PM: “India’s security has never been stronger than it is today” - Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.

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Thursday 23 May 2013

PM: “India’s security has never been stronger than it is today”




By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 24th May 13

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today presented a detailed justification of his security and defence policies over the last nine years, stating that the army had been enlarged and provided with new equipment; the Indian Air Force (IAF) provided with “cutting edge” capabilities; and the navy “fully equipped to operate at great distances from our shores.”

“India’s security has never been stronger than it is today and our international relationships have never been more conducive to our national development efforts,” said the PM.

The PM spoke at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Indian National Defence University (INDU), which will come up at Binola, Gurgaon, in the vicinity of the national capital. In 1999, the Kargil Review Committee, headed by K Subrahmanyam, had noted that the military needed an academic institution that would deal primarily with subjects related to national security.

So far, military training institutions have obtained accreditation from multiple universities. Cadets who complete the three-year training course at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakvasla get an undergraduate degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Officers who complete the Staff College Course at Wellington, Tamil Nadu, get a masters degree from Madras University. Now these institutions, and others like the National Defence College (NDC) New Delhi, and the College of Defence Management (CDM) Secunderabad, will be academically affiliated to INDU.

A serving three-star general from the army, navy or air force will head INDU, which will be modelled along the lines of Indian Institutes of Management and Technology (IIMs/IITs). Two-third of INDU’s students will be from the military, with the rest drawn from government, police organisations and civilians. The teaching faculty will consist equally of military officers and civilians.

The PM noted the importance of training both military and civilians in national security studies through this quote from the biography of British General, Charles George Gordon: “The nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools, and its thinking done by cowards.”

INDU, he said, would not just teach “our thinkers and policymakers to understand the complexities of war and conflict,” but also educate military professionals about “the interplay between all attributes of national power.”

Senior officers note that the military does not have a well-developed academic tradition or structure, even in national security studies. Officers are allowed “study leave”, which is a one-year or two-year academic sabbatical on full pay, but rarely obtain qualifications that equip them for professional advancement.

“INDU is long overdue, but the challenge will be to create a world class defence university in a country that does not have a deep tradition of national security study and debate. INDU can only be successful if its initial faculty is chosen carefully, without the constraints of the University Grants Commission and other government bodies. Reputed national security academics from all over the world must be co-opted as visiting faculty, to lay a strong foundation for INDU,” says Lieutenant General VR Raghavan, a retired general with an outstanding academic reputation.

6 comments:

  1. A nicely written article by the author, Worldwide most of the countries have Military universities aimed to increase cooperation between the Military and civilian counter parts....

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  2. Getting ready for the battle of the minds.

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  3. Yes.....but whilst stating this , I believe that he is confused between the security of the politicians and Babus, but then I could be wrong as the politicians and the Babus, starting from the person who has become Supreme commander of Indian's armed forces without a day's experience in military! to the likes of Mayawati, Akhilesh yadav and the famous Omar who wants high security but wants to do away with AFSPA...


    After all with his his assumptions of tightest security, indian soldiers get beheaded and India yaps, and Indian territory is encroached upon and India yaps...visit of Indian armed forces personnel is dictated by another country depending on their perception of India's state belonging to them and India encourages such acts..... Indian armed forces personnel who have sweated it out in Indian uniforms are dubbed as Chinese and the supreme commander of the armed forces twiddles his /her thumb and asks for advise from the Indian administration who thirst to be atop military advise with no military knowledge or experience . I think the PM should read recent history wherein in the 80s, India could suppress China -Pak nibbling at her borders yet send off troops to Maldives on a successful mission, to China calling the shots to where Indians can patrol in India and Pakistan warning india if it reacts to her beheading Indian soldiers...

    In fact why not talk of past 2 days itself.... a soldier gets killed by goons in Briton and the whole nation is not only aghast but ACTS ( READ NOT YAP)...and the actions have spoken louder than words....whilst in India, 3 soldiers have got killed in A CONTINUOS WAR in the kashmir valley and this is hid by the tremors of IPL, Bollywood dances, TRP rating and ramblings and perhaps the PM gets his dose of 'High'..security being tight from such news.

    After all Indian Administration is the only Administration that has announced that "war is not an option when the option to thrust war on India has been exercised by the enemy, is being exercised and is out of India's hands. Such statements reek of the fear and thus do anything including closing eyes to war on India to keep the apple cart of power from tippling

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  4. Mr PM, My ability to levitate has also never been better!

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  5. Rahul(Kolkata)24 May 2013 at 22:58

    Yes, our country is the safest today because we have developed the ointment needed to treat any acnes which may appear periodically on the beautiful face of Asia....When we have the ointments, we don't need any weapons....

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  6. Uniforms are an essential part of the army navy or airforce.They preserve the national identity of these forces.To purchase uniforms in UAE, contact Grand Uniforms suppliers in Dubai.

    ReplyDelete

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