India Upgrades Its Military With China in Mind!

By NIRMALA GEORGE Associated Press 

India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France, taken delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia and prepared for its first aircraft carrier in recent weeks as it modernizes its military to match China's.


The documentary discusses how Indian economy compares to Chinese economy and the challenges faced by Indian economy in the years ahead. The documentary is in Hindi.

India and China have had tensions since a 1962 border war, and New Delhi has watched with dismay in recent years as Beijing has increased its influence in the Indian Ocean.

China has financed the development of ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and its recent effort to get access in the Seychelles prodded New Delhi to renew its own outreach to the Indian Ocean island state off western India.

With its recent purchases, running into tens of billions of dollars, India is finally working to counter what it sees as aggressive incursions into a region India has long dominated.

"The Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean," James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee last week.

India has created new infantry mountain divisions and plans to raise a strike corps aimed at countering aggression by China. Their border still has not been set despite 15 rounds of talks, and patrols frequently face off on the ground.

APFILE- In this March 29, 2011 file photo... View Full Caption

Analysts say that although the probability of a conflict between the two Asian giants is remote, a short, sharp conflict in the disputed Himalayan heights can't be ruled out.

"Over the last couple of years, the Chinese have been acting more and more aggressively in the political, diplomatic and military arena," said retired Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal, director of the Indian army-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi.

Indian leaders and defense strategists have fretted as China modernized its forces and extended its military advantage over India. For some in India, countering China is taking precedence even over checking longtime rival Pakistan.

"Of late, there has been a realization (in India) that China is the real danger of the future," Kanwal said.

But Zhao Gancheng, an South Asian expert from the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Studies, said India's reasons for building up its military go well beyond China.

"Of course, India takes a cautious attitude against China due to some unsettled historical issues. But I still believe India's fundamental goal of developing the military ability is to become a globally big country," Zhao said. "Next, it wants to make certain preparation for so-called potential threats coming from China and other countries."

From China's perspective, India's military buildup is "not a main factor" in its defense plans, Zhao said. "Not many people in China regard India as a threat and China has no intention to take part in a military contest with India," he said.



The drive to modernize Indian forces was long overdue as much of the equipment was obselete Soviet-era weapons, and the orders for fighter jets, naval frigates, helicopters and armaments have made India the world's largest importer of arms. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9 percent of all the world's weapon imports in 2010, the latest year for which figures were available.

Last week's order of 126 combat aircraft, won by France's Dassault, followed a bitter battle by global jet manufacturers. The initial cost for the fighter jets is estimated as $11 billion, but on-board weaponry, technology transfers, maintenance, warranties and other costs are expected to almost double the price.

The Indian navy last week took command of a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine, renamed INS Chakra-II, at the Russian port of Vladivostok, propelling India into an elite group of countries operating underwater nuclear-powered vessels. It joins the United States, France, Russia, Britain and China.

The Chakra-II, on lease for 10 years at a cost of nearly $1 billion, is expected to be inducted into the navy by March. Later this year, India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier.

In addition, six Scorpene subs being built in India under license from France in a $5 billion deal are expected to start going into service in 2015, three years behind schedule, said Defense Minister A.K. Antony. Labor problems and difficulties procuring needed technology have hampered the project, he told the Indian Parliament recently. Critics also blame India's sluggish bureaucracy for the delays.

"India's efforts at modernizing its forces have been very slow," said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a defense analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

Some Indian military experts complain that the country is not doing enough to upgrade its forces to the level befitting the regional power it aspires to be.

APFILE- In this Feb. 9, 2009 file photo, an... View Full Caption

 

"It's not only China that is rising. India is on the ascent too, and it's a trend that will continue for some decades," said retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak at the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.

India may be worrying over China's overtures to its neighbors, but New Delhi is reaching out to the Southeast Asian and East Asian countries in Beijing's backyard as well.

India has struck a strategic partnership with Vietnam, including helping Hanoi beef up its defense capabilities. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been actively pursuing a "Look East" policy, engaging the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, among others. The policy has resulted in a troupe of high-level visits to India, bolstering trade and economic cooperation.

Nowhere is the contest between China and India more evident than in Myanmar, where both of the energy-seeking Asian giants are caught in a race to gain access to the country's natural gas sources.

India has regularly conducted defense exercises with countries in the region. It is scheduled to host the navies of 14 Asian countries in maritime exercises later this week; the Chinese and Pakistani navies have not been invited.

And, while India is increasing its defense capabilities, China is doing the same, but faster, making it difficult for India to catch up. The Chinese government's military budget is the second largest in the world after the United States.

India has raised two mountain divisions of soldiers to add to its existing high-altitude troops. Around 36,000 soldiers and officers of the divisions have been posted in the remote northeast, not far from India's Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims as part of its territory.

A proposal for a mountain strike corps is awaiting clearance by India's Cabinet, and an independent armored brigade for the mountain region also is in the works. India hopes to show it can strike deep beyond its neighbor's borders to serve as a deterrent for any Chinese aggression, Kanwal said.

"India is building up its capability for offensive operations in the mountains with a view to taking the fight into Chinese territory," Kanwal said.

Is the India Story over for Singh and company?

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INDIA DIARY by COOMI KAPOOR

IT has turned out to be the worst year for the ruling United Progressive Alliance Government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

As the year draws to a close, the public image of the Congress-led coalition was at its nadir, with the Government scoring a series of self-goals. Indeed, such was the disenchantment with Singh that in certain sections of the ruling alliance there was hush-hush talk of replacing him with a far more politically savvy leader.

The latest fiasco that further damaged the standing of the Government concerned the unilateral decision a few weeks ago to allow majority Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail. Once the announcement was made, all hell broke loose, with members of the ruling coalition itself opposing the entry of the western supermarket chains to set up shop here.

The timing of the FDI move was all wrong. The Government was mired in corruption cases of its key members. The Gandhian activist, Anna Hazare, was mounting public pressure through his hunger fasts for creating a strong and effective anti-corruption ombudsman (Lokpal). Food inflation was running high in double-digit numbers. And the stage was being set for crucial Assembly elections in UP and four other States.

Under the circumstances, the Government invited trouble by opening itself to the combined attack from the Right and the Left when it unilaterally decided to allow majority FDI in multi-brand retail. And a disaster it turned out to be.



When the Parliament opened, the Government resisted any move to debate the FDI decision on a motion involving voting. For more than a week, there was a standoff.Finally, the Government wilted under the combined pressure of the Opposition and its own allies. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, virtually the lone trouble shooter for the Government, ensured the return of normalcy in Parliament by categorically stating the FDI proposal was put on hold. The Government, he admitted, did not want to debate the matter since it did not have the requisite numbers in the Lok Sabha.

Significantly, the Prime Minister, who personally pushed the FDI decision, not only spoke forcefully in its favour but also ruled out its rollback at a rally of the Youth Congress at which both Sonia Gandhi and son, Rahul were on the dais. Neither Gandhi said a word in favour of the FDI, a broad hint to the Congress troops not to go out on a limb to back it. Observers noted that increasingly the PM and the Gandhis were no longer on the same page on key issues.

That the Americans were pushing hard for opening up multi-brand retail was widely known, especially after the recent publication of the leaked US cables by WikiLeaks.

In one of these cables, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a one-time board member of Wal-Mart Inc, is quoted asking a high-ranking US diplomat in New Delhi about the position of key members of the UPA Government vis-à-vis multi-brand retail.

On its part, the Prime Minister justified the decision on grounds of potential benefits to consumers, farmers, etc. Also, it was meant to boost the economic sentiment and foreign investment into the country. Politically, the Government believed that the decision would counter the common criticism that it suffered from policy-paralysis.

But sheer movement is a poor substitute for a purposeful and thoughtful action. Virtually rolling back the FDI decision pulled the image of the Government several notches down. Besides, it proved that despite their inherent differences, the Left and the Right could jointly mount pressure on the Government.

The FDI fiasco was the latest in a long series of rebuffs suffered by the Government during 2011. In a year in which key members of the ruling alliance were arrested in corruption cases, when there was record food inflation, more than 16% depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, and overall growth declining sharply, the Government had very little credit to show.

That was not all. A bigger crisis lurked in the corner, with the Gandhian leader Anna Hazare threatening to sit on another indefinite fast at the end of the on-going winter session later this month if a strong and effective Lokpal Bill was not passed by Parliament. A standing committee of Parliament had not embraced main points of the draft Bill presented by Team Anna, leading the Gandhian to accuse the Government of its wanting to pass a toothless law which would completely fail to check rampant corruption.

Given that the Government was busy fire-fighting round the year, captains of industry expressed concern that the policy paralysis would cripple the economy.

In such a gloomy scenario, it should not come as a surprise that many observers believe that the India Story is already over.

Singh, critics insist, does not have the skills and the temperament to manage a difficult coalition. Even his USP that he was personally clean is no more an advantage, with people saying that he has presided over the most corrupt government since Independence.

Of course, his fate can be decided only by Sonia Gandhi. Should she find a better alternative, or her son, Rahul, is ready to take over as prime minister, there is now little doubt that Singh will find himself eased out.