Group Captain Murli Menon (retd)

Defence analyst

THE historical backdrop to India’s penchant for theaterisation goes back to the 1999 Kargil war and the two committees that followed — headed by K Subrahmanyam and Naresh Chandra — which made a slew of recommendations to the government regarding higher defence management. The creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was prime among those recommendations and the incumbent can be seen at work now, the latest salvo being the Integrated Maritime Theatre study by the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) that is due for submission shortly. This study supposedly recommends the creation of the Maritime Theatre Command (MTC), earlier referred to as the Peninsular Theatre Command. Be that as it may, the ongoing border stand-off with China threatens to reinforce India’s land-oriented war focus.

There is no gainsaying the fact that like the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) diktats, India’s defence planning for the coming years needs to factor in our country’s strategic location and world view, given how we are seen as a virtual fulcrum power between the Mediterranean and South China seas, enhancing the critical need to keep the Sea Lines of Communication open during peace and war. The creation of an Integrated Maritime Command could be seen in this light, also giving much-needed fillip to India’s expected emergence as a viable maritime entity. In order to be able to effect the desired power projection matrix in the region as also to maintain good relations with other seafaring nations such as Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, a strong maritime organisation is inescapable. There’s also a need to coordinate our strategic posture meaningfully with other littoral states such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Madagascar, Iran and Oman. It is thus high time India asserted itself as a maritime power.

Presently, we have seven commands each in the Army and the Air Force and three regional commands in the Navy. Besides, we have the integrated CDS, Strategic Forces Command and Andaman & Nicobar Integrated Command already functional. It is understood that the agenda for the CDS is to reorganise the existing single service commands into five integrated commands for enhanced operational and functional efficiency. The Indian Armed Forces Joint Doctrine Manual came out in 2017; it talks about theaterisation of the military, including the creation of the then Peninsular Theatre Command and now the MTC, an Air Defence Command under the IAF’s aegis and three Army Theatre Commands — west, north and east — to deal with the threat from Pakistan and China. The MTC, whose implementation is expected as early as 2022 once the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) gives its approval, would address the overall maritime threat. Organisationally, no additional liabilities of posts or ranks are expected, the structure itself being culled from the existing command structures of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The Navy, of course, would see the churning first, with the proposed merger of its Western and Eastern Commands. As per the VCNS study’s recommendation, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) would apparently lose his importance to a Maritime Theatre Commander to whom the Western and Eastern Naval C-in-Cs would report. The CNS’s role is expected to be reduced to ‘raising, training and sustaining’ the Navy.

The reported naval proposals have understandably created a flutter among the traditionalists in all the three services. The ‘extremists’ feel that the move for theaterisation is akin to ‘fixing what ain’t broke’. After all, the Indian armed forces have done well in all wars so far with the existing system, they aver. Integrated war-fighting could well be made a reality through mandatory tri-service postings and service courses, they further argue. But the KRC’s and Naresh Chandra Committee’s viewpoint about the need for ‘integrating and restructuring the security ecosystem’ has validity too.

India has a need to retain its influence in its defined strategic space, which includes the ability for overseas deployment of the military for political intervention or evacuation of its citizens. Some of this capability was demonstrated recently in the evacuations necessitated from Sri Lanka, Maldives and the Middle East during the Covid-19 crisis. However, care should be exercised to ensure that we do not attempt to overhaul a working system unnecessarily, bringing in change for the sake of change. Integrated commands for special forces, space and logistics may be more urgent in terms of achieving effective integrated war-fighting in the subcontinental context. Theaterisation could perhaps wait a few years, and be done in a phased manner. Merely articulating a joint doctrine does not mean we are ready to put aside years of inter-service rivalry and single service operating peculiarities. The IAF was the first to express reservations on the proposed theaterisation, for fear of its valuable air power assets being parcelled out to different new entities, at times also headed by a non-specialist C-in-C. Now, it does take a while for any nation to make such drastic changes in its war-fighting philosophy and so also we should take our time evolving into an Integrated Defence Force such as that of Israel or Japan.

Integration of the Ministry of Defence and the service headquarters, integration of defence manufacturing, integration of tri-service logistics, communications and procurements are other low-hanging fruit the government could target initially. Given the volatile security situation in our neighbourhood, we do not have the luxury of ambling through an organisational change such as theaterisation, compromising war-fighting efficacy ad interim. Therefore, much more of war-gaming, think tank inputs and hands-on experience through international exercises would be called for before the Indian military treads the path of new-fangled concepts such as Theatre Commands.

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, December 21

Women in villages are organising special rallies to exhort people to join the batches scheduled to leave for Delhi on December 26 and 27. Enthusiasm in women to participate in the protest against the Central farm laws is more than their male counterparts. More and more women are committing themselves to leave for the national capital.

“My mother-in-law and husband are at the Tikri border. Now I am also planning to join them on December 26. My daughter-in-law and son would take care of our house,” said Satwant Kaur (50) from Balian village during a rally to mobilise support for the protest and to pay homage to farmers who lost lives during the protest.

Will outnumber men

The participation of women has gone up. They are coming out in large numbers to drum up support for the protest. We hope on December 26-27, they would outnumber men in joining the march to Delhi. — Gurlabh Singh Mahal, activist

With essential commodities no more a concern, as these are being provided by various NGOs, the focus of women is now on joining their family members in huge numbers in Delhi on December 26 and December 27. Before November 26, women were conducting marches across villages to collect ration for the protest, but now it’s all about ensuring maximum participation.

“My husband has been at the Tikri border since the protest began. He has been sharing the feedback about the strength of the protest with us daily. Sometimes he predicts a long battle, but sometimes he says the victory is not away as the Central Government keeps changing stance,” said Jagir Kaur, a Thalesa village resident.

Some have their own “compelling” reasons to delay their march to the national capital. “Our buffalo has delivered a male calf two days ago and now both are fine. I would leave for Delhi on December 26 to join the protest with my husband, who is already there. My father-in-law will stay at home while my daughter and son are also here,” said Gurbhajan Kaur, another woman.

As part of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) plans, on December 20, homage was paid to deceased farmers. From December 21 to 23, memorial processions will be organised in villages. After village-level tributes to “martyrs”, block-level tributes will be paid on December 24 and. Around 30,000 more state residents are expected join the protest at Delhi on December 26-27.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 21

Former senior IAS officers of Punjab have extended their support to the agitation by farmers, and appealed to the Centre to withdraw the three agriculture laws.

In a meeting held today, at least 18 former IAS officers, including former Chief Secretaries, discussed the impact of the farm laws. They praised the unity maintained by the farm unions and the peaceful protest being organised at the borders of Delhi.

The retired officers also paid their homage to the 38 farmers who lost their lives during the protest and urged the Punjab Government to grant monetary compensation to the families of the victims. They also expressed their concern that in the event of withdrawal of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and government purchase of foodgrains, as is feared after the enactment of the laws, the already debt-stressed farming sector would be pushed to economic decline.

Those present in the meeting included Swaran Singh Boparai, MS Chahal, Ramesh Inder Singh, KS Sidhu, JR Kundal, Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Iqbal Singh Sidhu, TR Singal, Kulbir Singh, SK Sandhu, SR Ladhar, JK Singh, Shivdular Singh Dhillon, Karamjit Singh Sra and Harkesh Singh Sidhu.

Chandigarh, December 21 

Punjab Police on Monday said it seized 11 hand grenades, suspected to have been dropped by a drone flying in from Pakistan, from a field near the International Border (IB) in Gurdaspur district.

The consignment was found in a field in Salach village, located about 1 km from the border, in Gurdaspur district, Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Rajinder Singh Sohal told PTI over the phone.

The grenades were hidden in a box and it was attached to a wooden frame, he said, adding the recovery was made Sunday evening.

Sohal said the Border Security Force had seen the movement of a drone on the intervening night of December 19 and 20 and had even fired at it.

“We conducted a search operation with the BSF personnel on Sunday and recovered grenades,” he said.

The first incident of dropping arms and weapons through drones from Pakistan came to light in Punjab in August 2019 when police recovered AK-47 rifles, magazines and rounds of ammunition, hand grenades, fake currency and other items in Tarn Taran district. Since then there have been several instances when security forces seized arms and ammunition dropped by drones flying in from across the Pakistani border. PTI

Beijing, December 21

China on Monday defended the ongoing joint exercises of its air force with that of Pakistan, saying the drills were not directed against any third country and India should view them objectively.

The Air Forces of China and Pakistan are holding their annual exercises “Shaheen (Eagle)-IX” since the second week of December in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province.

The exercises followed the recent visit of China’s Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe to Pakistan during which the all-weather allies signed a new memorandum of understanding, details of which were not disclosed.

Asked whether the exercises between the two air forces were aimed at conveying a message to New Delhi, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here that drills were part of “routine arrangement”.

“As all-weather Strategic Cooperation Partners, China and Pakistan have friendly exchanges and cooperation in many areas including politics, economy, military, and security,” he said.

“We are committed to jointly upholding regional peace and stability. The relevant cooperation is a routine arrangement between the two militaries,” he said.

“It is not targeting any third party. We hope that (the) relevant party can view this in an objective manner,” Wang said, without directly naming India.

The joint air force exercises, which will conclude in late December, is a project within the 2020 cooperation plan of the two militaries, the Chinese military said earlier.

The drills will promote the development of China-Pakistan “mil-to-mil” relationships, deepen practical cooperation between the two air forces, and improve the actual-combat training level of the two sides, it said.

Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday visited an airbase to witness the joint drills and emphasised combat readiness and improved interoperability with China.

All weather friends, China and Pakistan share close military ties with Beijing emerging as a major weapons provider to Pakistan in recent years.

China also helps Pakistan to jointly produce JF-17 fighter jets which were recently upgraded with the new Block-3 version.

The exercises are being held in the midst of an eight-month-long military standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. — PTI

Lt Gen Gyan Bhushan (retd)

Former South Western Army Commander

Defence pension is once again in the media glare. A false narrative is being created that it has grown astronomically in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as compared to other ministries. This narrative, different from the ground reality, is causing great concern to serving soldiers and the veteran fraternity.

Pensionary benefits for the armed forces personnel are far less than other government employees as soldiers retire at the prime of their youth, resulting in shorter spans of service for pension. Their counterparts, in contrast, have much longer lengths of service for pension. This is also attributed to the special privilege of non-functional grade and assured career progression, resulting in much higher pension than soldiers. The fact is that the military receives the lowest per capita pension amongst all government functionaries.

The total number of pensioners was 51.96 lakh as on January 1, 2014, as per the data from the Seventh Pay Commission report — 33.36 lakh civil pensioners and 18.6 lakh defence ones. The real concern is the pension of other government employees and not the armed forces. Civil servants serve up to 60 years and comparatively attain higher positions than most soldiers and more attractive pay package. The narrative about soldiers emptying the coffers needs to be challenged with facts and figures, not hearsay.

Another revealing fact is that more than a third of the defence pension allocated in the MoD caters to over half a million civil defence employees. The remaining two-thirds is for the military.

This raises another pertinent issue of a compelling need to have half a million other government employees in the MoD to maintain 1.3 million military personnel. The subject of teeth to tail ratio only focuses on the reduction of uniformed personnel and there is never a discussion on cutting down this flab in the MoD. Whenever this issue is raised, it is overlooked because of obstacles and protests by the unions concerned.

The government is faced with an increased pension burden for the retired defence forces personnel who are still in their prime of youth and have always exhibited a will to sacrifice their youth for the motherland and have no platform to voice their concerns. Rehabilitating these trained young personnel who are too young to take total retirement from all work is the responsibility of the government to keep them motivated. Keeping the armed forces young is essential for national security and defence services have an important role to play in this but it is not the sole responsibility of the armed forces to maintain a young profile as also to keep the pension budget under control.

It is important to remember that recommendations of the parliamentary committee and various pay commissions regarding the absorption of armed forces personnel after their military service into various government organisations where their unique skills, training and discipline can be optimally used, have been mostly ignored by successive governments, mainly on account of bureaucratic hurdles and sustained obstructions in the ministries.

The straight response for the reduction in pension expenditure is to implement recommendations of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Pay Commissions, AV Singh Committee and Koshyari Committee for the lateral shift of young, trained and disciplined manpower proceeding on pension from our defence forces to other organisations and expand the concept of short service commission by making it more attractive, another viable proposal pending with the government for a long time.

Outside the borders of India, armed forces personnel, after their military engagement, are absorbed in civil government organisations, including the police in many countries. These include China and other advanced economies like South Korea, Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, and the United States. The Sixth Pay Commission has also recommended that there is adequate potential to allow lateral shift of nearly all defence forces personnel to the CAPFs and various cadres of defence civilians.

There is need to find ingenious and practical ways of addressing the issue of defence pension at a national level rather than aiming for resolution at departmental levels by the defence services within their own means.

Since increasing defence pension is a cause of concern, armed forces have been contemplating ways to optimise engagement of its personnel by increasing the number of years they serve. Measures like the feasibility of increasing the retirement age of soldiers are under consideration. A change in the age or manpower profile, though definitely possible to some extent, will have a direct impact on national security. Therefore, there is need for a resolution of this challenge at the national level for a long-term solution rather than only the three services addressing this challenge at the departmental level.

Over a period of time, the Defence Budget has gradually reduced in terms of percentage of GDP despite facing two hostile nuclear neighbours with whom we have unsettled border issues and they are always endeavouring to create new challenges for us. It has sunk to just about two per cent which is lowest amongst contemporary countries. This low allocation results in an unrealistic allocation for capital expenses. This has resulted in resorting to emergency purchases in times of crisis for our essential weapon and equipment whenever there has been a major terror attack or border clash. Keeping in view the threat perception and security challenges, recommended expenditure of a minimum three per cent of GDP on defence is essential and with that allocation, apparently things fall in place.

The figures about budgetary allocation for pension which are in the public domain indicate that the growth for both defence personnel and other government employees have shown an almost similar growth in the last decade. Therefore, the need for concern should not be restricted to military pension.

Pension for the military will reduce considerably if recommendations of the pay commissions and other committees about the lateral shift of soldiers retiring in their prime youth to other organisations and making the short service commission more attractive are implemented.