India is not a free nation if you consider the foreign
policy, economy and sovereignty, the military itself is not the independent
entity, and they are heavily influenced by the other nations. However, by
investing more into military modernization and self-reliance, the county would
be able to protect its interest independently.
Indian military have great dependence on the other powers
like, Russia, USA, Western Europe and Israel, they depend on them for rifle to
fight jets, this is like a shame for a nation with one billion and more
population and US $ 3 trillion economy, we cannot wage a war against our enemy
without their approval. Military inferiority must be count as our leader’s
failure in last 70 years.
The military modernization and economic growth should be
proportional to each other, our economy has been growing with unprecedented
pace in last three decades, but our leaders didn’t invest proportionally to the
military, although the threat perception on the border has increased
proportionally in the same period of time. Our leaders kept on importing the
hardware rather investing in the creation of the indigenous manufacturing
ecosystem.
The situation is dire now, the threat to our great nation has
increased due to assertive Communist China and Pakistan, and we are facing
all-out war, which would be greatly detrimental to our economy and sovereignty.
The global dynamics has changed, China and Pakistan have created the coalition
to thwart Indian interest in South Asia, they are influencing small nations
like, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, these nations are
more assertive and aggressive while dealing with India.
Indian defense budget is currently around 2.5 percent of the
GDP, which should be greatly increased now because of the adversaries, the
country is facing. The government should consider 10 percent allocation to the
defense budget for at least next 5 years, widespread procurement and research
& development work should be initiated, and the technology transfer and
innovation in indigenous military hardware should also be done.
The strong military guarantee the independent economy, secure
territorial sovereignty and independent foreign policy, it helps the country to
negotiate fairly with other nations while business deal. The strong military
will help to attain the amicable economic growth, global outreach and
dominance.
