronnumbers as well as add new technology tothe force without having to replace the cur-rent inventory all at once. It also presents agolden opportunity for a number of foreignas well as domestic vendors.

Successfully completed upgrade

programmes from the past include the Bisonupgrade plan for 125 Mig-21 Bis and the 40unit Mig-27 ML modification. The Bisonupgrade in particular brought the newestMig-21s in the IAF inventory to a near-fourthgeneration standard allowing them to operateindependently of ground-controlled radar firewith precision guided munitions (PGM) and


gGEOPO L I T I C S

gSPECIALFEATURE

While India has a long shopping list of new fighter aircraft, it is simultaneously working onthe upgrades of its existing fleet to prolong its service-life. SAURAV JHA outlines what thescenario could be

CAPABILITY VIAUPGRADES

FEARSOME FLANKER: The oldestSu-30 MKIs are now fit for a mid-lifeupgrade that will make them evenmore potent

Upgradation - New 32-35.qxd 5/30/2011 3:16 PM Page 26

gSPECIALFEATURE

gengage in beyond visual range (BVR) combat.The success of these upgrade plans have giv-en the IAF confidence to move ahead withother upgrade plans and the know-how tochoose an optimal upgrade path.

The most eye-catching programmepresently being executed is the $964-millionupgrade awarded to RAC MiG for 64 Mig-29sin the IAF’s order of battle. This is a ratherdeep modification of the existing IAF Mig-29s and the package includes new engines,avionics as well as structural modificationsto the airframe as evidenced by the firstupgraded example sporting a ‘hump’ that isreported to be carrying new electronic war-fare (EW) equipment. The upgrades can besummarised as follows: � The current RD-33 engines on the twin-

engined aircraft are being substituted byRD-33 Series 3 engines which will be pro-duced by HAL under the auspices of anearlier deal signed in 2005. The series 3engine has a life of 2000 hours and sportsthe BARK-88 Full Authority Digital EngineControl (FADEC) and KSU-941UBRemoved Control System (RCS).

� In place of the older Phazotron RLPK-29 anew slotted array Zhuk M2E is being putin place. Due to its superior processingcapabilities the Zhuk M2E is able to iden-tify faster and classify using an embeddeddigital library.

� UOMZ’s KOLS-13SM Forward LookingInfrared (FLIR), Sh-3UM-1 HelmetMounted Integrated Targeting system arebeing added to the Mig-29s sensor suite.

� The new K-36 D ejection seat from Zvezda.

� BKTsO Digital signal processor, BTsVM-90/BTsVM-486-2 (onboard computer), L-150NU (passive guiding missiles station), SVR video recording system,

KARAT-B whole recording system, BINS-SPnavigation system with GPS, A-053 radio-altimeter, MS-2 voice warning system.

� Thales has been selected to provide theIdentification Friend Foe (IFF) 1 Com-bined Interrogator Transponder (CIT) andCryptographic National Secure Mode(NSM). Thales incidentally delivered thefirst IFF CIT to MiG in 2010, with the ini-tial building block of a comprehensivesecure identification capability deliveredin mid-2011. The IFF CIT is being toutedas a system that will allow IAF MiG-29s tobe interoperable with western platformsby mitigating the risk of blue on blueengagements. This is on account of thefact that the CIT is compliant with the lat-est NATO and ICAO2 standards. Further-more, Thales claims that the cryptograph-ic NSM gives India its first-ever secureidentification capability to protect itsassets.

� A TOTEM 3000 Inertial Navigation andGPS also supplied by Thales.

� Installation of a refueling probe and capa-bility to carry 1500 to 1800 litre droptanks.

According to the original 2008 contract, thefirst five MiG-29s are to be upgraded and flighttested in Russia and the remaining aircraft willbe fitted in India, with Russian technical assis-tance. Although a Mig-29 UPG underwent

flight tests earlier this year, the overall pro-gram seems two years behind schedule.

The biggest upgrade proposal in terms ofvalue is however the move to bring 51 IndianMirage 2000 Hs to full Mirage 2000-5 Mk 2standard. By all accounts this a rather expen-sive upgrade with a total contract value inthe $2.2 billion range or roughly $40 millionper aircraft. In fact the price tag has becomea key stumbling block for this programme.For instance, even though prior to FrenchPresident Sarkozy’s December 2010 visit onesaw reports to the effect that a deal was


THE MOST EYE-CATCHING

PROGRAMME ISTHE $ 964-MILLION

UPGRADEAWARDED TO RACMIG FOR MIG-29s



imminent, no contract was announced dur-ing that period. India and France, did howev-er, sign an official agreement permitting thesharing of classified information, which wasone of the last steps to required to move for-ward on the final contract for this pro-gramme. At the moment, it seems thatIndia’s Defence Acquisitions Council has giv-en an ‘in-principle’ approval for this plan togo forward.

A senior IAF official said on condition ofanonymity that negotiations have begunbetween the Paris-based Dassault Aviationand New Delhi for upgrading the IAF’s fleetof Mirage 2000 aircraft. “While the formalcontract has yet to be signed, the two sideshave started negotiations for the MICA mul-ti-mission air-to-air missile, the only missilein the world with two interoperable seekers(active radar and infrared imaging) to coverclose-in dogfights and BVR (beyond visualrange) for the Mirage upgrade.”

In March, by when the deal was expectedto have been signed, IAF chief PV Naik hadsaid that differences over price and legalissues had blocked progress, but since then,“negotiations have been concluded and thereport has been submitted to the DefenceMinistry”, the official cited earlier said.

Be that as it may the aim behind upgrada-tion is to give the aircraft, inducted into theIAF in 1985-88, another 20-25 years of servicelife. According to industry sources, while thecost of upgrading around 50 aircraft isalready on the higher side, it is expected to goup by another $700 million if one considersthe cost of procuring, integrating and clear-ing the armament of the upgraded aircraft.

In any case, the request for proposal (RFP)for the Mirage 2000 upgrade was issued toFrench original equipment manufacturers(OEMs) like Dassault, Thales and others in2008 with Dassault being the lead contractorfor this programme. The upgrade planincludes a new RDY-3 radar with greater air-air and air-ground capability, a new all-digitalcockpit, and superior electronic warfare sys-tems. These will be tied in by a joint tacticalinformation data link system and Topowl-Fhelmet-mounted sights (HMS) allowing theaircraft to operate off-boresight heat-seekingmissiles. These upgrades will allow the aircraftto be equipped with the MICA BVR family ofradio-frequency (RF) and infrared (IR)- guid-ed weapons. There also seems to be an offerfrom SAGEM to integrate the AASM family ofweapons onto the upgraded aircraft.

There is of course a powerful view in cer-tain influential quarters that the upgrade ofMirage should be cancelled altogether infavour of additional purchases of newer

aircraft under the MMRCA tender with a viewto replacing the Mirages in due course. A winfor Dassault in the MMRCA tender may actu-ally see something more concrete on this

front, with an offer to replace the existingMirages with Rafales, so goes the logic.

Even as the status of the Mirage 2000upgrade remains unclear, the IAF seems tohave met success with the 2008, $600 millionHAL-led upgrade to bring 69 Jaguars to Dis-play Attack Ranging Inertial Navigation -3(Darin-3) standard. Darin-3 Jaguars can nownavigate themselves to target with unprece-dented precision and accuracy. The InertialNav-Attack System Integration Organisation(IIO), a multiple agency unit set up by theDefence Research Development Organisa-tion (DRDO), IAF and HAL developed thefirst generation of Darin systems (Darin-1) inthe1980s.

A deeper upgrade proposal for IAF Jaguarsalso seems to be in the works and this is

June 2011

CREDIBLE DETERRENT: Upgrades will ensure that Mirage 2000 remains India’spremier nuclear delivery platform for the foreseeable future

A DEEPERUPGRADE

PROPOSAL FORIAF JAGUARS

ALSO SEEMS TOBE IN THEWORKS

gSPECIALFEATURE

g


apparently executed by HAL in collaborationwith domestic, European and Israeli ven-dors. Various reports suggest that the follow-ing items may be on the upgrade list:

� A new Sextant MFD 66 active matrix liq-uid crystal display to substitute the cur-rent projected map display.

� A new video-based Head Up Display(HUD) camera and a multi-channel digital video colour recorder which willallow the HUD, moving map display andother imagery to be recorded simultane-ously.

� A new Open Systems Architecture MissionComputer (OSAMC) system

� A new multimode radar (possibly Elta’sEL/M-2052) and a new airborne self-pro-tection jammer (SPJ)

� An integrated defensive aids suite (IDAS)developed by DARE in collaboration witha European or Israeli partner.

The weight changes due to the avionicsupgrades (both current and ongoing) andthe IAF’s quest to make the Jaguar fly ‘hot

and high’ has made it look for replacementsto the Rolls-Royce Adour Mk-811 that cur-rently powers the aircraft. When the requestfor qualifications first came out in 2009, thetwo companies making a bid for some 280turbofans were Rolls-Royce and HoneywellAerospace. Honeywell is offering its F125IN,a 43.8kN thrust afterburning turbofan, whileRolls-Royce has proposed its Adour Mk-821turbofan which shares a lot of commonalitywith the Adour Mk-951 that powers theHawk trainers in the IAF.

However, the engine replacement plan forthe Jaguars seems to have run into some dif-ficulties on account of Rolls-Royce pullingout of the competitive vendor in February2011 even as the RFP was issued samemonth, leaving Honeywell as the only con-tender and the IAF with a single vendor situ-ation. Rolls-Royce’s pullback is apparentlydue to the IAF’s refusal to accept the AdourMk-821 as a truly new piece of technologygiven that it’s based on an engine familystarted many decades ago.

Newer aircraft in the IAF inventory likethe much-feared Su-30 MKI are also in line for upgrades. The oldest aircraft arenow ripe for a mid-life upgrade (MLU) thatwill see them make even more potent in theregion. The cornerstone of the upgrade will see the MKIs N011M Bars Passive Electronically Scanned Array (PESA)replaced by the Russian Phazotron Zhuk-AE active, electronically scanned array(AESA) radars. The Zhuk-AE, which oper-ates in the X-band, can track 30 aerial tar-gets in the track-while-scan mode andengage six targets simultaneously in attackmode. The new radar also has better pro-cessing capabilities and requires less main-tenance. Besides a radar upgrade, we mayalso see the inclusion of newer electronicwarfare equipment and new engines ofhigher thrust capability.

While we have focused on the teeth ofthe IAF in this piece, readers would notethat the IAF is also looking at its supportfleet like the An-32, IL-76 and the Mi-17 hel-icopters. Indeed upgrades are often a cleverway to keep systems contemporary whilenot breaking the bank as it were. But theymust be done cleverly and the upgradegoals should not be too ambitious sinceultimately we are dealing with old equip-ment. Hopefully India’s conventional forcemodernisation will be able to notch suc-cesses in this sphere just as the Israelis havedone over the years.

(The author is a strategic analyst andauthor of The Upside Down Book Of

Nuclear Power)


UPGRADES ARE A CLEVER WAY TO

KEEP SYSTEMSCONTEMPORARY

WHILE NOTBREAKING THE

BANK

gSPECIALFEATURE

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Multi- barrel Rocket Launch-ers(MBRL) are one of themost potent, devastatingand manoeuvrable artillerysystems. They have capabil-

ity to dismantle the enemy’s battle forma-tion, topple their defence and pave way forthe friendly force.

They form an important part of artillery.In its last report, the Comptroller and Audi-

tor General (CAG) of India has raised someimportant and serious questions over ourmost potent MBRL system, Russian-madeSmerch. The report (number 12 of 2010-2011-defence services) alleges, “The importof defective SMERCH MBRLS at the cost of`2633 crore, delay in purchase of buyer fur-nished equipment and formulation of WarEstablishment had resulted in non opera-tionalisation of the system.”

Smerch is considered to be one of thebest rocket systems in the world. It is alsoone of the most powerful and lethal systems.With 300 mm rocket of approximate range of90 km it can deliver 243 kg of TNT on anygiven point. This makes it one of the mostbefitting systems for deep strike behind ene-my line with lethality to pulverise enemy’sdefensive and offensive formation.

Lt Gen BS Pawar, retired artillery officer,


gGEOPO L I T I C S

gSPECIALREPORT

The Comptroller and Auditor General has pointed out serious lapses in the acquisition andability of what is said to be India’s most potent rocket launcher in its artillery system, but the

Army is not convinced. ROHIT SRIVASTAVA reports

DEVASTATING FIREPOWER: TheSmerch weapon system can rain a volleyof deadly munitions on the enemy

SMERCH IN THE DOCK

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said, “Smerch provides a quantum jump toour artillery range and lethality. It is an areaweapon which pulverises the enemy forma-tion deep within its territory. It has provideda huge tactical flexibility to the Indian Army.It is the best weapons system in its class.”

He further said that none of our adver-saries have a comparable weapon system.Chinese A100 is no match to Smerch. Chi-nese might have copied the Russian sys-tems or they might have received technolo-gy from Russia, but no Chinese product is asgood as the original.

Gen Pawar says, “These are shoot andscoot systems. You fire upon your enemyand before counter bombardment comesyou move to another target or to a safeplace. The psychological impact of theamount of TNT that falls on the other end is massive.”

After the Kargil war, it was felt by theIndian Army that it needed a long rangerocket system which could fit between the155 mm Howitzer and Prithvi ballistic mis-siles. The gap between the ranges of thesetwo systems is huge. 155 mm 52 caliberHowitzer has maximum range of 40 km,whereas Prithvi 1 has a range of 150 km. Itwas felt that a rocket system which can fillthis gap will provide operational and tacti-cal flexibility to Indian artillery.

To achieve this objective, India signedits first contract with Russia in December2005 for 42 guns to constitute three regi-ments. Another contract was signed laterin March 2007 for supply of systems. Thedelivery for both the contracts was finishedin May 2009. But the CAG report found out

that the systems, during trials conductedby Army in November 2008, were not per-forming optimally and could not be fullyoperationalised.

The CAG report raises two main ques-tions regarding the procurement of systemsand their spares and operational readiness.It says, “Seven out of thirteen SOCRIG (Selforienting Coarse Roll Indica ting Gyroscop-ic System is provided in the LV for automat-ic laying and fire control. It is critical for

accuracy of weapon system) failed com-pletely during exploitation of sub-systems.As one sub-system costs `50 lakh and iscritical for the accuracy of the system, thematter was taken up with the supplier whosuggested carrying out the productimprovement by installing a cooling systemat the cost of buyer.

“One of the possible reasons for the fail-ure of SOCRIG was attributed to high tem-perature prevailing in Indian field condi-tions which suggested that despite theapprehensions expressed during trial evalu-ation the system was not tested at the tem-peratures stipulated in the contract.

“Eleven DTEs (Data Transmission Equip-ment) each costing `25 lakh reported com-plete/partial failures due to defect in theinternal component. The equipment is crit-ical for the reliability of the system sincecomplete automation depends on it. TheMinistry stated in November 2009 that thematter had been taken up with the originalequipment manufacturer (OEM) who hadagreed to carry out modifications in themanufacturing process and also carry out


SMERCH IS CONSIDERED

ONE OF THE BESTROCKET

SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD

MBRL RULES THE ROOST

MBRL are truck-mounted-unguided rocket artillery systems. They are less accuratethan any guided rocket system. These are field weapons for attacking any defined areaat a certain distance (within range) by launching rockets at a very high rate of fire. Whena large number of rockets fall in a very short duration, the cumulative impact of the rock-ets is huge on any force formation. The devastation is caused by the high amount of TNTin a very small area.

The pulverising capability of MBRLs has made them indispensable for all major armiesof the world. They form an integral part of strike formation.

Like most of the modern weapons systems, MBRLs also had their origin in the Sec-ond World War. Russians developed the first MBRL in the late 30s and deployed againstGermany in the Eastern Europe theatre. The BM-13 Katyushas was the first MBRL of theworld. The system was a cheap artillery system, which could drop large quantity of ex-plosive in short time at any location. This was a tailor- made solution for the east Eu-ropean plains. Soon Germans also deployed their own Neberwelfers.

Since then land warfare has undergone dramatic change. The rocket systems of to-day have the reach of the artillery system of the past. Indian Army has been operatingthese systems since long. India currently is operating three different systems, namely,BM 21 Grad rocket system — 122mm rocket with a range of 20 km; Pinaka-214mm witha range of 40 km and Smerch - 300mm with a range of 90 km. India is currently upgradingits Grad 21 to 30 km range for better penetration power. India has around 150 Grad 21.

Along with BM 21 India also has Pinaka system, which is an indigenous system developed by the DRDO. It is considered the cheapest system in its class. Its range is of40 km and rate of fire of 72 rockets in 44 seconds by a battery of six launchers which couldbe a game changer in battlefield. This will deliver 7 tonnes of explosive, which will neutralise and area of 1000 m into 800 m.

In 1986 the Ministry of Defence sanctioned the development of this system. After 14years of development and four years after first test at Chandipur in 1995, it was used inKargil to assess its operational worth and it came out with flying colours. Work is on forextending range of Pinaka which can reach up to 50 km.


SCOURGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD: The rocket systems of today have the reachof the artillery systems of the past

modifications in the sub system sup-plied. The Army Technical Board hadtaken up a project with IIT, Delhi todevelop an alternative system so that itcan be used in case of failure infuture.”

In conclusion, the report says, “TheSmerch Weapon System procured at acost of `2633 crore could not be fullyoperationalised due to defects in vari-ous systems, delay in buying the logis-tics support equipment and formula-tion of War Establishment. Theabsence of suitable material handlingequipment led to damage of four rock-ets and resultant loss of `2.36 crore.”

When asked about the CAG report, asenior Army official in Headquarterssaid on condition of anonymity: “TheSmerch are fully operational and thereis no truth in the allegation that theyare not operational.”

He further said: “The CAG report isbased on the audit conducted during

2008 and when you procure such compli-cated systems it takes time to adjust to thesystem. There were some problem relatedwith the performance and failure of fewsubsystem but those were temporary issuesand have been resolved long back.”

What is the truth will never come out intotality. But what is important is that thescandals pertaining to India’s defence sys-tem do not seem to end.


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gSPECIALREPORT

g

PSYCHOLOGICALIMPACT OF

THE AMOUNT OF TNT THAT

FALLS ON THEOTHER END IS

MASSIVE

Smerch- Specification Calibre 300 mmWeight of rocket projectile 800-815 kgRange of fire: - max 90 km - min 20 kmNumber of launching tubes 12Salvo time 38 secondsLoader Vehicle loading time 20 minutesTime to prepare for action, not more than 3 minTime to evacuate position after launch -1 minLauncher Vehicle crew 3 men

Ideal Operating Conditions Ground temperature range for the Rocket Projectile -50-+50 °C Ground temperature range for the Launcher Vehicle -40-+50 °C RPsShort-term stay (up to 6hr) temperature range -60-+60 °C Ground wind up to 20 m/sAir relative humidity at +35°C up to 98 %Rainfall (max) 2.7 mm/minDust content in the ground air up to 2 g/m3Atmospheric reduced pressure above sea level up to 3000 m

COLD STATS


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AT KARWAR, Karnataka. The spend will be fivetimes what was spent in the first phase. Theexpansion of the naval base will turn Karwar,part of Uttara Kannada district into the largestdefence zone, not only in India, but also inAsia, thereby increasing the country’s mar-itime power multi-fold. Work for the secondphase of the base has already begun. The baseis one of the most strategic naval bases in theworld. In the coming days, its importance tothe country’s maritime defence will improvefurther. The second phase will get additionaljetties, dockyards, airports, and transit systems.

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50 MOSTWANTED

FUGITIVES

1.25CRORE IS THE COST OF THE SECONDPHASE OF SEA BIRD NAVAL BASEOPERATIONS

THE BEGINNING of an ambitiousMinistry of Defence (MoD) projectto bring connectivity to the Sino-Indian border. The long-term per-spective plan provides for over`57,000 crore worth of road buildingin the next decade. Over the last 51years, BRO has built a 48,300-kmnetwork of border roads in India, 36

km of major bridges, and 19 air-fields. The 39 roads would becompleted by 2013. About 25per cent of the BRO currentannual budget of `5,400 crorewas earmarked for Sino-Indianborder roads. Meanwhile, six ofthe 27 roads are facing scheduleslippages.

AT THE Goa ShipyardLimited (GSL) to facili-tate the building of newgeneration warships

was commissioned by Defence Minister A.K. Antony inlate May. “Setting the ball rolling for creation of new gen-eration vessels, the project will boost the shiplift facilityand piers, two repair berths and transfer area at the pre-mier defence shipyard,” a Defence Ministry release said.The shiplift system at GSL will be the first of its kind indefence shipyards in the country. The commissioning ofthe shiplift facility will coincided with the launching ofthe third in the series of naval offshore patrol vesselsindigenously designed and being built by GSL for theIndian Navy. The four-phased modernisation plan, witha budget of `800 crore, aims at creating capacity in theshipyard for the production of cutting-edge technologywarships.

CROREINFRASTRUCTUREMODERNISATIONPROJECT 400

LIST THAT was given to Pakistan in March2011 had bloopers that was a “genuine mis-take” and “human error”. Home Minister P Chidambaram said the inclusion of somenames in the list was a “genuine oversight” bythe Mumbai Police and also a “lapse” on thepart of the Intelligence Bureau(IB) in not reflecting theinformation received by itwhile preparing the list inMarch 2011. While takingresponsibility for theerror, Mr. Chidambaramsaid that it was not sucha “monumental mis-take” of “calamitousconsequences”.

WAS SUCCESSFULLY test firedseveral times in May. Theindigenously developed Astra— beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile — from the Integrat-ed Test Range at Chandipur.The missile is envisaged tointercept and destroy enemyaircraft at supersonic speeds inthe head-on mode at a range of80 km and in tail-chase modeat 20 km. Before the sophisti-cated anti-aircraft missilewould be integrated with fight-er aircraft like Su-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Light Combat AircraftTejas, it would undergo somerigorous and flawless tests bothfrom ground and from fighterjets. Astra, which uses solidpropellant, can carry a conven-tional warhead of 15 kg. It is thesmallest of the missiles devel-oped by the DRDO in terms ofsize and weight. DRDO officialssaid it was more advanced thanthe similar class of missiles ofthe US, Russia and France.It is 3.8-metre long andhas a diameter of 178mm with an overalllaunch weight of 160kg. The missile couldbe launched fromdifferent altitudes— it can cover 110km whenlaunched froman altitude of15 km.

KG WARHEADCARRYINGMISILE ASTRA

15ROADS ARE MERELY39

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Number Game.qxd 5/30/2011 3:26 PM Page 4


TO THE fleet at theNational Defence Acade-my before the year end.This will double the fleetstrength. The five new‘Super Dimona’ aircraftare expected in the NDA innext four or five months.This will help provide bet-ter training to Air Forcecadets. The academy isalso looking forward toimprove infrastructure fornaval training, which willbe made possible byprocuring an ‘advancedtraining vessel’. The vesselwill give the cadets ahands-on experience incontrolling ships andunderstanding their tech-nicalities. 325 cadets tookpart in the passing-outparade (POP) of the 120thcourse held on May 31.These include 21 foreigncadets from friendly coun-tries (one from Bhutan,three from Kazakhstan,four from Afghanistan,nine from Tajikistan andfour from Maldives). Theparade was reviewed byAdmiral Nirmal Verma,Chief of the Naval Staff(CNS). Notably, AdmiralVerma is an alumnus ofNDA’s 35th course. Theacademy has a strength of2,014 cadets of which 87are from friendly coun-tries. It is for the first timethat the total strength ofcadets in the academy hasgone above 2000.

TRAININGAIRCRAFTWILL BEADDED

AND ALTITUDE ceiling of 8000metres, Rustom 1 being devel-oped by the AeronauticalDevelop-m e n t

Establishment (ADE), aDRDO lab engaged in pio-neering R&D work in thefield of aeronautics, was suc-cessfully flown recently. Theflight was a precursor to onewith payloads as required bythe Services. Rustom 1 has

been achieved by converting a manned aircraftinto a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) by removingpilot seat and making required electrical, mechan-

ical and aerodynamic modifi-cations. With the successfulaccurate flying of Rustom 1,ADE is geared up for integra-tion of payloads with the air-craft within next threemonths, to demonstrate per-formance of payloads andnecessary secure data-link tothe users.

AWARDED TO former Supreme Com-mander and President Dr A P J Kalam, thelatest by Sydney University in May. “Aus-tralia has got tremendous reserves of tho-rium, a future material for replacing ura-nium,” Kalam said atthe ceremony. “It iscost-effective and(produces) lessradiation … Indiaand Australia canwork together inbuilding a thorium-based nuclearreactor forthe worldmarket.”

41IS THE NUMBEROF HONORARYDOCTORATES

IN INDIA after Hoogly and Mumbaibridges over the river Ravi connecting Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, waslaunched late May by UPA ChairpersonSonia Gandhi. The bridge is of immensestrategic importance as it is the first suchbridge in northern India. The people ofJammu and Kashmir will get an alternativeroute besides the national highway to connect with Kashmir.

HOURS OF ENDURANCE

gNUMBERSGAME

g-METRE-LONG BRIDGE, ONLY THE

THIRD OF ITS KIND

INDIA WOULD be able to shoot down any enemy missile.Work has begun on a network of air-defence systems. TheDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)has already developed a missile that can intercept an incom-ing aerial threat 2,000 kms away under the Ballistic MissileDefence (BMD) System and is now working on the secondphase. Last July, DRDO successfully tested the Phase-I of theindigenously developed interceptor missile from the Inte-grated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island off Orissa coast.According to DRDO chief V K Saraswat the 5,000 kms inter-ceptor missile is targeted to be ready by 2016.India is also developing the Long RangeTracking Radar (LRTR) for the BMDsystems. While the radars usedfor the Phase-I experimentswere built with equal part-nership from Israel, thePhase-II will have 80 per cent indigenous component.

5,000 KMS, BEFORE ITCAN ENTER THE

INDIAN AIR SPACE

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June 2011


The Indian Army (like most other conventional world armies) has traditionallypreferred conformists over thinkers; especially over officers who are as articulateas they are out-of-the-box thinkers. To continue our growth as an Army of great

professional merit, we need to make a break with the past and encourage thedevelopment and growth of thinkers as an overriding Army priority right from

induction through retirement, argues RAJ MEHTA

gGEOPO L I T I C S

gCOVERSTORY

THINKERS IN THEINDIAN ARMY:

A PERSPECTIVE

Thinkers in Armed Forces 14-18.qxd 5/30/2011 3:36 PM Page 18

THE VISIONARY Gen JFC Fuller,along with the iconic theoristCapt BH Liddell Hart is creditedwith the enunciation of theBlitzkrieg theory which was

premised on an unholy nexus between tanksand fighter aircraft for waging lightning war.Panned by the conservative British militaryestablishment, the theory was brilliantlyutilised by the Germans to “rape” France,Belgium and the Low Countries in World WarII. In 1932, Fuller, a cerebral and astutethinker, wrote a savage indictment of BritishGeneralship titled Generalship: It’s Diseasesand Their Cure: A Study of the Personal Factorin Command. He stated that British general-ship was very pedestrian; emphasising theneed for creative intelligence. “In war, as inpeace, individuality is far more importantthan uniformity; personality than congruity,and originality than conventionality…”, hewrote. He was put on the retired list a yearlater. Unsurprisingly, for General Mont-gomery-Massingberd, an Army Chief of thatperiod, Fuller’s criticism represented a “lackof loyalty” which he thought was far moreimportant quality to possess than “brains”…

This opening statement is importantbecause it sets the issue of thinking — surelya spin off from “brains” — into sharp focus.That orthodoxy, mindsets, fierce resistance tochange and reinforcement of existing stereo-types in the British Army were vastly pre-ferred over intellectual capacity is once againreinforced by Corelli Barnett, the eruditeBritish author who savaged British General-ship in World War II in The Desert Generals,scathingly stating that, because of theirobduracy and refusal to think through; toadapt; the British Army in World War II waswell prepared — to fight and win the last war.

The US Army also had its problems inWorld War II, with Gen George Patton repre-senting the Reformist elements and GenEisenhower its Conformist elements. Post thewar, western nations as a whole concludedthat Pattons were needed in battle but it wasthe Eisenhowers that would be more suitedto work and operate in a democratic system,where conforming was so important. Thebureaucracies in the west also embodied thefeeling that unquestioning compliance wasany day preferable to thinking militaries andthis was the inheritance that the British leftwith our Indian polity and bureaucracy, too.

Judging from the remarks of the long-serving US Secretary of Defense, RobertGates — a cerebral politician known for hiscandour and readiness to accept construc-tive criticism — the American attribute ofcandid public introspection has been given a

fillip by him. In his address to passing outgraduates of the US Military Academy atWest Point on February 25, 2011, Gates forth-rightly brought out one of his main worries:“How the US Army can break up the institu-tional concrete, its bureaucratic rigidity in itsassignments and promotion processes, inorder to retain, challenge, and inspire itsbest, brightest, and most-battled testedyoung officers to lead the service in thefuture?” This, at a time when the Army needs“entrepreneurial leaders with a broad per-spective…a versatility and adaptability neverbefore required… when faced with an era offull-spectrum conflict”. America, Gatesopined, can succeed only with leaders whoare full-spectrum in their thinking. Gates ison record saying that he has been impressedby the way the Army’s professional journalsallow some of its brightest and most innovative officers to critique — sometimesbluntly — the way the service does business;to include judgments about senior leader-ship, both military and civilian. He believesthat is a sign of institutional vitality andhealth and strength. He also suggests that“senior officers should embrace such dissentas healthy dialogue and protect and advancethose considerably more junior who are tak-ing on that mantle”.

Any student of military history across thecontinuum of war fighting, nationality andtime will cheerfully accept that theBritish/US Armies problems with “thinking”soldiers are universal in their construct.

“Born in battle” in 1947, therefore vastlyexperienced, committed and thoroughlyprofessional, the huge, “forever in combat”,Indian Army is an unabashed, even proudbastion of conformist attitudes and outlookwhich it continues to passionately preachand practice. Many serving officers wouldconsider such an attitude an ingrainedstrength of the Army when push comes toshove, as was the case at Kargil. There is alsoa legitimate worry that though the Americanmilitary system leads the world in thinkingand theorising about war fighting, theyalmost always fall short when it comes todelivery; when push comes to shove. Practi-tioners of the art of war would say that this isa deficiency related to sociological issuesthat underwrite war fighting and have littleto do with focused “critical” thinking. Theharsh reality is that the rapidly changing faceof war and its linkages with emerging mediaand technology demand that a change inoutlook in the Indian Army towards thinkingsoldiers be urgently institutionalised. This isunlikely to happen in a hurry as manage-ment of change takes time.

With a historical slant towards lower orderlearning (learning by rote) over higher order,Socratic thinking, the Indian Army continuesto look for steely and unquestioning compli-ance to orders from its real combat strength;its junior leadership (Colonels and below). Wedeterminedly continue teaching our youngboth in colleges and in the military acade-mies/training establishments “what to think”;

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gCOVERSTORY

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“IT IS UNREASONABLE TO EXPECT THAT AN OFFICER WHO

SPENDS 25 YEARS CONFORMING TO INSTITUTIONAL

EXPECTATIONS WILL EMERGE AS AN INNOVATOR IN HIS

LATE FORTIES… US GENERALSHIP SUFFERS

FROM CONFORMITY, LACK OF VISION,

AND LACK OF CREATIVITY…THE

INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FAILURES

COMMON TO AMERICA’S GENERAL

OFFICER CORPS IN VIETNAM AND

IRAQ CONSTITUTE A CRISIS IN

AMERICAN GENERALSHIP…”

—PAUL YINGLINGServing US Army Colonel Paul Yingling quoted et al from

his article, “A failure in generalship” in ArmedForces Journal. April 27, 2007.



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certainly not “how to think”. Students andcadets/officers are taught to submit to facultyformulations inelegantly termed as “Pinks”(these are traditionally printed on pinkpaper), in the bargain, answering the faculty’s“Guess what I’m thinking?” by offering the“correct” answer. In other words, conformingis rewarded, as much as disagreementshunned, leading to a behaviour pattern thatcontinues for life. This institutional “orders-from-above-and-implicit-obedience-from-below” expectation is rarely challenged as themental constructs needed to challenge it areneither formally taught nor appreciated. Is itthen surprising that, in the Army, we producemore conformists than we produce maver-icks; intrepid, bold, unconventional, open toinquisition out-of-the-box thinkers who, aslong as they prosper, reach great intellectualheights, influencing all those in their zone ofinfluence?

Little effort is thus made to actually involvelearner officers in analytical thinking. By andlarge, “out-of-the-box” thinking is viewedwith skepticism and healthy disregard acrosssenior ranks. As keen observers wryly pointout, the “thinkers” bloom more often than notafter they retire (Brig Gurmeet Kanwal is oneobvious exception; he started off while still inthe military mainstream; so are Cols HarjeetSingh, Kamal Kapoor and Manuhar Singh).One vibrant example of retired thinkers is ofyoung Maj Anit Mukherji, a doctoral fellow atthe Johns Hopkins University, USA, whowrites incisively on defence reform and civil-military relationships in the Indian context.Those in service who do talk about suchthinking — the numbers are increasing, albeitslowly — do so self-consciously and withoutinstitutional support from the Indian Army’sTraining Command (ARTRAC). Consequently,as on date, we do not have critical thinking in

our training curriculum and continue follow-ing vintage training and education patternswith some emerging mavericks occasionally“queering” the pitch; firebrand Indian Armyequivalents of much-lauded thinkers such asUS Army Gen Petraeus and his “thinkingboys”, Brig McMaster, Lt Col Nagl (Retd), ColKilcullen (Retd) and Col Yingling; officers whoare setting military minds on fire worldwidewith out-of-the-box thinking on war fightingand technology and its best application.

Objective readers not wishing to getswayed by mere rhetoric will want confirma-tion that the Indian Army does not quite takethinking or thinking soldiers too seriously.Considering that we have combated insur-gency for the last 50 years and terrorism forthe last 20, it would be fair to presume that wehave national war fighting doctrines as alsopublications that serve to train and educatesoldiers on ground conduct of these doc-trines. Given that emerging new media allowsnear real-time lessons to be learnt from skir-mishes, battles and campaigns, it should befair to presume that we would have masteredthis technology. A thinking man would alsoask whether the Army in particular has a warfighting doctrine that is acceptable as much

to the political authority and the other Ser-vices as it is to the soldiers on the ground;along with its supporting logistics doctrine;manoeuvre warfare; fire support; combatengineering support, air/naval support doc-trines. He would question further whether theother two Services are any better off.

No one will contest the fact that all thisintellectually oriented work demands pro-longed and focussed institutional involve-ment by uniformed thinkers, aided by peersof connected disciplines (not necessarilyfrom the armed forces), such as defence andR&D scientists, think tanks, social scientists,economists, psychologists, media, IT profes-sionals and academicians.

The sad and upsetting truth is that we donot have any of these doctrines as complet-ed, fully networked documents. What existsis in bits and pieces. Institutionally, we mustaccept that in the Army, the ARTRAC, sup-posed to be the repository of all training inthe Army and with the sister services, hassheaves of part cleared or held up drafts;work in progress, if you please. In terms ofnet deliverables, this critical institution,modelled after the US Army’s Training andDoctrine Command (TRADOC) started offwith some great commanders but today haslittle of its US counterpart’s dynamism, itswell-crafted intellectual end products or itscredibility. If one thought that the Army’scloset thinkers across rank (they are in fairnumber out there) must be staffing ARTRACor that its entry requirements are as strin-gent as those for entering the Military Oper-ations/Perspective Planning Directorates,perish the thought.

Blame can indeed be laid squarely at thedoorstep of the MoD as well as the Centre fornear absence of an overarching strategic cul-ture. We also do not have educated, “in-the-

OUR JUNIORLEADERS WERESIMPLY WORLD-

CLASS BY WAY OFCOMMITMENTAND SELFLESS

SACRIFICE

SCHOLAR SOLDIERS: Resourceful commanders have been at the forefront of military innovation down the ages

Carl Von ClausewitzJFC FullerMontgomery-MassingberdBH Liddel Hart


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(45)June 2011

know” political appointees of the calibre ofUS Secretary of Defence Robert Gates; peo-ple who can sense voids in the intellectualcapacity as well as development of intellec-tual capital in the armed forces; people whocan ensure that these voids are made up byfunding, oversight, progressive selectionpolicies or prescient nurturing of a new gen-eration of officers who need to think smart inorder to act smart under fire.

Let us view Indian Army thinkers from yetanother perspective: displayed performance.In his well-researched book on great Indiansoldiers, Leadership in the Indian Army:Biographies of Twelve Soldiers, the author, MajGen VK Singh, lists only four: Lt Gen SPP Tho-rat, Lt Gen PS Bhagat, Lt Gen SK Sinha and LtGen Hanut Singh who, in this writer’s under-standing, qualify as quality thinkers in thatthey made stellar contributions to IndianArmy military thought; all with a touch of theirreverent maverick in them. Since the authorhas covered a span of over 50 years in select-ing his dozen top soldiers, it can be said thatthough most (including Field Marshal SamManekshaw) qualify for brilliance in pure sol-diering terms — bravery, charisma, combatleadership and, in Sam’s case, leading theArmy to stunning success, thinking skills havenot been listed as a “given” in this list.

Hark back to delivered performance in the1947-48 and 1965 Indo-Pak Wars and you findthat these attrition-led wars did not challengeour thinkers too much. The 1962 Sino-IndianWar, of course, displayed huge voids in Indianmilitary thinking and abysmal performancesby the Army brass. Gen SPP Thorat, the lonethinking voice who had much to say, was,unfortunately cold-shouldered. Post the 1971Indo-Pak War; a role-model war for politico-military synergy and, in one instance, unchar-acteristically bold operational level executionwhen the maverick Lt Gen Sagat Singh assist-ed by an out-of-the-box Group Captain Chan-dan Singh, crossed the yawning Meghna Riverusing a helicopter bridge, our subsequent warin Kargil in 1999 and later the OperationParakram stand-off with Pakistan recordedresolute leadership as a pronounced IndianArmy strength more than it did critical think-ing. What did get emphasised was that ourjunior leaders were simply world class in com-mitment, courage and dogged combat skills.

As Brig PK Mallick, a wired-up, serving,soon-to-be-promoted Indian Army Signalsofficer put down succinctly in a recent article,“The Army’s officer education system doesnot produce the leader competency of intel-lectual sophistication necessary to operate atthe strategic level. Many officers neverprogress or develop their intellect beyond

IT IS not as if India at the macro level or the Indian Army has not had top-rated mili-tary thinkers through the ages. Kautilya has left behind in Arthasastra an ancient 3rdcentury BC Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy, a clas-sic that matches Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Shivaji (1642-1680) is renowned for bringing inbrilliant military organization, logistics support; inter-service synergy (Army-Navy)and the credo of bold commando actions that could become turning/tipping points inwar. Tipu Sultan (1782-1799) was respected by the British for his innovative use ofrocketry as well as for his leadership. In her short life, Laxmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi,impressed the opposing British forces in 1857-1858 with her military acumen andleadership skills as much as she did with her bravery.

What has obstructed Indian thinking is the fallout of the 1835 speech in the BritishParliament by Lord Macaulay, suggesting the need to dismantle India’s ancient cul-ture, education system and self-esteem by imposing western value systems spear-headed by teaching Indians English. The British went a step further, promoting theMai Baap culture; a servile, unquestioning acceptance of orders from above; certainlynot the best breeding ground for thinkers. The Macaulay effect ensured that theBritish Army hierarchy of Indian officers was not exposed to higher level strategic andoperational levels of war. It is thus not a matter of surprise that in the opening years,the Indian Army had great leaders of men but very few thinkers who could think out-of-the-box or guide the country’s political leadership on the strategic formulation ofEnds, Ways and Means which are the essence of national and military strategy.

Post the 1965 Indo-Pak War, there was a turnaround of sorts. Leading the changewas the charismatic Army Chief, Gen Sundarji, an infantry scholar-soldier who rev-elled in tank warfare. He pioneered operational guidelines for conduct of operationallevel mechanised warfare; he also created the Mechanized Infantry Corps. Sundarjiwas in the core team that created Indian nuclear policy along with Admiral Tahiliani,K Subrahmanyam and others. Sundarji shaped modern Indian Army thinking and wasamongst the few who clearly saw what superior air power and technology would do inwar. Just like US Army Gen Petraeus years later, Sundarji encouraged his subordinatesto think big. His “Sundarji boys”, amongst them, Gens VR Raghavan, Vinod Saighal,Shammi Mehta, Vijay Oberoi, Arjun Ray, KM Bhimaya and Sardeshpande have allmade substantial contributions to our military thinking.

Also known for his cerebral acumen, Gen Padmanabhan has been lauded for hiscontribution in blunting the Kashmir insurgency. An artillery officer, the General Offi-cer promoted modern Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and intelligence operations.During his tenure as Chief, he ushered in the Information Warfare revolution.

Whether the country’s polity and “think tanks”, such as they are, are ready to acceptapex-level military thinking and proactivity is a billion-rupee question, judging fromthe totally uncalled for, thoughtless mauling given to the current Chief, Gen VK Singh,for daring to suggest that the Indian military establishment can do an “Abottabad-type” commando action, if required.

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(46)June 2011

basic undergraduate education requirements,primarily because there is no policy or formalmandate imposed by the Army. The officerdoes not develop the intellectual skill-sets tomake the transition from being a skilled tacti-cal/operational leader to a strategic leader…”

As brought out earlier in this article, theIndian Army’s charter in the foreseeablefuture will be coping with insurgency andterrorism. Both challenges will need officerswith great thinking skills across the rank andage continuum. Clausewitz recognised thevalue of critical thinking for strategic leaderswhen he wrote, “…If we ask what sort ofmind is likeliest to display the qualities ofmilitary genius, experience and observationwill tell us that it is the inquiring rather thanthe creative mind, the comprehensive ratherthan the specialized approach, the calmrather than the excitable head that will deliv-er results.” This truism gets reinforced whenwe realise that the basis of out-of-the-boxthinking lies in the ability to do conceptualthinking. This needs nine intellectual quali-ties; clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance,breadth, depth, logic, significance and fair-ness. These need assiduous developmentand are hardly legacy hand-me-downs.

There is need too, to do “Thinking in Time”.This allows the thinking General a chance to

use historical experience “in the process ofdevising what to do today about the prospectof tomorrow”. The recent developments inKashmir, where Lt Gen SA Hasnain, the seniorGeneral in the Valley, has been empowered byhis Army Commander and Chief to brilliantlyposition the past usage of the heart as aweapon (by Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, the much-loved Kashmiri king who used it for 50 yearsfrom 1430 to 1480 AD) to great effect in thecurrent context, has visibly reduced tensionamongst the awaam; paving the way for rap-prochement, not stone-pelting. This willresult in reduction of what the Petraeusencouraged thinker, Australian Lt Col Kil-cullen calls “accidental guerillas”; peoplewhose motivations had less to do with reli-gious ideology than with local grievances andthe desire for self-determination. Lastly, thebrilliant Cols Nagl-Yingling suggestion aboutchanging the current mindsets about think-ing in the Army deserves serious thought:“The best way to change the organizationalculture of the Army is to change the pathwaysfor professional advancement within the offi-cer corps. The Army will become more adap-tive only when being adaptive offers thesurest path to promotion.”

Another reform being avidly discussed inwestern politico-military circles especially in

the UK and USA is that “the ability of the mil-itary and the Civil Service to identify thosepeople who are able to operate and think atthe strategic level is poor”. An American blog-ger, Mark Safranski, has suggested that a‘Grand Strategy Board’ (GSB) is needed tohelp apex governance to see the big picture.What the Indian Prime Minister could use is ahigh-level group just focused on getting strat-egy right — or making sure India has one atall. This would be a relatively small groupcomposed of a core of pure strategists com-prising the most strategically oriented of ourelder statesmen, Generals and equivalentranks, Intelligence experts and thinkers fromcognate fields. A GSB would help in draftingnational strategy documents and return peri-odically when requested to give advice.

The 2011 proceedings of the UK House ofCommons; Public Administration Select Com-mittee on “Who does National Strategy?” con-clude blandly that no one seems to be “doing”UK Grand Strategy. We are no better off. Evenas governance lumbers its way to a solution,maybe that the Indian Army Chief, Gen VKSingh, could proactively order such a thinktank within his own establishment to put atleast Indian Army critical thinking on track.

(The author is a retired Major General)

gCOVERSTORY

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www.geopolitics.in

CONFORMIST DILEMMA: Instead of conformist thought, independent, original thinking needs to be promoted in the Army



PERISCOPE


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aatt MMuunnddrraa

BRINGING DOWN its mobilisation timedrastically, the Indian Army can now moveforces in just 48 hours, as against thealmost-month-long time requiredby it earlier. The swift mobilisationis a result of the just-concludedstrike corps exercise, ‘Vijayee Bha-va’, in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert. Afterterror attack on Parliament inDecember 2001, the governmenthad asked the Army to mobilise,‘Op Parakram’, and it took 27 daysto do so. However, by that timeinternational diplomatic pressurebuilt up sufficiently to pre-emptany possibility of a military strikeagainst Pakistan.

Since then, the Army has beenworking hard to bring down its mobilisa-tion time to the minimum possiblethrough beetter road management, betteroffloading, better rail links, equipmentand man management. Every strike corpshas been working at reducing its ownmobilisation period.

Movement is carried out in four phases,

which are command elements, reconnais-sance, main body and balance. Commandelements comprising the formation

commanders earlier used to take eighthours, which has now been brought downto two hours.

Reconnaissance comprising two offi-cers, the second in command of theBrigade and the mobile operations, used totake 12 hours, which has been broughtdown to six hours. The main body of the

formation comprises all the three units inthe Brigade and their administration andlogistics, which used to take 18 hours earli-

er, has now been brought down to 12hours. The remaining troops were given30 hours, as opposed to their 36 hours.

It is said that ‘Vijayee Bhava’ wassuccessful, with all the units of the 60Brigade meeting at the destined pointin 45 hours, and another couple ofhours for a final check. The distancecovered was around 450 kilometers,and approximately 3500 personnelmoved on road, on transportation thatwas either hired or were army trucks.

A Division has three Brigades in it,and for a complete Division tomobilise, another 10 hours could be

added to this. Support elements, like engi-neers, logistics, doctors, medical care,artillery, and other administrative itemsalso move along, all of which take time tofall in place. ‘Vijayee Bhava’ also tested theadvanced version of the indigenousAdvanced Light Helicopter (ALH), with aglass cockpit.

WITH INTERNATIONAL con-cerns rising high over Pakistan’scapability to ensure that its nu-clear weapons do not fall interrorists’ hands, India has tak-en extra steps to secure its ownand ensure that they are effec-tive enough. It has just takenstock of its nuclear arsenal anddelivery systems — long-range

ballistic missiles, fighter-bombers and warships towardsits quest to have an operationalnuclear triad : the capabilityto fire nukes from land, seaand air — in the near future. Atop-level meet held by PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh re-cently was “not just a generalsecurity review’’ but in fact afull-fledged Nuclear CommandAuthority (NCA) conference toassess the steps being taken toconsolidate and strengthen In-dia’s “minimum but crediblenuclear deterrence”, accordingto highly placed sources.

PM CHAIRS NCA

FFaasstteerr MMoobbiilliissaattiioonn bbyy AArrmmeedd FFoorrcceess

THE INDIANCoast Guardstation atMundra wascommissionedon May 19 byVice AdmiralAnil Chopra,AVSM, DirectorGeneral, IndianCoast Guard.

Mundra willfunction under

the administrative and operational control of the Commander,Coast Guard Region (North-West) through the Commander, CoastGuard District Headquarters-1 (Gujarat) located at Porbandar.Commandant (JG). RK Srivastava has been appointed as the firstCommanding Officer of the station.The new CG station atMundra will play an effective role in undertaking joint coastal pa-trol along with Marine Police, Customs and Fisheries Departmentto thwart maritime security threats in this sensitive coastal re-gion. One more station at Pipavav has been planned for estab-lishment in the State of Gujarat, in addition to those already ex-isting, including Mundra.

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KAVERI K 9 engine passed eleven flighttests for about 20 hours duration till April2011. The flight tests successfully carriedout so far are up to 12 km maximum alti-tude and a maximum forward speed of0.7 Mach No. The tests conducted so farinclude testing for engine performanceunder different operating conditions ofthe engine. With this, the first phase ofKaveri engine trials has been completedsuccessfully and further tests will contin-ue in the days ahead.

Kaveri Engine was integrated with IL-76 aircraft which is a well-established Fly-ing Test Bed (FTB) for engines at GromovFlight Research Institute (GFRI), Russia.Kaveri engine is one among the fourengines on the Flying Test Bed platform.In 2010 Kaveri engine made its maidenflight onboard the Flying Test Bed (FTB)trials at Gromov Flight Research Institute(GFRI), Moscow, Russia.

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ssuubbssTWO INDIAN naval crews will be goingto France shortly to train for operatingthe Scorpene killer submarines, six ofwhich are being built at Mazagon Docks(MDL) in Mumbai under the `23,562-crore programme called Project-75.India is expecting to get the first Scor-pene by August 2015. Each submarinewill have just a 36-member crew sinceautomation levels in them are very high.With India down to just 14 submarinesnow, the Navy is keen that the Scorpeneproject, which has been hit by a hugecost escalation and is running threeyears behind schedule, does not sufferany more slippages. Both MDL andFrench collaborator DCNS, however,are confident that Project-75 is now fully on track.

THE TEJAS Light Combat Air-craft is about to undergo asecond phase of night trials and, ifthe systems perform as advertised, itwill be cleared for night attack, a crucialrequirement to achieve full operationalclearance (FOC) as a day/night, all-weath-er platform by December 2012.

The Tejas recently began its first phaseof night attack trials. The fifth limited-series-production aircraft (LSP 5) in thefinal Mk.1 configuration that includes anight-vision-capable cockpit, was used insix night flights in which test pilots con-ducted mock targeting and attack drills totest simulated avionics and integration ofweapons and sensors.

Following the first six tests last month,

India’s Defense Research and Develop-ment Organisation (DRDO) said,

“The preliminary resultsindicate that the integrat-

ed system per-

formedvery well,m e e t i n gt h erequirementsof night opera-tions.” With the Indian Air Force set onestablishing its first Tejas squadron in2013, the next 16 months are crucial forthe project test team. There are severalflight-envelope expansion tasks still

unfinished, including assessing angle ofattack, g-forces and sustained turn rate.The next limited-series-production air-craft, LSP-6, is expected to be dedicated toresolving those issues quickly.

In the next few months, Tejas plat-forms will fire air-to-ground munitionssuch as cluster weapons, laser-guidedbombs and S-8 rocket pods against stilland moving targets. Rafale’s Derbybeyond-visual-range missile is expectedto be a standard on the Tejas, with trialsscheduled a year from now. Reports sug-gest a contract could be signed shortly. Inits final Mk.1 configuration, the Air Forcealso expects the Tejas to be fully capableof deploying Kh-59-series stand-off strikeweapons and Kh-35/31 anti-ship missiles.

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CChhaannggee ooff GGuuaarrdd

VICE ADMIRAL DK Joshi has takenover the charge of the Western NavalCommand, despite the complaint ofthe Southern Naval Commander K NSushil that he should be appointedfor the post on basis of his seniority.Admiral Sushil had filed a ‘statutorycomplaint’ with the Ministry.

The complaint went against Navychief Admiral Nirmal Verma’s desci-sion to appoint Admiral Joshi andgive him experience of heading acrucial command as he is most likelyto succeed him next year.

Vice Admiral DK Joshi was thechief of Integrated Defence Staff to

Chairman Chiefs ofStaff Commit-

tee (CISC). Hehas served as

the Comman-der in Chief ofAndaman &

Nicobar Com-mand (CINCAN).

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INTERNAL SECURITY

geopolitics

FRONTIER MATTERS

Earlier, it was only guarding, now the task of the BSF is managing the borders

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ISINTERNAL SECURITY

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THE GOVERNMENT has come out with newguidelines for deployment of women per-sonnel in BSF, SSB and ITBP making provisions

for their posting at border postsclose to their hometowns as far aspossible. Aimed at ensuring betterworking conditions for womenpersonnel, the new guidelines alsolay down that if a woman person-nel is married, she should be sta-tioned at the same place whereher husband is posted, provided hetoo is a government employee.

“The government instructionson keeping husband and wife, ifboth are government servants, atthe same station shall be kept inview, as far as possible. However,if it is not possible to accommo-date them at the same place, post-

ing to places which can be covered byovernight journey may be considered,” thenew guidelines said.

THE KERALA police, in guidelines on‘pravasi’ marriages, have come out with a setof don’ts for womenfrom India marryingan Indian citizen residing abroad or aperson of Indian origin with foreigncitizenship.

Foremost amongthe guidelines is anadvice that an Indianwoman should onno account take adecision in haste bybowing to pressure from others. She shouldnot enter into an alliance merely for gettingfresh pastures abroad or a green card.

Alliances should not be fixed over the tele-phone or through email without seeing the

family members. Alliances should not befixed with keenness and in haste merely be-

cause one got theimpression thateverything was fine.

Marriages shouldnot be fixed merelyon the basis of talkswith a bureau, agentor broker and byblindly believingwhat they say. Findout whether theclaims made aboutthe groom on mar-

riage websites are correct. Marriages shouldnot be fixed in secrecy. If the details are dis-cussed with close persons, friends or relativesit might yield information that no othersource could provide.

FOREIGN CONTRIBUTION RegulationAct (FCRA) 2010 has been notified and ithas come into force with effect from May1, 2011. FCR Rules 2011 have also comeinto force from the same date. Key fea-tures of FCRA 2010 include the following:

� Concept of ‘permanent’ registrationdone away with; A five-year registra-tion is provided so that dormant or-ganisations do not continue. All ex-isting registered organisations aredeemed to be on a five-year validityfrom now.

� Any organisation of a political natureand any association or company en-gaged in the production and broad-cast of audio or audio visual news orcurrent affairs programme has beenplaced in the category prohibited toaccept foreign contribution.

� A new provision has been introducedto the effect that no person, who re-ceives foreign contribution as perprovisions of this Act, shall transfer toother person unless that person is alsoauthorised to receive foreign contri-bution as per rules made by the cen-tral government.

� Another new provision has been madeto the effect that foreign contributionshall be utilised for the purpose forwhich it has been received and suchcontribution can be used for admin-istrative expenses up to 50 per cent ofsuch contribution received in a fi-nancial year. However, administrativeexpenses exceeding 50 per cent of thecontribution to be defrayed with theprior approval of the central govern-ment.

� Any person contravening the provi-sions of the Act shall be punishablewith imprisonment for a term whichmay extend to five years or with fineor with both.

UNION HOME Minister P Chidambaramsaid that the Centre would start negotia-tions with United Liberation Front of Asom(ULFA) even if its military boss, PareshBaruah, didn’t take part in the peace

process.Baruah, who is

reportedly holed up in Myanmar, hasso far refused to back

ULFA chairmanA r a b i n d a

Rajkhowa’s decision to hold talks with NewDelhi. The ULFA hardliner doesn’t wantpeace dialogue before the Centre agrees toinclude the outfit’s demand for a sovereignAssam in the talks agenda.

The Home Minister says he is satisfiedwith the “cooperation and support” extend-ed by the Sheikh Hasina government inBangladesh towards India to tide over “theinternal security concerns of our country”. Ina veiled reference to Dhaka’s flush-out opera-tions against North-East-based militant out-fits, Chidambaram said, “We received splen-did cooperation from the Hasina govern-ment on a variety of issues for maintainingour internal security. We express our grati-tude to Bangladesh for this.”

TALKS ON WITH ULFA WITHOUT BARUAH

AMENDED FCRA

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GUIDELINES ON ‘PRAVASI’ MARRIAGES

CLOSER TO HOME

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BREAKING THE shackles of the past, thegovernment is now ready to accept partic-ipation of private players in internal secu-rity area but it would like them to spend atleast 5-7 per cent of their profits in R&D toget cutting-edge technology.

Union Home Secretary Gopal K Pillaisaid recently that the Home Ministry hadundertaken several ambitious projects likethe Crime and Criminal Tracking Networkand Systems (CCTNS), National Intelli-gence Grid and visa tracking system wheretremendous opportunities were waiting forthe private sector.” I would like to say thatin the internal security scenario, there is ahuge market which is available for you,”he said at a seminar organised by IndianChamber of Commerce in Delhi.

Pillai said another project, which was inthe pipeline was the Safe City Projectthrough which the government wanted tomake the cities safe.

The safe city project is being started in24 cities for the safety of the citizen throughdedicated security networks and the HomeMinistry hopes to extend the project to allmajor cities in the country in a phasedmanner.”If that happens then there istremendous potential where both indus-tries and government can collaborate,” hesaid. The Home Secretary asked privatecompanies to spend at least five to sevenper cent of their profits in research and de-velopment to get new technology. “I feelthat most companies are still not investingenough in R&D.”

Pillai said many industrial houses werehiring people on contractual basis for doing regular work which was not good.“What we see a trend, which is slightly disturbing — the use of contract labour; acontract worker does the same work that aregular worker does, but gets pay muchless and does not get social security benefits. I think this is not good in the longterm for the industries,” he said.

The Home Secretary said industry mustbe willing to investment in human capitaland it was important to un-derstand that the most im-portant capital was the hu-man resource and it wasvery critical.

PRIVATE SECTOR ININTERNAL SECURITY

THE CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation plansto revamp its Interpol division. The agencywill start quarterly review of Red Corner No-tices after a series of goof-ups on the list offugitives left the government red-faced. In afirst official reaction,the Ministry of HomeAffairs has said it is re-viewing the list, Themove comes afterthree major slip-upsby the CBI. First, it wasWazhul Kamar Khanand then Feroz AbdulRashid Khan, two ac-cused, who werenamed in India’s Most Wanted list, but weretraced to Mumbai. As if that wasn’t enough,the CBI website also listed Manipuri militantoutfit United National Liberation Front’s

chairman Rajkumar Meghen as one of themost wanted while Meghen has been in thecustody of the NIA since 2010.

Meghen, who was arrested on October 29last year, was listed on the CBI’s website

among the mostwanted. The informa-tion on his arrest wasshared with the Ma-nipur Police, which hadinitiated a Red CornerNotice against him.Manipur Police shouldhave cancelled the no-tice, but that doesn’tseem to have hap-

pened. Though Meghen didn’t figure in thefugitive list handed over to Pakistan, his nameon the CBI website has come as another embarrassment for the agency.

ONLY ONE helicopter is catering to over70,000 central police troops deployed foranti-Naxal operations as six other choppers— emergency lifelines during casualty evacu-ation and reinforcements — are out of servicefor various reasons for almost two months.

Government has deployed a fleet of sevenhelicopters — four of the Indian Air Force (IAF)and three Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)

‘Dhruvs’ of the BSF — for use by 72 battalionsof the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and local police units ofthe states. They have their bases at Raipur(Chhattisgarh) and Ranchi (Jharkhand).

While two ‘Dhruvs’ have been gatheringdust at the Raipur airbase for the last twomonths as their spare parts are not available,the third is with the Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL) as it has clocked 500 flyinghours after which it needs servicing.

From the fleet of the IAF, one Mi-17 wassent to West Bengal, while the other has beengiven to the Chhattisgarh government andthe third has already clocked its stipulatedflying hours and is getting serviced.

With only one IAF chopper left, priority-setting of tasks for the lone machine hasbecome a difficult task.

NO CHOPPERS FOR ANTI-NAXAL OPS

CENTRAL ARMED Police Forces (CAPFs) suchas CRPF, BSF willhave relaxed entrynorms for all thepermanent resi-dents of the state ofJammu & Kashmir.Jammu & Kashmirwill be on par withstates like Assam,Arunachal Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh,Manipur, Megha-laya, Mizoram, Na-galand, Sikkim andTripura so far as relaxed eligibility conditionsare concerned.

It may be noted that in the beginning, theserelaxations weremeant only for theresidents of Jam-mu and pre-dictably people inthe Kashmir valleyhad not liked it.Now, the Govern-ment of Indiahopes that the re-laxation of eligibil-ity conditions forall candidates inthe entire state of

Jammu & Kashmir will be welcomed by all sec-tions of the people of the state.

J&K: EASIER ENTRY INTO CAPFS

REVAMP INTERPOL DIVISION

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MANAGING A strength of228,737 personnel in 186battalions, including womenbattalions, is certainly notan easy job. But, Raman Sri-

vastava, the present Director General of theBorder Security Force (BSF) considers it asmuch a challenge as an honour to head theworld’s largest border guarding force. And heis “extremely proud” of the achievements ofhis force, which, though constituted in 1965to primarily secure the country’s internation-al border, has, of late, assumed responsibili-ties to checkmate international crime, fight

the challenges emanating from internalinsurgency, and assist often in normal lawand order and election duties.

Given the challenges it has to confrontwith, the BSF is constantly reinventing itsstrategy, training and operational doctrinesto effectively discharge the entrustedresponsibilities and to live up to the expec-tations of the people, says Srivastava. Andhere comes the importance of manpower.The BSF may be among the world’s largestpolice forces, but its increasing work-load,born out of multiplicity of tasks, at timesadversely affects the manpower situation in

the Force. “Nonetheless, the optimum use ofForce enables us to manage the situation”,Srivastava says.

He is happy that the Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA), his nodal ministry, has sanc-tioned an additional 29 Battalions, 7 SectorHeadquarters and 3 Frontier Headquarters,with the raising schedule beginning from thefinancial year 2009-2010 to the financial year2013-2014. The Force has, accordingly,expanded from 157 Battalions to 164 Battal-ions till date, while the remaining, i.e., 22Battalions, will be raised by the financial year2013-2014, as scheduled.


gGEOPO L I T I C S

gINTERNALSECURITY

The fast-changing security scenario on the borders and within is gradually altering theprofile of the BSF. It is no longer a question of guarding the border; it is now managing theborder as well as ensuring internal security. PRAKASH NANDA writes on how the BSFpersonnel are preparing for the new challenges

SENTINELS OF OUR BORDERS: Thevigilance of the BSF is essential in ensuringthe safety and security of our borders MEETING THE

NEW CHALLENGES

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gThe existing strength, together with the

additional field formations sanctioned toaugment the troop density in riverine, hillyand vulnerable segments on Indo-Bangladesh border, is thought to be adequate for the BSF to manage its respon-sibilities. However, the provision of ‘ReserveBattalions’ to ensure regular turnover ofunits for training, rest and recuperation, andalso to meet the exigencies of deployment ofthe Force on counter-insurgency will signifi-cantly facilitate the maintenance of opera-tional efficiency.

Equally importantly, the BSF is gettingmodernised too, thanks to the allocation bythe government in 2002 to the tune of`2330.85 crore towards modernisation, apartfrom the normal budget every year. Besides,a new “Modernisation Scheme” is likely to besanctioned for the Central Armed PoliceForces (CAPFs) for the next five years. TheBSF is procuring modern arms and ammuni-tion, surveillance equipment, special equip-ment, clothing items, BP jackets, vehicles,communications equipment, training simu-lators, etc.

In fact, the BSF is the only CAPF that hasits own Air Wing, Marine Wing and artilleryregiments, which support the General DutyBattalions in their operations. It has threeDhruv and six Mil Mi-16 utility helicopters,one EMB-35 VIP transport plane, twoBeechcraft Super King and two Hawker air-craft. But, everything doesnot seem to be well.While indigenous-ly producedDhruv is notexactly popularwith the BSF,three aircraft aregrounded at themoment and need

to be replaced. In fact, expansion plans forthe BSF Air Wing are being formulated by theMHA and the proposals consist of acquisitionof fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and cre-ation of new airbases in North-East, CentralIndia and Kashmir sectors. The aim is to pro-vide adequate airlift facilities to CAPF troopsserving in difficult border areas.

The BSF guards 2286 km of the borderwith Pakistan and 4096 km of the border withBangladesh. One-third of this total length ison water-creeks and river. Hence, BSF’s maritime division consists of floating borderoutposts (BOP), each of which is essentially amother craft with boats and vessels. On theWestern border, BSF has six BOPs and on theeastern side four BOPs. Among them, theyhave about 5000 vessels and other waterassets.

How effective has the BSF been checkingthe infiltration from Pakistan andBangladesh? As regards Pakistan, Srivastavapoints out that after erection of the “BorderSecurity Fencing” infiltration has comedown considerably and surveillance systemshave been very effective. But on the easternsector, things have not been very easy, main-ly due to the nature of the terrain. After all,one cannot fence the entire Indo-Bangladesh border, significant length of

which passes through rivers. Besides,here the border at “zero line” runs

through human settlements, so muchso that one’s bedroom is in India butthe kitchen in Bangladesh! “But

despite these odds, my boys aredoing a fabulous job twenty four

seven”, asserts the BSF DG. Srivastava is well aware of

the fact that all over the world,

the concept of guarding national territoriesalong with international borders is movingfrom “Border Policing” to “Border Manage-ment”. The latter covers a vast array of activi-ties. It emerges from the cumulative effortsof the Border Security Force, the local peo-ple, other security agencies of the state, localpolice and state administration.

As he says: “One of the problems of man-aging our borders is the underdevelopednature of border areas and the alienation ofthe border population. Socio-economicdevelopment of border areas has a majorimpact on border management, and, there-fore, an integrated and holistic approach isneeded for the multi-dimensional develop-ment and progress of these areas and theirpeople. Border guarding forces are the visi-ble government institutions functioning inthese areas, and play an important role inintegrating the far-flung areas with the mainland. Thus, the active participation of borderguarding forces in the Border Area Develop-ment Programmes (BADP) yields rich divi-dends. Organising an effective intelligencenetwork is also one of the major factors ineffective Border Management. And we dohave an excellent intelligence network.”

Srivastava is all for the establishment of aNational Institute of Border Managementthat may help in realisation of the conceptof “border management” in its true sense byorganising courses, seminars and work-shops on social integration of the borderpopulation, economic development, infra-structure development, trade through theborders, movement through internationalcheck-posts etc. The institute could beauthorised to co-ordinate with similar insti-tutions the world over, to learn from the bestpractices in border management followed inother countries.

And when one talks of the border man-agement, the reputation of the BSF in tack-ling human problems automatically comesto mind. The BSF has been accused of violat-ing human rights from time to time. But Sri-vastava dismisses all these allegations. “Likenormal police officials, we do not have lathis.We do not have protective shields. What doyou expect my jawans to do when attackedby violent crowds? We have to protect ourlives. Let me tell you, despite great risks totheir lives, my jawans have been muchretrained. Our record in ensuring humanrights during counter-insurgency operationshas been exemplary.”

The BSG DG does have a point when hedescribes the difficult lives of his people whoinvariably work in inhospitable terrains fromwhere they cannot be shifted for months,

RESERVEBATTALIONS

ENSUREREGULAR TURN-OVER OF UNITSFOR TRAINING

AND REST

CHANGING FUNCTIONS:

Raman Srivastava, DG, BSF,recognises that his force’s roleis moving from ‘border policing’to ‘border management’

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even when their family members are eitherdead or on the death-bed. “Please under-stand their strains and anguish”, he appeals.After all, in the ultimate analysis, whatcounts most for a “jawan-centric” organisa-tion like the BSF is the health of its jawans,both mental and physical. “The BSF must bea competent, rather than a tired, force”, Sri-vastava asserts. “In fact, my concrete contri-bution to the BSF is that I have ensured thateach jawan has got six hours of uninterrupt-ed sleep every day and a weekly off. I havealso seen to it that there is a transparent‘leave policy’, the lack of which in the pasthad caused a lot of tensions between thejawans and the officers.”

Besides, many steps have been taken tokeep BSF officers and jawans mentally, psy-chologically and physically fit. Regular yogahas been introduced in the BSF by qualifiedinstructors in yoga. Regular interactions

between commanders and jawans are beingensured to reduce the stress level. Redressal& Grievances Cells have been set up to sortout the problems of serving personnel.Development of infrastructure in BOPs forproviding basic amenities to the troops andto improve their living conditions has proved

very useful. Introduction of force multipliersand electronic gadgets, and construction ofroads, fencing and flood-lights has reducedphysical and mental fatigue to the troopsand enhanced operational, efficiency.

Stress management capsule courses arebeing regularly conducted for the troops tomitigate their stress level. Regimental andcommunity activities including sports/games at all levels are ensured so that every-one, including officers, participates in them.Provision of better communication facilitiesat places of deployment, particularly, inremote areas is being ensured. Mobiles areallowed. For the jawans, returning to theirhomes in the North-East, chartered aircraftare arranged.

In Srivastava’s scheme of things, welfare ofpersonnel and their families will occupy cen-tre stage. And it is something that nobodywill grudge.


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BSF IS THE ONLYCAPF THAT HAS

ITS OWN AIRWING, MARINE

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MISSION COMPASSION: Active participation in the Border Area Development Programmes yields rich dividends

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ON A gloomy evening in the year1939, a young clerk in a Britishbank in Tangiers in Morocco,while recording a bundle ofreturned notes in the banks’

ledgers suddenly made a startling discovery.What he found was that one of the notesreceived by the bank had already beenrecorded as having been paid off. What fol-lowed this detection, has for a long timebeen an inspiration for films and otherworks of fiction. Infamous in history as“Operation Bernhard” it was a secret Naziplan devised during the Second World Warto destabilise the British economy by flood-ing the country with forged Bank of England£5, £10, £20, and £50 notes. It was thelargest counterfeiting operation in history.The plan was directed by, and named after,Schutzstaffel Sturmbannführer (SS Major)Bernhard Krüger, who set up a team of 142counterfeiters from inmates at Sachsen-hausen concentration camp at first, andthen from other camps, especiallyAuschwitz.

Major Krüger has been dead for a longtime and Operation Bernhard confined to

the annals of history, but the idea of eco-nomic warfare it epitomised is yet to run

out of fashion. Of late, Pakistani Intelligenceagency ISI and the anti-India militant

Unless India remains vigilant, counterfeit currency, pumped into the country by PakistaniISI, can wreak havoc on the economy and abet many more terrorist attacks, writesSHRIDEEP BISWAS

gGEOPO L I T I C S

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LOW BLOW: The fake currency racket isa sneak attack at India’s economy

COUNTERFEIT

CURRENCY AND

ECONOMIC TERRORISM

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goutfits, which thrive under its wings, arereportedly toying with this idea. It is anopen secret today that an incredibleamount of fake currency is circulating with-in the Indian economy and that foreignagents in collaboration with their localaccomplices are pumping in Fake IndianCurrency Notes (FICNs) in India at a steadyand alarming rate. The value of the fake cur-rency in circulation is estimated to be $9million in Uttar Pradesh alone and it isestimated that in 2010 nearly $2.2 billionworth of fake currency was in circula-tion in India.

This problem, which is steadilyassuming dangerous proportions,gained global attention when the2011 International Narcotics ControlStrategy Report of the US StateDepartment said that India facedan increasing inflow of counterfeitcurrency, produced primarily inPakistan, and terrorist and crimi-nal networks use this money to financetheir activities in the country. “India facesan increasing inflow of high-quality coun-terfeit currency, which is produced primari-ly in Pakistan but smuggled to India throughmultiple international routes,” said thereport. “Criminal networks exchange coun-terfeit currency for genuine notes, which notonly facilitates money laundering, but alsorepresents a threat to the Indian economy,”it added.

A large chunk of fake currency comes inthrough India’s borders with Pakistan. TheUttar Pradesh-Bihar border with Nepal isanother route for the inflow of fake currency.During an interrogation of arrestees, whichfollowed the busting of a counterfeit currencyden in UP in 2010, it was revealed that thegang used to employ a set of six women couri-ers from Champaran in Bihar and another setof four hailing from Nepal. The counterfeitcurrency notes travelled to Uttar Pradeshfrom Nepal from two different routes: fromNepal to UP via Bihar and directly to UP par-ticularly through Sidharthnagar and Maharaj-ganj route. A `1,000 denomination note wasbought at the rate of `500 to `600 each whilethe `500 denomination was bought for `300to `400 each.

The gang used private vehicles to crossthe Nepal borders while the rest of themovement was done preferably on publictransport. To minimise suspicion, womencouriers, particularly those with young chil-dren, were preferred to carry the counterfeitcurrency notes within India and were paidtwo per cent of the total face value of thecounterfeit notes. A male shadow was also

used to trail the couriers toensure that they were nottrapped by the police.

T h eRajasthanborderis yet

another corridor through which Pakistaniagents bring fake currency in India. Follow-ing a police raid in an ISI cell in Delhi this

year the arrested operatives revealed thatThar Express, so-called friendship train, run-ning between Munnabao in Pakistan andJodhpur in Rajasthan, was being used to

smuggle fake currency into India. Fake cur-rency to the extent of `33 lakh was seized

from them. They have confirmed thatthe Indian currency is printed in Pak-

istan and illegally pushed into Indiathrough Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lan-

ka, Malaysia and Thailand.Sea-borne consignments also

turn up in Tamil Nadu (fromSri Lanka) and in Gujarat

(from Pakistan). Additional-ly, bogus notes are flown infrom Dubai. The crimesyndicate headed by the

internationally notoriousmafia boss Dawood Ibrahim is

believed to play a prominentpart in this economic terrorism in

India. Aftab Bhakti and Babu Gaithanare believed to be the two key Dawood lieu-tenants running the operations from Dubai.The money is transported to India in regu-lar flights, through ordinary passengers.Indian labourers who work in Dubai are theusual targets. The racketeers focus on thosewho are in need of money to purchasereturn tickets. They arrange tickets and askfor a favour: The passengers are handedordinary suitcases, with perhaps perfumebottles and clothes packed inside. A falsebottom conceals the fake currency,wrapped in carbon paper or hidden in pho-to albums. From Dubai, the fake currencyconsignments reach two major transitpoints — Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Local criminal networks are activated forthe purpose. In Rajasthan, for instance, fakecurrency operations are closely linked to sat-ta (gambling) and opium smuggling. To makethe task of foreign agents who operate in aterra incognita easy, local contacts are put touse. One such person, Asghar Ali, arrested inAhmedabad in Gujarat in 2009, confessedhaving links with Pakistan intelligence agen-cies. He was the ‘contact man’ for those whowanted to get into fake currency business. Hewould tell them from where they would getthe fake Indian currency and how they couldsend that money through hawala transac-tions over to Dubai and Pakistan.

The ISI has been using Pakistan Interna-tional Airlines (PIA) to transport counterfeitcurrency to its conduits in Nepal, Bangladeshand Sri Lanka. The modus operandi of the ISIwas revealed by two Nepali counterfeit cur-rency traffickers who were arrested by Thai-land police sometime back. During

ARTFUL FORGERS: Counterfeiters useincreasingly sophisticated methods to beatfake currency detection machines

IT IS ESTIMATEDTHAT IN 2010NEARLY $2.2

BILLION WORTHOF FAKE INDIANCURRENCY WASIN CIRCULATION



gINTERNALSECURITY

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interrogation, the accused disclosed thatthey worked for a prominent Nepali busi-nessman. The fact that Nepali territory isbeing used by Pakistanis to smuggle counter-feit currency is well known. The first suchexpose was made when Pakistani diplomatswere caught distributing FICNs. OneNaushad Alam Khan, arrested in Dhaka onApril 24, 2008, with fake Indian currencynotes worth `50 lakh admitted his direct linkwith HuJI (Bangladesh) chief Mufti AbdulHannan.

The fake currency seized by the policefrom various operations exhibits a very highdegree of sophistication. For instance, in thecase of the UP-based gang discussed before,it was discovered that the fake currency noteshad a different serial number. It was revealedthat they had not merely been printed from ascanned image of a genuine note by usingcoloured scanners and printers. In case themiscreants scan a genuine note and printcopies of it, the serial number of such coun-terfeit currency notes remain the same.Putting a different serial number on eachnote explains that the counterfeit currencywas being printed at a very large scale.

The obvious question is, “Where arethese currencies manufactured?” A CBIreport to the Finance Ministry suggestedthat the Pakistan government printing pressin Quetta (Baluchistan) was churning outlarge quantities of counterfeit Indian

currency. Karachi’s security press, and twoother presses in Lahore and Peshawar, havealso been suspected. Reports say the paperfor the fake notes is sourced from London.Indian investigators also allege the Pak-istani government imports currency-stan-dard printing paper far in excess of officialneeds. The extra quantum is handed over tothe ISI, it is believed.

Churning of counterfeit currency and itsgradual pumping have twofold objective.Firstly, at the macro level it aims at graduallyweakening the Indian economic system,unnecessarily triggering inflation throwingthe economy into a state of utter jeopardy inthe long run. The more immediate motive,however, is to provide funding for the terror-ist activities within the country. In India,counterfeit currency has long been seen as asource of funding for terrorism. Investiga-tions into at least four cases — the Hyder-abad bombings of August 2007; the attack onthe Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, inDecember 2005; (intelligence sourcesbelieve that `30 lakh of the `50 lakh spent, onthe attack on IIS, Bengaluru, was obtainedthrough the fake currency racket); theAhmedabad bombings of July 2008; and the26/11 Mumbai terror attack revealed a link.

Investigations into the Mumbai 26/11attacks have revealed that a large part of themoney to fund the terror operation wasobtained through fake currency rackets and

hawala channels. Recently, in its secondcharge sheet in the 26/11 attacks, the USgovernment has named a serving ISI officer,Major Iqbal, as a key conspirator chargedwith providing funds to Headley. MajorIqbal, posted in Lahore during 2007 and2008, was handling the Pakistani-AmericanLashkar-e-Toiba operative David ColemanHeadley on behalf of the ISI. He provided$25,000 and fake Indian currency notes toHeadley, to meet the latter’s expenses dur-ing surveillance operations in India pre-ceeding the 26/11 attacks.

Indigenous terrorist outfits too areensured a loose purse by counterfeiters. TheMaharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)told a special court that it was probing thelinks between the Indian Mujahideen (IM)and fake currency rackets in the country.The ATS submitted before the special courtin Shivajinagar that Riyaz Bhatkal, IqbalBhatkal and Ahmed Yasin, founders and topoperatives of the IM, had provided counter-feit notes to Maulana Hussain Shabbir Gan-gavali, who was arrested in Pune with`25,000 in fake `100 notes at a Janwadimosque on December 30.

The greatest justification behind studyinghistory is perhaps the fact that it repeatsitself. Nothing new happens. In the begin-ning I had alluded to Operation Bernhard.But history is replete with many such cases.Nations have used the counterfeiting ofmoney as a means of warfare. Britain did thisduring the American War of Independence,to reduce the value of the Continental dollar.The United States did it during the Civil Waragainst the rebellious Southern States. Todayenemies within and beyond the frontiers areemploying this tactic against India. The waragainst terror is not against a bunch of ragtaghotheaded fanatics. The enemy has a well-defined agenda, coherent plan of action andworst of all, infinite patience and persever-ance. Unless the state remains vigilant,counterfeit currencies can wreak havoc inthe economy. When we think of militants theclichéd image that comes to our mind is thatof a Kalashnikov toting LeT, HuJi orMujahideen operative. But in the jihadagainst India, the contribution of the mild-mannered gentlemen preparing replicas ofIndian rupee notes in printing presses inobscure quarters of Quetta or Karachi is noless than that of Ajmal Qasab. The former,perhaps is doing a more substantial job,despite being bereft of all the glamour andattention which the latter is enjoying.

(The author is with the Delhi-basedInstitute for Conflict Management)

FIGHTING THE DELUGE: The Indian economy is being swamped with fake highdenomination currency notes through various channels.


THE URANIUMFACTOR ININDO-AUSTRALIAN TIES

INDIA IS THETARGET FORTHE MAOISTSIN NEPAL

DEALING WITH MYANMARPragmatism is as important as democratic sentiments for IndiaPragmatism is as important as democratic sentiments for India

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DEALING WITH MYANMAR

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Jai Ho, Jai Jai Ho!

INDIA’S SRI Lanka policy movers and shakers are keeping their fin-gers crossed at the advent of J Jayalalithaa, who has just takenover as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after a massive electoral

victory, as the AIADMK supremo has already fired the first salvodemanding action against Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksafor alleged war crimes and genocide of Tamils.

Jayalalithaa’s remarks have to be taken seriously, very seriously, andnot seen as mere political posturing because she has such a massivemajority in Tamil Nadu assembly that she does not need any politicalparties’ crutches or to score any brownie points. She gave a broadindication of what is in her mind when she said at her maiden pressconference in Chennai after her victory: “The President of Sri Lankamust be tried for war crimes and broughtbefore the International Court of Law…”She did not stop at that and even suggestedwhat India can and should do in this con-text: “India can no longer remain a silentspectator….If necessary, an economicblockade will have to be resorted to bring arecalcitrant Sri Lanka to heel.”

Significantly, she made these remarkswhen Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiriswas on an official three-day visit to NewDelhi (May 15-17). This statement of Jay-alalithaa has already sent the Sri Lanka-watchers in the Ministry of External Affairsinto a tizzy as it threatens to force Prime Minister Manmohan Singh toview the Sri Lankan Tamil issue through a new prism and tread morecautiously in this regard now than ever before.

There are two reasons why the UPA government needs to worryand may be forced to have a re-look at its Sri Lanka policy. One, Jay-alalithaa has made these remarks at a time when she is no longer inthe company of the firebrand MDMK leader and blatant LTTE sympa-thiser Vaiko with whom she had struck a poll alliance in 2006 butabandoned him completely in the just-concluded polls. This meansthat she is speaking her own mind and is not airing views of someoneelse out of political expediency. Second, she has set herself an eight-een-month deadline to fulfil her electoral promises. Though she hasnot formally announced the Sri Lankan Tamil issue to be part of her18-month agenda, there is nothing to suggest that she may not do soonce she settles down in her third tenure as Chief Minister.

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NOW WE don’t know what’s his clout with the Minister, butif you have any idea please do tell us. Raghhavendra Shas-tri is his name and he is an advisor to the External Affairs

Minister. Those in the know say he is a friend, philosopher andguide the Minister and what he tells Mantriji is law as far as theMinistry of External Affairs is concerned. Shastriji’s greatest areaof interest so far has been postings and appointments and he hashad his way in most of them. But when he offers candidates forsensitive countries like Iran and Iraq, there is plenty of murmurand distress. But who’s to bell the cat. The PMO could be oneoption — you can always complain to officials there about yourplight. But as one officer pithily put it, “After Shastriji the greatestsource of distress is the PMO. They too are foisting all sorts ofrequests on us all the time.” Tricky situation indeed! Life is toughindeed when you are caught between a rock and a hard place!

Who is he?

THE MINISTRY of External Affairs (MEA) is not respon-sible for this, but is most affected

by the Ministry of Home Affairs’goof-up over the List of 50Most Wanted that India

handed over to Pakistan onMarch 28, 2011, during the

Home Secretaries’ meetingin New Delhi. Though Chi-dambaram has owned up

responsibility for themistake, the MEA

is not amused. Itis the MEA

that willhave to

listen to unpleasant things from Pakistan during upcomingSecretary-level talks that are scheduled in the comingweeks.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on May 18blamed the Intelligence Bureau for the blunder but dis-missed the gaffe as “a normal human error”. “We takeresponsibility for the mistake. There was a lapse on the partof the IB in not reflecting the information received. It was anormal human error in compilation but should not haveoccurred,” Chidambaram said. He said that Pakistan wouldbe conveyed that Khan is no longerrequired. A chastened Ministry ofHome Ministry has now asked allsecurity and intelligence agencies toupdate the Red Corner Notice andLook-out Circular lists every threemonths.

The problem is last time when SMKrishna was in Pakistan to meet thethen Pakistan Foreign Minister ShahMehmood Quereshi,the Home SecretaryGopal Pillai let out a string of undiplomatichome truths about our neighbour that hadthem frothing and embarrassing Krish-na in Islamabad. The poor chapswallowed the insult and came backbefore giving North Block a ripperon their diatribe. Butthis time it is thegreat IndianInvestigativeumbrella that hasmade a completefool of itself.

MEA AGHAST OVER LISTOF 50 GOOF-UP

S M Krishna

P Chidambaram

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MEA’s MASTER MOVE ON PM’SAFGHAN TRIP

IT NEVER hap-pened before and arepeat may be rare.But it happened onMay 11, 2011,when the MEAreleased PrimeMinister Manmo-han Singh’s state-ment a day beforehis actual depar-ture to Afghanistan— and all thisbecause of securityreasons. The five-para statement

cleverly hid the date of the visit and talks in terms of future sentence.Sample the opening sentence: “I will be leaving on an official visit toAfghanistan at the invitation of His Excellency President HamidKarzai.” The statement was released to the media some 15 hoursbefore the PM’s special plane took off for Kabul. It drove home thepoint that is central to New Delhi’s Af-Pak strategy: Indian commit-ment to capacity-building of Afghanistan and a boost to the nation’sinfrastructure. You don’t normally see the PM’s “pre-departure”statement well before his departure on a foreign visit. ButAfghanistan is a different cup of tea.

IT WAS a given that former Chief Election Commis-sioner Navin Chawla

would be the next HighCommissioner toGreat Britain whenthe present incum-bent Nalin Suriesuperannuates in July.

But now comes newsthat it may not after all

happen. Insiders inSouth Block are cate-

gorical thatChawla still fig-

ures in theshort list,but PrimeMinisterManmo-han Singh

is keen to have retiring Cabinet Secretary KM Chan-drasekhar move to Wash-ington to replace MeeraShankar who has superan-nuated and is only holdingcharge till a new appoint-ment is made. In the nor-mal course, it would havebeen Foreign SecretaryNirupama Rao who shouldbe going to replace Shankaras has been reported sever-al times in the media. But itseems with the CabSec’sextension of six months notcoming through, there hasbeen a change of plans and Rao may now be adjustedwith the London posting. So what happens then toChawla? Again the grapevine suggests that he hasbeen offered an alternative, buthe is not interested. Weshould all know in a fewweeks. By the way, anotherbright officer whoworked with Nirupamawhen she was the JointSecretary (External Pub-licity) has also been post-ed as an Ambassador forthe first time. MonicaMohata moves to Polandfrom her perch as theDirector of theNehru Centre in London.

www.geopolitics.in

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Nirupama Rao

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OF IPA AND PAIYEARS AGO, the Ministry of External Affairs used to have IPA, one of the13 territorial divisions for Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan. The nomencla-ture continued even after the Kargil war. Subsequently it was changed toPAI in view of the importance of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran to Indiain that order. The primary job of PAI is to get as much information fromor about Pakistan as possible (needless to say that it gets able supportfrom Research and Analysis Wing), prepare policy notes, identify pitfallsand come up with SITREPs (situation reports) on most important issuesvirtually on day-to-day basis.

IPA aka PAI has traditionally been the most important division of theMEA, a trend that was challenged around 2005 when India’s strategic tieswith the United States went on an overdrive in the wake of Indo-USnuclear deal negotiations. The Indo-US euphoria subsided as George WBush’s tenure came to an end in 2008. But from 2009 till May 2, 2011, Chi-na upstaged the US in the MEA’s scheme of things and its EA (East Asia)Division ruled the popularity-cum-power charts within the ministry.

Things changed and changed dramatically on May 2, 2011 when theUS launched a daring and unprecedented commando operation in theheart of Pakistan, killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and left thePakistani airspace in a blink with bin Laden’s body and buried itpromptly in the North Arabian seabed. Now once again PAI is back inbusiness and in roaring demand as the most important division of theMEA. Post-Osama, no country is as close to the Indian strategic estab-lishment’s radar screens as Pakistan is. Therefore, don’t be surprised if you get hold of details of a top secret meeting in the Pak-istani capital. Blame it on RAW or MEA’s PAI Division.

So who gets to go where?

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THE ALARMING events that haveunfolded at Japan’s Fukushimanuclear power plant have raisedenvironmental and health con-cerns the world over. The Indian

government, however, is unlikely to com-pletely dismiss the benefits of nuclear energy,given the energy crunch it is facing. India hasone of the highest economic growth rates inthe world, with the Indian government’s lat-est economic survey predicting that thecountry will experience growth of 8.6 per centin 2010-11. Concurrently, India’s demand forenergy is expected to double by 2025; to meetthis projected level of consumption, Indiawould have to import almost 90 per cent ofits petroleum requirements.

Ensuring India’s energy security hastherefore become one of the main planksof India’s foreign policy. More than 50 per-cent of India’s energy is currently generat-ed from coal, but the inferior quality ofIndian coal — and the absence of moderntechnology to clean it — make it economi-cally inviable, and a major environmentalconcern. India is already facing interna-tional pressure to accept legally bindingcarbon-emission targets, which the Indiangovernment is neither willing nor able todo at this point in time. But, as a risingglobal power aspiring to a permanent seaton the United Nations Security Council,India cannot afford to overlook these con-cerns for long.

ENERGY SECURITY THROUGH NUCLEARPOWERThe supply of oil from the Middle East is notimmune to disruption resulting from political crises, and the fate of the IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline now seems to behanging in the balance: India does not wishto antagonise the United States, which hasmade its opposition to this deal known. Indiais also unlikely to suddenly begin buildingmassive hydro-electric power plants tobridge the shortfall, since their constructioninvolves displacing thousands of people, andcauses irreparable damage to the environ-ment. It also does not help that many Indianstates, rich in hydro-power potential, such asArunachal Pradesh, are in seismically active

While India maintains that nuclear power is the best way to address its growing energyneeds, it does not possess sufficient uranium to meet demand. Australia would make anideal supplier, but its concerns over India’s unwillingness to sign the NPT and its possiblenuclear proliferation are souring the relationship, writes RUPAKJYOTI BORAH

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HUNGRY FOR FUEL: With 40 per cent ofthe world’s uranium reserves, Australia iscritical to India’s nuclear power programme

WHY AUSTRALIA SHOULD

SUPPLY URANIUM TO INDIA

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and sensitive border regions.In the light of these factors, India has

decided to go for nuclear power generationin a big way. As of 2011, nuclear poweraccounts for only three per cent — around3,700 Megawatts electrical — of India’s totalenergy basket. However, if things go asplanned, this figure is likely to go up to20,000 MWe by the year 2020. The country-specific waiver, granted to India by theNuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) in Septem-ber 2008, has given India the courage andability to aim for big increases in nuclearpower generation. India, however, lacks ade-quate domestic uranium deposits to supplyits nuclear power plants.

INTERNATIONAL ENERGY RELATIONSAustralia possesses nearly 40 per cent of theworld’s uranium reserves, and could play amajor role in ensuring India’s energy securi-ty; it already exports coal, crude petroleumand LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) to India.India could also make use of Australia’sexpertise in modern, technology-intensivemining techniques.

A joint working group on energy and min-erals between Australia and India was estab-lished way back in 1999, signalling the intentof both the countries to increase their coop-eration on the energy front. During aNovember 2008 visit to India by the Aus-tralian Minister for Resources, Energy andTourism, Martin Ferguson, five action plansin the fields of coal, mines, new and renew-able energy, petroleum, and natural gas andpower were signed.

Then in a landmark deal in August 2009,India’s Petronet LNG (the country’s largestLNG importer) signed a 20-year deal withExxon Mobil Corporation to import about1.5 million tonnes per year of LNG from Aus-tralia’s Gorgon project.

DIPLOMACY, PRAGMATISM, AND NON-PROLIFERATIONHowever, Australia’s insistence that it will notsupply uranium to India unless India signsthe Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)has not only become one of the biggeststumbling blocks in energy ties betweenAustralia and India, but also in the bilateralrelationship. India has made it clear to Aus-tralia that it is unwilling to sign the NPT as a‘non-nuclear-weapon state’, objecting thatthe treaty defines ‘nuclear-weapon states’ asonly those countries which have manufac-tured and exploded a nuclear explosivedevice prior to January 1967.

There are several reasons why Australiashould reconsider its decision to not supply

uranium to India:� India has an excellent record when itcomes to non-proliferation, unlike countrieslike Pakistan and North Korea. China hasallegedly supplied nuclear and missile know-how to Pakistan, and then rogue elementswithin Pakistan — like the AQ Khan network— have led to further nuclear proliferationworldwide. However, despite China’s doubt-ful nuclear credentials, Australia concluded anuclear deal with China in 2006, paving theway for China to import Australian uranium.� Australia’s ties with India have sufferedsignificant damage on account of the inci-dents of attacks on Indian students in Aus-tralia, which have been latched on to by theIndian media. If Australia does change itsstance on the uranium issue, it could give anew lease of life to Indo-Australian ties, inthe same way as US-Indian ties were

renewed following President Bill Clinton’shistoric visit to India in March 2000.� Finally, India is poised to overtake Chinaas the most populous country on the planet.The increasing use of fossil fuels in India hasalready led to significant environmentaldamage; a shift to nuclear energy will helpmitigate at least some of the consequences.

The Julia Gillard government in Australiahas its work cut out: it has to somehow con-vince its political allies, and the opposition,about the benefits that will accrue to Aus-tralia from supplying uranium to India.There is a strong anti-nuclear lobby withinthe ruling Labour party — but, just as in thecase of the Indo-US nuclear deal, when Indi-an Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stakedthe survival of his government on the dealgoing through, Prime Minister Gillard willhave to give the process a decisive push.Whether she is indeed willing to go the extramile is the million-dollar question. One fer-vently hopes she would, and finally excisethis irritant from Indo-Australian relations.

(Dr Rupakjyoti Borah is a Senior Lectur-er at the Department of Geopolitics and

International Relations, Manipal Universi-ty, India. He was a Visiting Fellow at the

Centre of International Studies, Universityof Cambridge, UK, in 2009 and an Aus-

tralian Studies Fellow at the Australia-IndiaCouncil)

ISN Insights

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AUSTRALIA’SINSISTENCE

ON INDIA SIGNING THE NPT

IS A HUGESTUMBLING

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BREAKING THE DEADLOCK: The Australian government has to convince its allies,and opposition, about benefits of supplying uranium to India

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THE MAOISTS in Nepal havelaunched a vicious anti-Indiapropaganda campaign. A filmDasgaja is being screened inabout half a dozen theatres in

Kathmandu. The title of the film, meaning‘Ten Yards’ has connotations of a border dis-pute and portrays India as the hegemonicpower rather a bully.

SCENES FROM THE ANTI-INDIA FILMScene A: An Indian official walks into theoffice of the head of Nepal’s border surveyteam and offers him a briefcase filled with cur-rency and tells him that it is for his daughter’seducation and the border inspection dutiesshould be left to the Indian officials. The Indi-an official then goes on to say, ‘You know thatyou can’t do a thing without our approval. Youcan’t even appoint a priest in your own templewithout our endorsement.’Scene B: A Nepali worker, working in arestaurant in India is slapped and his nation-ality is abused when inadvertently he spills

water on an Indian customer. Scene C: India’s Home Minister speaking onphone to his Nepalese counterpart, askinghim not to persist with his demand of newinspection of the Indo-Nepal border, failingwhich, the Minister threatens that the gov-ernment of Nepal would be toppled. Scene D: Scenes of atrocities by Indian borderguards and the hero of the film leading agroup of armed men and women, and remov-ing the border pillar wrongly erected by India.

There is another movie based on Indo-Nepal border dispute, directed by UddhamAbidits, to be released soon. The area Kala-pani is located on India’s western borderwith Nepal. The dispute over the area is dueto the differences between the two countriesover the origin of the Kali River. Nepal’sclaims on Kalapani is based on the con-tention that the river to the west of the Kalapani is the main Kali River, whereasIndia claims that the river to the east of Kala-pani is the main Kali River.

About four years back, there was another

documentary Greater Nepal made by ManojPandit, which called for restoration of largeparts of West Bengal, entire Sikkim, parts ofUttarakhand and Himachal to Nepal, overwhich he averred that Nepal had historicalclaims.

MAOISTS ON ANTI-INDIA RAMPAGE The Maoist cadres have also been defacingfoundation stones and insulting the Indiantri-colour, at projects and programmesassisted by India. Showing of black flags tothe Indian Ambassador during his travels inKathmandu, has become a regular affair. Infact, the Foreign Minister, SM Krishna, dur-ing his recent visit in April 2011, expressed‘serious concern’ at the attacks on the IndianAmbassador. Earlier, in October 2010, theMEA had summoned Nepal’s Ambassador toIndia Rukma Shumsher Rana to seek expla-nation over the misbehaviour of Maoistcadres towards the Indian Ambassador toNepal, Rakesh Sood. Some Maoist cadres onOctober 6, 2010, had greeted the Ambas-

MAOISTS’ FORWARDMARCH IN NEPAL

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CHINESE PROXIES: Beijing has beenusing the Nepalese Maoists to stir up anti-India sentimentCourtesy: http://mikeely.files.wordpress.com

The recent events in Nepal suggest that the Maoists are determined to unleash anti-Indiahysteria in the country so as to benefit their mentor China, writes R S N SINGH

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sador with black flags and one of themhurled a shoe at a team of visiting IndianEmbassy officials.

During his recent visit to Nepal, SM Krishna met various Maoist leaders includ-ing Prachanda and took up the issue of theongoing anti-India campaign by the Maoistcadres. Some of the top leaders were alsopresent at a formal dinner meeting in theIndian Embassy. Despite the assurances, theanti-India campaign by Maoists has notabated; in fact, it has become more shrill, vir-ulent and violent.

FABRICATION OF BORDER AND CULTUR-AL DISPUTESThe Maoists have been trying to overplayand even fabricate issues to create animositybetween India and Nepal. The anti-Indiacampaign by the Maoists in Nepal is becom-ing increasingly fierce and vicious, as theMaoist leadership feels that it is India, whichis the stumbling block in their bid to capturepower. That the Maoists are being proddedby China is all too obvious. The border issuesbetween India and Nepal has hardly generat-ed any bitterness. The issue of Indian priestsin the ‘Pashupati Temple’ in Kathmandu is arevered historical tradition signifying thedeep religious and cultural links between thetwo countries.

Border issues between India and Nepalhave never become bitter or intractableenough to vitiate the relationship of the twocountries. But lately, the anti-India con-stituency in Nepal, particularly the Maoists,aided and abetted by China through theNGOs and China Study Centres (CSCs), havebeen trying to engineer animosity betweenIndia and Nepal by magnifying the disputeswhich have always proved amenable topeaceful resolutions. Most of the border dis-putes between India and Nepal arise in theareas where the border is riverine, coveringnearly one-third of the total 1,751-km-longborder. These disputes crop up every timethe rivers change their course, creating newlands and submerging some old ones. Therewas an effective bilateral mechanism thatexisted between the two countries beforeIndian Independence, which for some rea-son was dispensed with after Independence.

A joint team inspects the border areasevery year and rectifies the natural aberra-tions or encroachments. Belatedly, a JointTechnical Level Boundary Committee (JTC)was established in 1981. By December 2007,the JTC was successful in delineating 98 percent of the border on strip maps, signed byexperts of the two countries, but theNepalese government is still to formalise the

delineation agreement. Consequent to itsformalisation, the process of checking andreinstating border pillars would begin.Incumbent on it are the resolution to all con-tentious issues regarding border alignment,except the disputed areas of ‘Kalapani’ and‘Sushta’, which require a political resolution.

The anti-India constituency has rejectedthe strip maps on the specious plea that theJTC went by Persian maps prepared in 1874,which the Nepalese side did not have thecompetence to interpret, as a result of whichIndia usurped more than 1500 hectares ofNepalese land. Nevertheless, Mr PranabMukherjee during his visit to Nepal in 2008said that 98 per cent work on delineating anew border has been completed. The newstrip maps were to have been formallysigned by both sides ‘very soon’. But by 2010,

when SM Krishna visited Kathmandu, noprogress had been made. Beset by unrelent-ing and motivated opposition from theMaoists-cum-anti-India constituency, it isincreasingly becoming difficult to demarcatethe boundary. This delay was exactly whatthe anti-India forces wanted.

After loss of power and being politicallycircumscribed by the rest of the politicalplayers, the Maoists have been desperatelytrying to mobilise the masses by stokinganti-India sentiments. In that they havepicked up the most enduring and sensitivesymbols of Indo-Nepal cultural ties i.e. theIndian priests in the Pashupati Nath Temple.On September 5, 2009, two newly appointedIndian priests were attacked by the Maoistsand paraded naked. It has been the age-oldtradition of the temple to appoint South-Indian priests after a rigorous selectionprocess. These priests need to be scholars ofall the four ‘Vedas’. When the Maoists cameto power, they attempted to replace a South-Indian priest with a Nepalese one, but heturned out to be totally lacking in the pre-scribed abilities. The Supreme Court turneddown his appointment and the Indian pun-dits were reappointed.

FOURTH PHASE OF MAOIST AGITATIONThe anti-India campaign of the Maoists is awell-deliberated strategy and is in conso-nance with the ‘Fourth Phase’ of the Maoistagitation, announced in January 2010, in theCentral Committee meeting. Originally, thisphase was to be driven by the agenda of‘Civilian Supremacy’, but was suspended infavour of anti-India campaign because theMaoists feel that it was at the behest of Indiaand its leverages in the politics of Nepal thatthe Maoist government fell following itsaborted bid to remove the Nepal Army Chiefin May 2009.

The Nepal Army, the Maoist leadershipfeels, is the only robust barrier in its way toestablishing its one-party revolutionaryregime. In its anti-India campaign, and inkeeping with the sensitivities of the IndianMaoists, Prachanda while embarking on theFourth Phase, tried to drive a wedge betweenthe Indian state and the Indian people. Heproffered: “Dialogues and struggle with Indi-an state, and solidarity with Indian people.”In the same Central Committee meeting, adecision was taken to send five top Maoistleaders to five disputed border locations i.e.Kalapani, Susta, Pashupati Nagar, Laxman-pur, and Khurdalautan. There were also plansto publicly burn copies of Indo-Nepal Treaty1950, Sugauli Treaty 1816, and other Indo-Nepal agreements. Demonstrations near theIndian Embassy were also part of the plan.

CHINA SEDUCES NEW DISPENSATIONThe Maoists viewed the preceding Prime Min-ister Madhav Nepal as a stooge of India. So didChina. During his visit to China in December2009, the Chinese authorities were high onassurances and rhetoric but low on yield. Thisis mainly ascribed to the Chinese perceptionthat the Madhav Nepal government wasbacked by India. No sooner Jhalanath Khanalwas elected as Prime Minister in February2011, after 17 attempts in seven months; twovery significant and high- level Chinese dele-gations visited Nepal, having economic andmilitary agendas, respectively. In February2011, during the visit of Vice Minister of Com-merce Fu Ziyang, China and Nepal reached anagreement on details of a new economic pack-age. In the following month, General ChenBingde, head of China’s PLA, visited Kathman-du and announced US $ 20 million aid assistance, non-lethal in import.

When the Maoists came to power, Chinawas believed to have prepared itself toembark on a host of momentous initiativesand investments in Nepal, the importantbeing the extension of Tibet Railway toLumbini in southern Nepal, construction of

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NEPAL HASBECOME A

GEOPOLITICALARENA OF

INTENSE RIVALRYBETWEEN CHINA

AND INDIA



outer ring road in Kathmandu and assis-tance in hydroelectric projects. As a quid proquo the Prachanda government was to enterinto China-Nepal treaty as countervail to theIndia-Nepal Treaty of 1950. However, muchto the chagrin of China, the Maoist govern-ment fell in May 2009. The Chinese authori-ties, it is learnt, were peeved at the Maoistsfor inviting collapse of the government overthe issue of removal of the army chief. TheChinese saw Indian hand in engineering theexit of the Maoist government.

CHINA’S NEW GEOPOLITICAL THRUST Before 2008, China was overwhelmingly guid-ed by the Tibet factor in its relations withNepal. The Beijing Olympics were also a majorstrategic constraint. Prachanda on assumingpower cracked down heavily on Tibetanrefugees. The number of Tibetans crossinginto Nepal dropped from 3000 to 500 in 2008.Thus, Prachanda ingratiated himself to theChinese. Bilateral visits between the twocountries, both publicised and secret, were ata feverish pitch during that period.

Consequent to the Indo-US nuclear dealthe tenor and import of China’s strategicthrust in Nepal moved away from Tibet-cen-tricity to encompass South Asia as such. Sincethen Nepal has become a geopolitical arenaof intense rivalry between China and India.The fall of the Maoist government totallybelied China’s strategic calculations.Ever since, it has been on an over-drive to cobble a pro-China andanti-India government in Nepal.

Some observers are of theview that Nepal was without aPM for seven months due tothe geopolitical tussle betweenChina and India. WhileIndia’s former ForeignSecretary ShyamSharan was entrust-ed with the task tocobble a formationthat excluded theMaoists, China wasattempting theopposite. It had sentHe Yong, a secretariatmember of the Com-munist Party, as itspoints-man. Early thisyear a tape was in circu-lation in the Nepalesemedia wherein a Maoistleader was heardspeaking to a man withChinese accent. Thelatter offered US$ 6.9

million to buy the support of 50 Nepaleselegislators.

At the height of the deadlock, Prachandawith another Maoist hardliner Mohan Vaidyavisited China at the invitation of the Commu-nist Party of China in October 2010. The com-position of the team is significant, as Vaidya isthe political think-tank of the Maoists, theother members of the delegation were Krish-na Bahadur Mahara, now the Home Ministerand Prakash Dahal, Prachanda’s son.

Prior to Prachanda’s visit, some formerMaoists military commanders visited Chinain September 2009 without the permission ofthe government. They were then under thesupervision of the UN. As per the agreement,reached between the Maoists and the govern-ment, the former Maoist combatants cameunder an All Party Special Committee. CPN(Maoist) CP Gajurel said: “How and by whosepermission they went on the visit, we cannotsay.” Earlier in September 2009, Prachandawent to Hong Kong and allegedly had severalmeetings with the Chinese officials. It isbelieved that he lobbied for China’s supportfor taking over Nepal by force. It is alsobelieved that the Chinese authorities advisedhim against it and to drop his plans of launch-ing ‘People’s Revolt’.

Prachanda’s first visit to China was inAugust 2008 during the closing ceremonyof Olympic Games in Beijing. This was amajor departure from the establisheddiplomatic practice of Nepalese PMs,

choosing India as their first destina-tion after assuming office.

The Chinese officials after several meet-ings with the Maoist leaders and Khanal, inNepal and Beijing, forged a leftist alliance.Such was China’s premium on a Maoist gov-ernment that it reportedly had advisedPrachanda that he could even reach out toDelhi if that brought him back as PM. It wasbecause of the internal dynamics of the CPN(UML) that China could not engineer aMaoist-led government. It then settled for thenext best option i.e. a government led byKhanal with unimpeachable pro-China cre-dentials. The new Deputy Prime Minister andthe Foreign Minister of Nepal, UpendraYadav, is also known for his strong pro-Chinaleanings. He was also the Foreign Minister inthe Prachanda-led government. Before float-ing the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) hewas a Maoist cadre. The MJF has always beensuspected to be another Maoist front createdto stem the erosion of Maoist support base inTerai. The Maoists have come tantalizingclose to seizing power. They have seven cabi-net ministers and four state ministers in theJhalanath Khanal cabinet.

The most sensitive being the Home portfo-lio, Jhalanath Khanal appointed KrishanBahadur Mahara as the Home Minister in con-travention of the decision of the CPN (UML).The party was against giving security-relatedministry to the Maoists. How can the Maoistshave the portfolio of Home Minister even with-

out repudiating violence, armed forces andweapons, was the feeling. With a Maoistas the Home Minister of Nepal, anti-India activities in Nepal will witness

unprecedented spurt. It is also nocoincidence that Arundhati Roy visit-ed Nepal during that period andreportedly met Hisila Yami, a Central

Committee member of the CPN(Maoists), in Nepal. Hisila, a

former Tourism Minister,was a classmate of Arund-hati in the Delhi School ofArchitecture. Reportedly,Arundhati also met AgniPrasad Sapkota, who hasnow taken over as Infor-mation and Communica-tion Minister. Sapkota hasmurder charges againsthim. Given the Maoistaccent on anti-India propa-ganda, the Information andCommunication portfolioassumes significance.

(The author is a former military intelli-

gence officer )

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TENUOUS HANDSHAKE:

Minister for External AffairsSM Krishna with NepalesePresident Dr. Ram BaranYadav


The Indian Ocean is India’s strategic environment and a vital determinant of the country’ssecurity and economy, its future power and global reach. But to what extent can Indiadetermine what is happening in its waters? How and how much can India influence globalpolitics, presence and power play in the Indian Ocean, its rim, region and routes, asksSURYAKANTHI TRIPATHI

POWER AND PRESENCEIN THE INDIAN OCEAN

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WHAT THE great Americantheorist of geo-strategicnaval power, Rear AdmiralAlfred Thayer Mahan, fore-told with prescience prior

to the First World War, is common knowl-edge. Whoever attains maritime supremacyin the Indian Ocean, he said, would be aprominent player on the international scene,and whoever controls the Indian Oceanwould dominate Asia. One century later, forthe very reasons mentioned by him, thestrategic waterways of the Indian Ocean,with its critical chokepoints, are now thefocus of intense global scrutiny. Also attract-ing great attention is the Chinese effort tosecure a series of bases and ports along thesea routes from its own coast to the PersianGulf oil sources, augmented by strong eco-nomic and diplomatic ties with the relevantlittoral states, an endeavour commonly

referred to as China’s “string of pearls”. Robert D. Kaplan, a Senior Fellow at the

Center for New American Security, in Wash-ington, believes: “The Chinese are the Maha-nians now.” They say that China finds its pol-icy sustenance in the strategic wisdom ofAdmiral Mahan, and meets the Mahan pre-

requisite of amassing international com-merce, merchant and naval fleets and forward bases. Mahan did indeed postulatethat commerce was of paramount impor-tance, and that a large and powerful navywas needed to defend and expand power.China’s ceaseless demand for hydrocarbonsand raw materials has made it tap distantsources and acquire worldwide reach. Chi-nese writings emphasise the link betweencommerce and naval power, and that criticalimports call for a force capable of protectingthe transportation routes. Their goal, it issaid, is eventually to command strategic pas-sages, such as the Straits of Hormuz and theStraits of Malacca, traversed by their vitalgoods. China sees itself as an oceanic power,given its long coastline, several islands, theSouth China Sea in its backyard, and ambi-tions in two oceans. China’s expanding navalcapabilities and ambitions have had theeffect of alerting quite a few countries.

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CONSTANT VIGIL: India has got itsguard up against Chinese intrusion in theIndian Ocean

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In 2007, India was part of the so-calledQuad Initiative, in which four countries —India, Australia, Japan and USA — cametogether and carried out joint naval exercis-es in the Indian Ocean, reportedly thebiggest-ever in these waters. The exerciseswere presented by India as just an expansionof the Malabar Series, conducted with theUS since 1992, with the addition of Australiaand Japan, and including a small participa-tion by Singapore. However, given the sizeand scope of Malabar CY 07-2, as these exer-cises were called, and the new war gamesthat they entailed, the world saw this four-some as combining to counter the potentialthreat of China. The official Indian positionwas largely that the Quad naval event had nosecurity implications and was just anexpected graduation to major exercises.Analysts, however, saw India’s new align-ment with the already-existing security triadof Australia, Japan and the US as indicativeof its significant strategic shift.

In a similar context, when the DefenceMinister AK Antony laid the foundationstone in Kerala for the National Institute forResearch and Development in Shipbuildingin early January, the event was picked up bynewspapers from across the world. The newnaval research centre was immediatelyclubbed as part of India’s efforts to build itssea defence and step up its naval capabilitiesin response to the increasing Chinese pres-ence and influence in the Indian Oceanregion. The Indian defence establishmentwas seen as expressing a sense of urgencyabout speeding up naval procurement andenhanced capabilities.

The annual bilateral exercise held in Janu-ary 2011 off the Goa coast by the Indian andthe French navies, the tenth in the series,was viewed by some in the same contextbecause it had a larger gamut of maritimeoperations, ranging from aircraft carrieroperations, anti-submarine warfare opera-tions to maritime interdiction operationsexercises. This exercise with the participa-tion by France’s carrier strike group led byaircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle includedthe first deployment of the newly-inductedFrench destroyer, FNS Forbin. In fact, thisIndo-French exercise has been progressingwith every phase, and as the official releaseof the Indian Defence Ministry said, “Due toincreasing piracy and maritime terrorism,navies of several countries have been coop-erating with each other to strengthen mar-itime security in the Indian Ocean region.Naval cooperation between India and theFrance epitomises this and is in the long-term interests of both countries.”

Following the terrorist attacks on the USof September 11, 2001, the Indian Navy did awell-publicised escort of US shippingthrough the Straits of Malacca. Its reliefefforts in the wake of the devastating 2004tsunami gave it the further impulse for mar-itime diplomacy. The foreign affairs cell inthe Naval Headquarters was upgraded to afull-fledged Directorate of Foreign Coopera-tion in 2005 to look into aspects of maritimediplomacy as well as help shape exchangeand training programmes. It was evident thatthe Indian Navy was seeking to forge con-structive alliances with the Indian Oceanregion and other extra-regional navies. In2008, the Indian Navy launched the biennialIndian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) inNew Delhi, aimed at maritime cooperationand among the navies of the littoral states ofthe Indian Ocean.

Robert Kaplan calls the Indian Ocean,“the world’s busiest and most importantinterstate,” with 50 per cent of all containertraffic and 70 per cent of all petroleum traf-fic traversing its waters. In his view, the Indi-an Ocean — the world’s third largest body ofwater — already forms centrestage for thechallenges of the 21st century. The IndianOcean, he says, combines the centrality ofIslam with global energy politics and the riseof India and China to reveal a multilayered,multi-polar world. It is this region — withChina and India jockeying for dominance,the United States trying to maintain its

influence, and unstable regimes threateningthe flow of resources — that will be the set-ting for most of the global conflicts in thecoming decades.

In his book Monsoon: The Indian Oceanand The Future of American Power Kaplan,notes, however, that the battle for the IndianOcean will not be like the conflicts of thepast and that China, for instance, would notbe a straightforward foe like the SovietUnion. “The real lesson here is the subtlety ofthe world we’re entering, of which the IndianOcean provides a salient demonstration,”Kaplan adds. “Instead of the hardened mili-tary bases of the Cold War of earlier epochs,there will be dual-use, civilian-military facil-ities where basing arrangements will beimplicit rather than explicit.”

Professor James Holmes of the US ArmyWar College, speaking at the US-China Eco-nomic and Security Review Commission inJune 2007, said that China turning its atten-tion and energies to the seas has become astaple of Western commentary. China wasindeed pursuing sea power — as measuredby the Mahanian indices of commerce, bases,and ships — and was building up a powerfulnavy with dispatch. Securing beachheads inthe Indian Ocean basin was the precursor toa more vigorous future strategy in the region.Even if the Chinese themselves did not referto their strategy as such, he says that the‘string-of-pearls’ concept does help explainChina’s behaviour in the Indian Ocean

BLUE WATER COALITION: India’s alignment with US, Australia and Japan is indicativeof a significant strategic shift

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region. Beijing could leverage its informalstrategic alliances with Myanmar and Pak-istan, to name two countries that have grant-ed basing rights, to counterbalance US pow-er, check India’s rise, and monitor maritimeactivities carried on by these competitors.

He calls the port facility in Gwadar, inwestern Pakistan, as one of Beijing’s best-known “pearls”, with Pakistani officials trum-peting its geostrategic significance. Locatednear the Strait of Hormuz, the new seaportrepresents both an economic gateway and amilitary opportunity for Beijing. In terms ofenergy security, Gwadar could act as a strate-gic hedge, giving Beijing a workaround shouldthe United States blockade the Malacca Strait,since Persian Gulf oil could technically beoffloaded at the port and transported over-land to China. From a military standpoint, hesays, Gwadar offered a useful installation formonitoring commercial and military trafficpassing through the critical chokepoint atHormuz. Over the longer term, if Chinashould develop a navy robust enough to proj-ect credible power into the Indian Ocean, theport would allow Beijing to directly shapeevents in the Persian Gulf. Professor Holmes,however, concludes that Gwadar by no meansrepresents a trump card for China, either inenergy security or in military terms, mainlybecause of the naval might of the US in thatregion, and the likely disinclination of Islam-abad to jeopardise relations with Washingtonfor the sake of cooperation with Beijing.

Another key focus for China is Myanmar,where both its civilian and military person-nel have been engaged in large-scale con-

struction of road and rail transportationbetween the two countries. And then, thereis the deep sea port that China is building atKyauk Phyu in the Rakhine region of westernMyanmar. Myanmar is at the strategic junc-tion between South Asia and Southeast Asia,and shares borders with both the Asiangiants, India and China. Beijing views it as astrategic and economic pivot, as it provides avital outlet to the Indian Ocean for Yunnanand China’s other landlocked, southernprovinces. China has also long fretted aboutthe choke point of the Straits of Malacca,through which the bulk of its imported fuelpasses, being extremely vulnerable to piracyor blockade. Hailed as the “golden bridge offriendship”, the new deal between Myanmarand China takes care of these concerns. Bei-jing has obtained permission, this January,to build and operate a wharf on Myanmar’swest coast to receive tankers coming fromAfrica and the Middle East, and then trans-port their cargo overland, via the China-Bur-

ma dual oil and gas pipeline to southern Chi-na. According to reports, the Kyauk Phyuport will have a depth capable of handlingthe biggest deep-draught container shipsthat currently dock at the world’s largestports, including Shanghai. This port, and theconnected road, rail and pipeline links, in allof which Beijing is investing heavily, consti-tute a key piece in its energy supply chainand a significant asset in its geo-politicalstrategy. For India, all this means the close,active, large-scale and permanent presenceof China right next to us in the Bay of Bengal.

Rear Admiral AK Chawla, in a symposiumon Maritime Security in December 2010,said, “Sri Lanka’s strategic maritime location,in the very lap of the Indian Ocean and at theconfluence of several critical shipping lanesgives it great importance in the maritimeaffairs of not just the Indian Ocean, but glob-ally as well.” Hambantota Port is on Sri Lan-ka’s southern tip, from where further south,across the great waters, the next landfall is

Antarctica itself. It is just a few nautical milesnorth of one of the world’s most importanteast-west shipping route that fuels a largepart of the global economy, and has over36,000 ships passing every year. While ana-lysts see in Hambantota another pearl ofChina’s grand naval design, both the Chineseand the Sri Lankans insist that the port ispurely a civilian one. Given the oil refinery, acontainer facility, an airport, a bunkeringestablishment, ship repairing and othercommercial installments, it does seem so forthe present. However, keeping in mindRobert Kaplan’s edict about a subtle newworld, one should not entirely ignore itslatent and implicit potential. As reported,according to Vice Admiral KN Sushil, FlagOfficer Commanding-in-Chief of India’sSouthern Naval Command, the building ofthe port by China in Sri Lanka would nothamper our security, but what needed to beseen was whether the Chinese continued tosit there even after completion of the port.

It is ironic that both at Hambantota and atKyauk Phyu, India had the original advan-tage that it ceded to China, perhaps owing tolack of strategic forethought. India hadreportedly declined to take on the Hamban-tota port project when it was initially offeredby the Sri Lanka President, MahindaRajapakse, only after which the Chinese wereasked to step in. In the case of Kyauk Phyu, ithas been for many decades a regular port ofcall for steamers in the rice trade betweenMyanmar and Kolkata, and none could haveknown the significance of its location in theBay of Bengal better than India did.

The Hambantota project is part of Sri Lan-ka ambitious plan to become a trading hub atthe heart of the Indian Ocean, and it hasexpressed the hope that there would be large-scale Indian commercial engagement withHambantota, which could absorb up to US$6 billion of investment. In terms of the scaleof assistance and planned projects in Sri Lan-ka, while India may not be too far behindChina, Delhi needs to work on the speedyimplementation of agreed plans. Further, thenew Indian Consulate in Hambantota mustadopt an active agenda so that India, whichmissed the main Hambantota opportunityand left the field open to China, is more pur-poseful and productive this time around.

In a paper published in the Naval War Col-lege Review of Spring 2006, Donald Berlin,Professor in the Asia-Pacific Center for Secu-rity Studies, says that India’s strategic elite, insome ways, regarded the nation as heir to theBritish Raj, whose power and influence in the19th century often extended to the distantshores of the Indian Ocean, the “British Lake”.

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Perhaps, subconsciously, this is also one rea-son why India, for several decades after Inde-pendence, did not pay serious attention towhat was happening in its oceanic neigh-bourhood. While asserting that India wasstrategically located vis-à-vis both continen-tal Asia and the Indian Ocean Region, thesecurity consciousness of Indians tended tobe more land-oriented. The Indian Oceanwas taken for granted under the assumptionthat the country would naturally be able toexercise influence there. However, times havecertainly changed. What has not changed iswhat, KM Pannikar said in the 1940s, “Whileto other countries the Indian Ocean is onlyone of the important oceanic areas, to India itis a vital sea. Her lifelines are concentrated inthat area, her freedom is dependent on thefreedom of that water surface. No industrialdevelopment, no commercial growth, no sta-ble political structure is possible for herunless her shores are protected.”

Indian and Chinese aspirations, and theirquest for energy security, have compelledthe two countries “to redirect their gazesfrom land to the seas,” according to JamesHolmes. In addition, the very fact that theyare focusing on their sea power indicateshow much more self-confident they feel onland. A map of the Indian Ocean, therefore,helps expose the contours of power politics

in the twenty-first century. Kaplan’s cappingview, however, is that precisely because Indiaand China are emphasising their sea power,the job of managing their peaceful rise willfall on the US Navy.

The US Congressional Research Servicehas published a major study in December2010 on ‘China’s Naval Modernisation and itsImplications for US Navy Capabilities’ inwhich there is an opinion by Daniel Kostec-ka, a senior analyst for the US Navy, which isof immediate pertinence to India. He saysthat although China is building commercialport facilities in the Indian Ocean, to date ithas not established any naval bases there.He argues that despite a decade of specula-tion, there appears to be no hard evidence tosuggest that China plans to base warships inBangladesh, Sri Lanka or the Maldives. Infact, all these three nations, given their prox-imity to India, would desire to balance theirrelations between India and China, andwould not permit Chinese military presenceon their soil. While the Chinese are heavilyinvesting in developing infrastructure forimproved access into the Indian Ocean,which in turn is helping it gain politicalinfluence in these countries, Kostecka saysthe extent to which it would translate intobasing arrangements remains to be seen.Recent denials of future Chinese naval bases

in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as thereliance of the Maldives on India for securityassistance, should be taken as clear signsthat such arrangements are further thansome may think. To him, all these three areunlikely “pearls” for the Chinese navy.

In his later paper, ‘The Chinese Navy’sEmerging Support Network in the IndianOcean’, published in the Naval War CollegeReview of Winter 2011, he further elucidatesthis point by saying that as a self-imposedpolicy, China does not base military forces inforeign countries, and Chinese officials talkof this as evidence of their peaceful develop-ment. Chinese officials do not indicate thatBeijing is considering building financiallyand politically costly American-style militarybases, with the attendant infrastructure tosupport thousands of deployed or perma-nently-assigned personnel. However, China’sgrowing global, economic and political inter-ests make Beijing take a more nuanced poli-cy approach to the deployment and employ-ment of military force. They seem to adoptwhat US officials refer to as a “places notbases” strategy, meaning a collection ofplaces for Chinese navy ships to visit for pur-poses of refueling and restocking supplies,but not bases. This type of strategy involvessecuring diplomatic agreements with friend-ly governments that permit access to essen-tial supplies, such as fuel, food and freshwa-ter for deployed forces, and could alsoinvolve reciprocal guarantees of support inareas such as military training, equipment,and education.

In any scenario, India, China and the US,and their interaction with the littoral statesof the Indian Ocean, will be key factors thatwill shape this region in the decades ahead.About three-fourth of India’s trade in valueterms is sea-borne and is critical to its tradeand development. What price will India haveto pay for the ambitions of the other powersin the Indian Ocean in which it has com-pelling interests itself? How should Indiamanage its politico-military, economic andenergy nexus and needs, which are sodependent on the oceans? To what extent areIndia’s ocean diplomacy and strategy cur-rently as fundamental as its land diplomacyand strategy? Are there other opportunitiesthat India risks losing, as in the case of Ham-bantota and Kyauk Phyu? Are there other‘places and bases’ that India should beactively looking at?

(The author, a former Indian Ambassadorto Spain, has worked on multilateral eco-

nomic relations and groupings, South EastAsia and on Indian Ocean-related issues)

STRATEGIC ENCIRCLEMENT: China’s ‘String of Pearls’ aims to extend a significantpresence in India’s backyard

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ENIGMA OF ENGAGEMENTNotionally under a civilian government, Myanmar continues to be controlled by the military.In this situation, India, like the ASEAN nations, should adopt a pragmatic policy of construc-tive engagement, not total solidarity, with Myanmar’s regime in order not to push it furtherinto China’s arc of influence, argues SD MUNI

MYANMAR’S CLAIM to leadthe Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)regional grouping in 2014has been deferred for the

time being. The claim was put forth by thehead of Myanmar’s first elected government,President Thien Sein at the 18th ASEAN sum-mit held in Indonesia on May 7-8, 2011. Theobjective behind this claim is to reinforceinternational acceptance and legitimacy forthe new civilian political order in Myanmarand enhance its engagement with the inter-

national community. This will help in theprocess of ‘national construction’ outlined byPresident Thien Sein in his first address to theelected parliament in April 2011. Myanmarhad first staked its claim to the alphabeticallyrotating chair of the organisation in 2005 butwas then dissuaded by the group for want ofthe military junta’s disapproval by the widerinternational community. ASEAN, China andIndia have been comfortably dealing with thejunta. Laos was instead asked to undertakethe responsibility and Myanmar was per-suaded to democratise in keeping with the

spirit of the group and expectations of itsextra-regional partners. In the order of rota-tion, Myanmar’s turn for leading the groupshould be due in 2015, but it has securedLaos’s acceptance to accommodate its claimsa year earlier in lieu of a year’s advance givento Laos in chairing ASEAN in 2005 by Myan-mar’s then withdrawal of its claims.

ASEAN may not mind being led by Myan-mar but it would examine the extent to whichMyanmar’s newly-elected parliamentary government is committed to the democraticand human rights values and principles of thegroup. Indonesian President Susilo BambangYudhyono, the current ASEAN chair, declaredafter the summit that “in principle, ASEAN’sleaders do not object to the proposal”, butadded, “we hope that Myanmar will continuewith the process since it has caught theworld’s attention”. ASEAN’s final decision inthis respect will be taken after a delegation ledby Indonesia visits Myanmar and reports onthe country’s commitment to move on thepath of democracy. This is a clear move to buysome more time to activate ASEAN diplomacyat three levels: persuade Myanmar to show further democratic credentials; evolve a con-sensus among all the ASEAN members; and,then take the international community onboard. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, the Secretary Gen-eral of ASEAN, was confident that an agree-ment could be reached, provided Myanmarmakes further political progress by 2014. Hefurther added: “We just have to see howthings develop…whatever is achieved; weneed true consultations inside (ASEAN), sothat everybody is happy and confident and

HOLDING ON TO THE REINS: TheJunta’s hold still remains strong

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gthen we will be ready to consult with our dia-logue partners.”

DEMOCRACY DEFICITASEAN endorsed Myanmar’s move towardsdemocracy, according to its own roadmap.However, there are reservations both withinand outside ASEAN on the way this road-map is being implemented. Myanmar has anelected parliament and an elected President,but 25 per cent of the seats in the UpperHouse (224) and the Lower House (440) arereserved for the military. This provision canbe changed but only through a constitution-al amendment, which will require the sup-port of 75 per cent of parliament members.In the elections to the parliament held underthe new constitution in November 2010, themain opposition leader and icon of democ-racy in Myanmar, Nobel Laureate Aung SanSuu Kyi, was not allowed by the junta to con-test and as a result her party, the NationalLeague for Democracy, which is the biggestopposition party, did not participate in theelections. Some smaller parties contestedelections and constitute about 25 per cent ofthe parliamentary strength, but the rest ofthe parliament is composed mostly of themilitary loyalists. Suu Kyi has since beenreleased and she has freedom of speech andmovement but is still finding it difficult toreorganise her supporters. There are about2000 political activists still languishing inmilitary prisons and innocent people aresubjected to forced labour by the state.

The former junta chief General Than Shewretired as the Commander in Chief but gothimself elected to parliament where he close-ly monitors and influences major politicaldevelopments. This is reflected in the elec-tion of his known loyalist, Thien Sein as thePresident. Thien Sien, though bereft of battle-field experience, was promoted as a Generaland to the higher echelons of the previousruling regime, the State Peace and Develop-ment Council (SPDC) by General Than Shew.In 2007 he was made Prime Minister toreplace the then ailing General Soe Win. Forbeing free from the blemish of corruptionand human rights violations like most of theother Generals, Thien Sien is open to foreignassistance and is comparatively more accept-able to the international community. But hisloyalty too, and political dependence on hismentor, General Than Shew is seen as amajor constraint in pushing Myanmar’spolitical liberalisation forward. In his keyaddresses and interviews, he has talked ofnational construction, improving education,health and infrastructure, fighting corrup-tion, modernising the army and promoting

international cooperation. There has, howev-er, been no reference in his speeches to con-structively engage the opposition parties andaccommodating ethnic groups like theKarens and the Shan against which the armycontinues to wage counter-insurgency oper-ations. He has appointed U Myint, a formerprofessor of economics at Rangoon Universi-ty and a close friend of Suu Kyi, as a memberof the presidential advisory board, but thereare no signs of the regime opening a mean-ingful political dialogue with Suu Kyi.

INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUSIn view of the persisting democracy deficit ofthe new Myanmar, there is also a lack ofinternational consensus on accepting Myan-mar as the leader of ASEAN. Some of theoriginal five ASEAN members themselveswant to go slow on this issue and countrieslike Singapore have openly argued thatMyanmar should wait until 2016 to lead thegroup after Malaysia had taken its turn. TheUnited States and the European Unionmembers are opposed to participating inASEAN plus individual ministerial meetingsand summits that are the integral part of theASEAN process if Myanmar is in the chair.

The imperatives of the wider strategicinterests of the United States as well as EUdemand that Myanmar should be engaged tokeep it from drifting completely under theChinese hegemony and also to take advan-tage of its untapped resources. In some ofthese western countries there are exaggerat-ed fears of Myanmar’s collaboration withNorth Korea in its search for nuclear aspira-tions. On the question of Myanmar assum-ing the ASEAN chair, neither the US nor theEU members can afford to distance them-selves from the economically dynamic groupof ASEAN in this age of Asian resurgence. Nowonder that the US and EU had givenunmistakable indications in recent yearsthat engagement with Myanmar is an optionworth pursuing seriously. US President Oba-ma and Secretary Hillary Clinton have cau-tiously pursued this objective while keepingthe pressure of sanctions on Myanmar foropening up its political system. US diplo-mats have been widely interacting withdiverse business, human rights and politicalgroups in Myanmar in this respect. The visitof the UN Special Envoy to Myanmar in May2011 is a clear pointer towards the interna-tional community’s desire to engage with

June 2011

STRUGGLING TO TRANSFORM: India wants democratic reforms in Myanmar


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Myanmar and push it towards democratisa-tion. But the US, on the lines of the UK,insists on accommodation and engagementof Suu Kyi by the new Myanmar regime.

The European Union has often remaineddivided in its Myanmar approach. Germanyhas carried on substantial trade, includinghi-tech products, (emerging as the largestEU trading partner) with Myanmar to whicheven the US State Department had takenexception to in 2009. The French oil major,Total, is exempted from the EU sanctionsregime against Myanmar. In fact, the EUsanctions regime does not put a ‘blanketban’ on trade but applies only to specific sec-tors like those of gems, timber, arms andtravel ban on specific political figures of thejunta regime. Austrian Ambassador to Myan-mar Dr. Johannes Peterlik organised the visitof a delegation of more than 20 Europeancompanies in April 2011, for ‘economic fact-finding’. In April, EU relaxed some of itssanctions with regard to travel restrictionsand asset freeze on four ministers and 18vice-ministers of the new Myanmar regime.This was described as a move “to encourageand respond to improvements in governanceand progress in the hope that a greater civil-ian character of the government will help in

developing much-needed policies”. Therewere indications again in May 2011 by theEU to the Myanmar Federation of Chambersof Commerce and Industry that sanctionswould be relaxed further.

Such activities are encouraged by the newregime as also some of the opposition partiesin the new parliament like the NationalDemocratic Force. These parties draw theirsupport from small and medium businessesin Myanmar which have been adverselyaffected by the sanctions. The NLD of SuuKyi, on the other hand, holds to the positionthat the sanctions have only affected the for-mer junta regime and its leaders and, there-fore, continues to plead for keeping them inplace to force the new regime towardsaccommodation with the opposition. In fact,the junta regime, since 2007, had been prob-ing Suu Kyi to help them in getting the sanc-tions relaxed. They expected that her releasesoon after the elections in November 2010would make a positive impact in this respect,but in vain. The opposition to the softeningof the sanctions comes from influential EUmembers like the United Kingdom as theyhave linked their Myanmar policy to thepolitical fate of Suu Kyi.

INDIA’S INTERESTSAn authoritarian and insular regime inMyanmar admirably served China’s interests.China does not seem to prefer an open dem-ocratic system on its periphery. The newregime for China is a continuation of the jun-ta in many respects and accordingly it wouldlike this regime to gain legitimacy and inter-national support. Jia Qinglin, member of thePolitburo Standing Committee of the Chi-nese Communist Party, said in April 2011;“We urge the international community totake advantage of the inauguration of newadministration to encourage the nation’smoves towards democracy.”

For India however, a vibrant democracy inan internationally engaged Myanmar willserve its best interests. India had to makecompromise on democracy in Myanmar in1992 under the compulsions of its securityinterests. India should therefore exercisewhatever goodwill and influence it has inMyanmar to help it move towards a demo-cratic order, not only in form but also in sub-stance. It is also in India’s long-term interestthat Myanmar is meaningfully engaged notonly with ASEAN but also with the widerinternational community. That is why Indiaencouraged Myanmar to join SAARC as anobserver and Bay of Bengal Initiative forMultiSectoral Technical and EconomicCooperation (BIMSTEC) as a member. India

on its own, and also in collaboration withASEAN, works for reinforcing democraticdynamics in Myanmar and for lifting of theUS and EU sanctions on it to facilitate thiswider international engagement.

Through its bilateral cooperation, Indiahas built its stakes in Myanmar, but Indiandiplomacy on its own cannot deal with anassertive and rising China in Myanmar. Indiais substantially involved in helping Myanmarbuild both its economic and defence capa-bilities but this bilateral cooperation cannotbe sustained on a long-term and mutually -beneficial basis unless it is integrated withthe overall development of India’s northeast-ern region. In that region, India’s securityconsiderations and fears of China swampingboth economically and militarily, in theremote eventuality of aggressive push toback up its territorial claims in ArunachalPradesh, weigh heavily on India’s develop-mental projects. India senses Myanmar’suneasiness in its heavy economic depend-ence and strategic proximity with China, butis not in a position to meet the Chinese chal-lenge satisfactorily. This provides additionalreason for India to support Myanmar’sgreater engagement with ASEAN and theinternational community, bundling it gentlytowards democratic consolidation.

Unlike the US and the UK, India is acutelyaware of the complexity of democratic chal-lenge in Myanmar, which is intricately linkedto its ethnic conflict. The divide between theethnic groups and the democratic forces hasalways been exploited by Myanmar’s militaryleaders. Unless this divide is bridged througha viable federal formula acceptable to boththe democratic forces and the ethnic groups,prospects of real and stable democracy inMyanmar will remain dim. India needs toavoid any direct and offensive involvement inthe conflict between the state and the ethnicgroups and instead persuade the democraticforces and the ethnic groups to draw closer toeach other. Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal for asecond Panglong dialogue and agreementdeserve careful consideration by all con-cerned. In 1947, the first Panglong accordbetween the Burmans and the ethnic groupshad laid the parameters of federal devolutionof power. India and ASEAN must join handsin impressing upon the new regime and allinternal stake-holders that rebuilding thenational consensus on ethnic issue will serveevery ones interests on a lasting basis.

(A noted academician and former IndianAmbassador to Laos, the author is Visiting

Research Professor at Institute of SouthAsian Studies, Singapore)



ON 1 June,1989 PresidentP r e m a d a s amade a d r a m a t i ca n n o u n c e -ment. He said,within a day ortwo he wouldrequest PrimeMinister RajivGandhi towithdraw Indi-an Peace-Keeping Force(IPKF) by Julyend. It was hisdesire, he said,that the last

Indian soldier should be out of Sri Lanka bythen.

The IPKF had come to his country at therequest of his predecessor, Mr. Jayewardeneand that it had made sacrifices in its effortsto help it. However, he went on to say rathersarcastically that IPKF could help Sri Lankafurther by simply going away!

The President was aware that the nation-al sentiment at that time generally was withhim on this point including the militantvoices of the Janata Vimukthi Perarnunacomprising the Sinhala ultras and the Liber-ation Tigers of Tamil “Eelam” who weredead opposed to the continued presence ofIPKF in the country. For maximum impact,he chose the religious ceremony at Battar-mulla to ask the Indian Peace-KeepingForce to quit his country.

While calling on the IPKF to leave, hecautioned his people to do nothing that

would obstruct thereturn of the IPKF toIndia within the nexteight weeks. In makingthat announcement, thePresident of Sri Lankahad taken no note ofIndia’s sensitivities in thematter. In New Delhi’seyes, he stood in breachof diplomatic horns andcourtesies on a matter ofmutual concern, espe-cially because the IPKFwas inducted into SriLanka with reference toIndia’s obligations undera bilateral agreement,the 1987 Accord.

The question of deinduction of IPKF hadbeen a subject of discussion between thetwo governments and India was alreadycommitted to it. Sri Lanka’s President knewthat well. The Government of India haddrawn up a schedule for IPKF’s deinductionby the year end and shared it with the SriLankan government. Only recently India’sExternal Affairs Minister, Shri NarasimhaRao, had invited his Sri Lankan counterpart,Ranjan Wijeratne to New Delhi to discussthe schedule further.

There was, therefore, no scope for the SriLankan leader to issue a public “ultimatum”for the IPKF to be withdrawn from the countrywithin eight weeks as he had done. The Presi-dent was aware no doubt of all the facts of thecase but he had chosen to act at Battaramullain his own style. He was quite unpredictableby nature. He was also prone to take risks andoften played for high stakes. That is what he

had done in the instant case, too.As I reported the statement to the Indian

Foreign office, I was promptly advised tomeet the Sri Lankan Head of State as soon aspossible and impress upon him the risks ofpublic diplomacy and the advantages on thecontrary of realising his objective by mutualconsultation. I was asked to remind him ofNarasimha Rao’s invitation to Ranjan Wijer-atne and inform him that it was still on thetable. I conveyed the reaction of the IndianGovernment to President Premadasa. Inreply he explained his compulsions to merather than express any regrets or alter hiscourse. He said he desperately wanted tobring the JVP to the negotiating table likethe LTTE with whom the first phase of nego-tiations had already concluded.

The former were still not heeding his callfor peaceful negotiations but, on the con-trary, had enlarged their operations which

IPKF QUIT SRI LANKA

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My Days in Sri Lanka by Lakhan Mehrotra is a recollection of an Indian Ambassador’s life inColombo at the height of the strife in the island nation. Some excerpts from a rivetingaccount of the Indian Army’s exit from that country

THORNY SETTLEMENT: Rajiv Gandhi and J R Jayawardenesigning the Indo-Lankan Peace Accord (1987)

Author- Lakhan Mehrotra

Har Anand Publishers,

Pages-254, Price-`595

Year of Publication-2011

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had spread from the south to the north-central and north-western parts of thecountry. The President added that of latethe JVP had claimed some success in theNortheast as well, an area under IPKF’sjurisdiction, and something drastic had tobe done to bring them around. JVP’s keydemand which they had been making per-sistently and most forcefully was for IPKF’swithdrawal and if he responded positivelyto it and publicly, they would perhaps movefrom brutal violence, which had been theirwont, to talks. Hence his Battarmulla state-ment, explained the President.

I told President Premadasa that hisattempt to mollify JVP at the cost of IPKFand his announcement for it to withdrawbefore July end were not acceptable toIndia. I said it was particularly so since heknew that the Government of India hadalready drawn up the schedule for its dein-duction by the year end and his ForeignMinister had been duly invited to New Del-hi for further discussions in the matter. Hesaid what had prompted him to make hisannouncement was the death of a seniorpolice officer at JVP’s hands in the heart ofColombo just the previous day and the factthat the van carrying the advance guard ofPrime Minister Wijetunge had been held upon its way north of Colombo by a crowd ofpro-JVP students and its contents looted.

He also read out to me the threat issuedby the JVP Chief to the “Indian imperialistsin Sri Lanka and those who had businessconnections with India”. The latter had beenadvised in the strongest possible terms tosever every connection with India by June14. The JVP Chairman had referred to thatdemand as a JVP “order” as though he washeading a government. I asked the Presidentabout his reaction to that “order.” Iremarked that it was rather curious that thePresident followed up on his Battaramullaannouncement with a letter to Prime Minis-ter Rajiv Gandhi on second of June, true tohis public promise. The letter was deliveredby Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary BernardTilakrarne to the Prime Minister in New Delhi as his Special Envoy after the exampleof SK Singh, India’s Foreign Secretary whohad delivered a communication personallyto the Sri Lankan President a month ago asPrime Minister’s Special Envoy.

The President’s letter set out the date forIPKF’s withdrawal as 29 July and requestedthe Prime Minister to have the IPKF carrythat out. In reply the Prime Minister told theSpecial Envoy that the Sri Lankan Presidenthad unilaterally decided to end IPKF’s mis-sion in Sri Lanka in less than eight weeks of

his public announcement; that India hadnot been consulted about it beforehand andthat he was not a party to the President’sdecision. Prime Minister’s verbal remarksimplied that the Government of India wasunder no obligation to go by it. Prime Min-ister Rajiv Gandhi left the matter at that,instead of replying formally to the Presi-dent’s letter.

Lack of a formal response from himcaused the President serious loss of faceand great anguish. The fear in Sri Lanka was

that the Prime Minister might not write tothe President at all in response to his letter.The President realised that he could notexecute his decision for the IPKF to with-draw as he wanted without India’s coopera-tion. He had put himself in a bind and hispolitical adversaries at home were delightedat his predicament while regretting the set-back his actions had caused to Indo-Sri

Lankan relations.In an attempt to resolve the logjam, I

decided to meet Sirisena Cooray, a senioradviser to the President. He used to be Minis-ter of Housing and Construction in PresidentPremadasa’s Cabinet earlier and had the rep-utation of being his close confidant. He car-ried his office on his palm having no axe togrind and was not given to emotions. In aworld thick with opportunists he was knownto be a man of principle. He was also one ofthose in the President’s cabinet who hadstood for maintaining a strong link withIndia, but without turning a rebel against himunlike his colleague Gamini Dissanayake.

I met Cooray on 11 June. The sagaciouspolitician asked me about Rajiv Gandhi’sreaction to President Premadasa’s Battar-mulla statement and to his letter of 2 June. Itold him frankly that they had embarrassedthe Prime Minister in the extreme andembittered a good relationship. I said thatthe Prime Minister had been looking for-ward to the new President of Sri Lanka sus-taining traditionally good ties with Indiaand to a further flowering of Indo-SriLankan relations. Instead, the new Presi-dent had administered him a shock, goingoff at a tangent on the most crucial issueaffecting those relations at the moment.

Lakhan Mehrotra, a career Foreign Ser-vice Officer, was India’s Ambassador in SriLanka from April 1989 to June 1990.

(Excerpted with permission of the publisher)

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‘PREMADASAWAS QUITE

UNPREDICTABLEAND WAS PRONE

TO TAKE RISKSFOR HIGHSTAKES’

flickr.com

UNWELCOME PEACEKEEPERS: Indian troops waiting to board a Mi-8 equipped withrocket pods for an assault mission in Jaffna

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We all know why Pakistan wantsAfghanistan to provide it the so-calledstrategic depth against its “eternal ene-my”, India. However, we overlook howPakistan is offering itself as the strategic

depth of China vis-à-vis India and the West. It is literallybegging Beijing to use Pakistani territory and assets.

Of course, letting its territory has been Pakistan’s biggestsource of income over the years. If it gets generous militaryand economic assistance worth billions of dollars from theUnited States, it is because it permitted the Americans touse Pakistani land and air for war-efforts against, first thethen Soviet Union, and now Islamic terrorismin Afghanistan. But with the US worrying, oflate, over Pakistan’s duplicity in fighting theTaliban and al-Qaeda and threatening to cutoff aid to Islamabad, Pakistan is turning toits “all-weather” friend, China.

As it is, China, the main source behindPakistan’s rising missile power and nucleararsenals, has already emerged as a majorsupplier of conventional arms. Over 40 percent of China’s arms exports are destined for Pakistan.China has jointly developed the JF-17 Thunder (known asFC-1 Fierce Dragon in China) multi-role fighter planewith Pakistan. China has been selling weapons systemssuch as the Chengdu J-10 fighter planes and Zulfiquarclass F-22P frigates. Bilateral security cooperation hasalso extended to include the training of Pakistani defencepersonnel, the sharing of military intelligence, and theholding of joint military and counterterrorist exercises.

In fact, it is through Pakistan that China, the best in thereverse-engineering business, gains access to the Ameri-can military systems. The manner in which the news wasregulated on the “Shaheen 1,” the joint exercises betweenthe Pakistani Air Force (PAF) and the People’s LiberationArmy Air Force (PLAAF) in March, underscored this point.The Americans were concerned that the PAF may havedeployed its fleet of advanced US-built F-16 Fighting Fal-cons alongside PLAAF combat aircraft. In addition topotentially exposing sensitive US technology to Beijing,the PLAAF could also gain great insights into the operat-ing performance of the aircraft in relation to its own. ThePAF currently boasts a fleet of 63 F-16s of different vari-ants (45 A/Bs and 18 C/Ds) in its inventory and is negoti-ating to get more.

There have been even speculations that Pakistan seri-ously considered allowing China to access remnants of asecret US stealth helicopter, Black Hawk, which wentdown during the raid against bin Laden in Abbottabad,thus allowing Beijing a firsthand look into the lateststealth technology employed by the US military. Eventual-ly it did not happen as the Americans were very particularin taking back the remnants of the helicopter.

Be that as it may, Pakistan has been wooing China inmany other ways. Chinese firms are now well entrenched

in Pakistan’s strategic sectors, especially in the energy,infrastructure, heavy engineering, information technolo-gy, mining and defence industries sectors. Pakistan haspersuaded China to see it as a key energy and trade con-duit linking China with Central Asia and West Asia. TheChinese have undertaken a major effort to develop a“National Trade Corridor” consisting of thousands ofmiles of modern railroads and highways, including theKarakoram Highway, which connects the two countriesvia the Khunjrab Pass. They also built the deepwater portat Gwadar, on Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast, where Islam-abad has now “invited” them to install a naval base.

The invitation followed Pakistani PrimeMinister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s four-day visit toChina, which commenced on May 17 (thethird series of meetings between Gilani andChinese leaders in less than 17 months,exemplifying the extent to which Islamabadcounts on Beijing for support). Upon Gilani’sreturn, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Chaud-hary Ahmed Mukhtar told the press that dur-ing the visit, “We have asked our Chinese

brothers to please build a naval base at Gwadar.” If estab-lished, the facility would represent China’s first overseasmilitary base and would support Chinese naval opera-tions throughout the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Having a naval base at Gwadar could assist withreplenishment, refueling and other logistical support tothe PLA Navy, which, since 2008, has been present in theGulf of Aden region to guard its ever-increasing commer-cial shipping fleets. Possessing an overseas naval basenear Central Asia, West Asia and Africa could also assistChina to project military power and sustain forward mil-itary operations in other military contingencies in aregion from which it imports much of its oil, natural gasand other raw materials.

As it is, given its expanding maritime interests, China israpidly expanding and modernising its Navy, both tech-nologically and manpower-wise. It is recruiting highlyeducated and talented personnel to operate its impressivearray of new weapon systems. Xia Ping, head of the NavyPersonnel Department, has stated recently that the PLANavy is seeking to recruit more than 2,000 Ph.D. degreeholders in the next five years. The idea is to ensure that theNavy has highly educated officers “to develop a commandof informationisation, system warfare and to raise theNavy’s capabilities to conduct informationised warfare”.

Viewed thus, Pakistan’s design to let its territory fordeveloping a Chinese naval base has significant geopoliti-cal implications. So far, China does not have a militarybase outside its own territory. Now, if China, on Pakistan’srequest, reverses its “no foreign bases” doctrine for years,India has to ponder over a counter-strategy.

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