The Indian Armed Forces are the essential pillars of Comprehensive National Power (CNP) and enablers of our Nations quest for the ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision laid down by the government of the day. However, an honest introspection of the various aspects of military modernisation viz, technology absorption, equipment obsolescence, budgetary allocation for defence, integration, training of personnel for handling modern weapons and various AI based systems and HR issues concerning the percentage retention of Officers and soldiers, etc, indicate towards the multifarious challenges being currently faced by the Indian Armed Forces in aligning with and achieving the aspirational vision laid down by the Government of India. There is tremendous work yet to be done and that requires persistent focus and follow through by the Government and Military planners.
Charting the Course
National Security has to be prioritised as a Key Result Area (KRA) alongwith economic progress, Education, infrastructure creation, poverty alleviation, employment generation, etc. While the Geo-strategic and regional alliances and alignments are managed through Diplomacy and economic co-operation, at the functional level it is incumbent on the manufacturing sector, both private and public enterprises to ensure that innovation, Research & Development (R & D), quality control and ruggedisation is ensured while manufacturing weapons and warlike stores.
The technology demonstrators must translate into top of the line global standard equipment and weapon systems, which are comparable to the best in the world. Unfortunately, we are severely lacking in this domain and therefore will have to continue to rely on foreign collaborations for a reasonable amount of time, to keep pace with the rapidly changing, AI powered, automated, innovative weapon systems and niche technologies, already in use in various war zones across the globe today.
Imperatives of Atmanirbharta
The next 25 years are going to be transformational for the world and society at large and we need to brace for the plethora of AI driven systems taking over human functions rapidly. The X factor in the mix is going to be Bio-technology, having cracked the human genomic code. The resultant effect of this ‘human manipulation’, where DNA sequences can be re-arranged to produce humans that are ‘programmable’ and ‘upgradable’ is further going to present challenges that are unthinkable to most of the population of the world today. These fast-evolving bio-technologies are still in the ‘super secret’ domain in developed Nations and unlikely to be available to the others for exploitation.
In view of the above, a pragmatic but imperative plan of action therefore, has to be rolled out (a substantial effort is already underway, however, it is not coordinated) by the Government to India, if we need to retain our relevance in the emerging World order:
- Policy formulation & Resource allocation for Research & Development in the Defence Sector, preferably in a Public – Private collaborative model.
- Continued engagement with the Best in the world to enable fast tracking of technology transfer and collaborative initiatives in R & D in all sectors, especially those related to Defence, AI and Bio-technology.
- Prioritise National Security, specifically Indian Armed Forces and make the necessary budgetary allocation for Manufacturing & Defence acquisition. We also need to simplify Defence Acquisition Procedures (DAP).
- Modify and improve our HR initiatives, endeavour to hire the best minds by making service conditions attractive for the talented youth of the country. Focus should remain on training and retaining ‘specialists’.
- Galvanise our Defence Industries by incentivising ‘Atmanirbharta’, we need to bypass local innovations and R&D by ‘reverse Engineering’ top of the line tech and weapon systems available globally and focus on ‘quality control’ as the gamechanger. This requires a mindset change in our manufacturing processes and procedures.
- Most importantly, we need to create conducive conditions for minimising ‘brain drain’ and attracting Indian talent back into the country. For this, their core concerns of positive working conditions, non-interference by the State/ Central agencies and an attractive remuneration package needs to be ensured. Freedom of thought and expression has to be respected and nurtured in an inclusive, safe and impartial environment, where meritocracy should remain the primary driven in our journey towards achieving ‘Atmanirbharta’.
Patriotism in Its Contemporary Avtar
The Nation is only as strong as the ‘Will’ of its people. We as a Nation need to prioritise progress over everything else. We are a very old and resilient civilisation and our population derives great strength from our rich cultural and religious heritage. However, the dangerous trend of divisive and hate filled subversive utterances by mass leaders, is resulting in unnecessary and avoidable disruptions and diversions in our march towards a Progressive Nation. It is also detrimental to the well-being and security of our Nation in the long run. Our adversaries will continue to fuel this fire to keep us weak and divided, if urgent corrective measures are not put in place.
As responsible citizens, it is the foremost duty of all right-minded Indians to develop a national sentiment of being ‘Patriotic for Progress’. The future of our Nation is directly proportional to our ability to counter these anti India ‘disruptive and diversionary’ forces. It is a clear and persistent danger that will have to be eliminated /minimised if we have to achieve our mission 2047!
