Afia Ambreen
Recently, France has delivered to India its first Rafale fighter jet from a series of 36 aircraft purchased in a multi-billion dollar deal in 2016. Defence Minister Florence Parly and her Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh, who is on a three-day visit to France, attended a ceremony at aircraft maker Dassault Aviation facility in Merignac, southwestern France. The $8.78 billion deal sparked controversy in India last year with the main opposition Indian National Congress party accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of buying the aircraft at nearly three times the price being negotiated when it was the ruling party before Modi came to power in 2014.
India is the largest arms buyer among emerging nations, accounted for 7.5 percent of all international sales. It has spent billions of dollars in the past few years on purchase of planes, radars and ships from US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Israel. In recent years, India has brought reconnaissance aircraft from US aerospace major Boeing worth 2.1 billion dollars, medium range missiles for $1.4 billion from Israeli aerospace Industries, and signed an upgrade service contract with the Russian Aircraft Corporation to upgrade its MiG 29 squadrons for 695 million dollars. The US has emerged as a potential military supplier to India since the two countries signed a deal of civil energy technology in 2008, which lifted sanctions on New Delhi in order to import nuclear technology. India is likely to become a major customer for the US military industrial complex over the next few years. Moreover, India established its diplomatic relations with Israel in 1993 but kept their bilateral ties secret till 2003, when Israeli Prime minister Ariel Sharon visited India to formally expose the relationship. Since then economic, diplomatic and especially defense cooperation, which includes military hardware, nuclear and intelligence sharing, between the two states is deepening with each passing day. India is one of the 39 countries with whom Israel has signed ‘secret cooperative agreements’ to prevent information leak from joint security projects.
Moreover, the Indian Army’s so-called Cold Start doctrine (CSD), also known as Pro-Active doctrine, a doctrine geared toward swift offensive operations into enemy territory. For a long time, India officially denied the existence of CSD. However, in January 2017, Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat for the first time publicly acknowledged the doctrine in an interview: “The Cold Start doctrine exists for conventional military operations. Whether we have to conduct conventional operations for such strikes is a decision well thought through, involving the government and the Cabinet Committee on Security.”
The remarks came as a surprise to many given that the Indian Army had apparently scrapped its limited war concept following then Chief of Army Staff General V.K. Singh’s public announcement that CSD did not exist, although he did acknowledge that the Indian Army possessed a “pro-active strategy” for war with Pakistan. Islamabad in response began building low-yield tactical nuclear weapons. Additionally, to bolster its deterrence posture, Pakistan continues to refuse to adopt a no-first use nuclear doctrine.
On the other hand, Human rights abuses in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) are an ongoing issue. The abuses range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Personnel (BSF) and various separatist militant groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians.
According to a top US Think Tank ‘Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’ India’s traditional air superiority is now under “threat” as China and Pakistan are rapidly modernizing their air force. “Despite being a world-class combat arm, the IAF’s falling end strength and problematic force structure, combined with its troubled acquisition and development programs, threaten India’s air superiority over its rivals. Authored by Ashley Tellis, the top American expert on India and South Asia, whose counsel is sought by governments in both the countries, the report “The Manifold Travails of the Indian Air Force” argues that Indian air dominance is vital for deterrence stability in southern Asia and for preserving the strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific region.
To conclude, after 27th Feb and Counter Strike by Pakistan Air Force, Indian politico military leadership started a big but embarrassing cover-up to hide IAF technical, tactical and operational weaknesses. Modi added to this embarrassment by stating that he wished IAF had Rafale on 27th Feb. This was a big slap on face of IAF and their Air Chief Dhanoa, who was forced to toe the fake narrative of BJP government on strike on Balakot and downing of a Pakistani F-16. Indian establishment and Godi media has followed a fake media blitz to convert a circle onto square. Modi has now started downgrading already held high tech aircraft’s like SU 30 much to chagrin of Russia. In fact, Indian military has become an embarrassment to its Arm Supplying Countries.
