India Strategic Military - Book Report/Review Example

INDIA STRATEGIC MILITARY Course title Date INDIA STRATEGIC MILITARY INTRODUCTION India is a very important player in the Asian region and a big democracy that shares similar interests with the United States of America. The two big democracies therefore have to strengthen their ties and join hands militarily to safeguard the freedom of the sea in the Indian Ocean as well as ensuring serenity and stability throughout the Asia pacific region. For example, there are threats of irresponsible behavior from China of a possible violation of territorial integrity because it has shown the possibility of doing that in the South sea of China. To be able to deal with future coercion and challenges, India has to modernize its military and establish structures that are able to undertake network centric combat in air, land and sea (Chandramohan, 2014). PREPARING FOR A TWO-FRONT WAR The South Asian region is one of the major unstable areas because of the fight against terrorist group Al-Qaeda as well as Taliban on the Pakistan-Afghanistan boarder. There is escalating Talibanization in Pakistan and political instability in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka accompanied by propagation of small arms, which poses threats to the stability of the region. In addition, the ever-unsettled territorial disputes with Pakistan and China and the increasing threat of the Maoist uprising in heartland add up to the problem. This prevailing environment therefore requires India to prepare for a two front war. In addition, there is need to increase modernization to match the rapid military advancements of China as well as those of Pakistan that are being fuelled by the need to fight extremism in its country. This therefore means more funding is necessary for the achievement of this goal as in the recent years the allocation was too low causing slow advancements and development MAJOR FLEET EXPANSION The Indian navy has to seek for dominance by acquiring the blue water outfitted capability at the same time as perfectly intercepting current threats near the coast. The navy needs to possess better weapons as well as modern sensing devices. The navy has to introduce more assets and establish good infrastructure to supplement forces existing for low strength naval operations apart from war. The navy has to enhance its anti submarine warfare capabilities by inducing the most appropriate platforms, arms and sensors. There is the need of building sufficient standoff capabilities for sealift and expeditionary operation to obtain the required supremacy force level, shape events and carryout military operation. However, these intended power levels require supportive infrastructure in the island territories hence the need to provide more funds and reduce bureaucracy for efficient operations and speedier making of decisions (The Economist, 2013). The Indian navy must build capabilities for nautical domain responsiveness within the region or area of responsibility, which includes air surveillance, naval reconnaissance as well as airborne early on warning and control. The navy has to advance its capabilities for expeditionary as well as combined warfare together with supportive unique operations. Strength enhancement can also occur through the acquisition of modern capability in the areas of premeditated aviation, anti missile and electronic warfare. Furthermore, it is important to acquire modernized networking ships, submarines and flying platforms through the satellite. India must believe in itself and therefore reduce the culture of dependence and become self-reliant. Commitment to indigenization with the aim of harnessing the national strength in all fields engineering, electronics, information and communication technology will greatly bring good results for the navy and all other organs of the Indian army (Pandey, 1992). ENHANCING CAPABILITIES WITHOUT REDUCING MANPOWER The Indian army has to advance steadily towards the acquisition of network centric capability in favor of effects based operation with the aim of optimizing its complete warfare potentials for both suspicious and offensive operation. The army has to join the navy in initiating intercession operations in the country’s strategic areas of interest when required to do in future. The most significant capabilities that require enhancement to align with the challenges all through the continuum include battleground transparency, battleground supervision systems, night combating capabilities, enhancement of firepower, inclusion of terminally guided weapons, quick response surface to air missiles among other areas. Infantry battalion requires modern sophisticated weapons for dealing with insurgency and terrorism with the aim of increasing the operational efficiency and lowering casualties. The infantry combat vehicles should be able to perform internal sanctuary duties as well as counterinsurgency operation apart from the major responsibility in unadventurous conflicts (Pei, 2006). The Indian army has to come up with strategies for the enhancement of the operational capability of the army aviation, signal communication, engineering, surveillance, reconnaissance and objective attainment branches with the aim of improving the army’s general warfare potentials by a high order. Acquisition of contemporary strategic and premeditated rank command and authority is necessary for improved synergies during unadventurous as well as sub conventional conflicts. The army has to develop a dedicated satellite for space surveillance requirements. Enhancement of all these capabilities will facilitate the undertaking of combined operations with multinational troops when required to do so. The government must approve such plans and provide adequate funding (Chandramohan, 2014). AIR DOMINANCE AND FORCE PROJECTION With the expansion of the country’s global hoof marks, the Indian air force should have the capability of serving the country’s future premeditated interests. The air force should gear up for the provision of tactical outreach that the country requires as an advancing power in the region and build strength where required in order to safeguard the core national interests. Despite the fact that a big gap exists between the country vision and capabilities regarding shaping the strategic region it is possible for the country to move forward. The air force modernization strategies have to aim at achieving air dominance as well as control. The air force must enhance its capabilities of carrying out both cyberspaces as well as information operations accompanied by indigenization of its future capabilities in both designing and expansion (The Economist, 2013). India has a very complicated strategic scenario and geographically positioned in an escalating unstable neighborhood. The government must therefore aim at encouraging a cooperative approach of regional security and join hands with all the friendly nations in the process of achieving this goal. The slow growth of the country’s economy is the biggest draw back in achieving these objectives. However, with this development can result to a qualitative improvement in the defense collaboration with United States and the other strategic partners by improving capabilities of the Indian military for combined operations. In the near future India will have the capability of providing adequate security in the South Asia region as well as the Indian Ocean region. These developments will allow the United States to reduce its military commitment in the region (Mohan, 2006). BIBLIOGRAPHY Chandramohan Balaji. “India’s Defence Budget, Strategic Orientation and Military Modernisation,” Future Directions International, August 15, 2014, http://www.futuredirections.org.au/publications/associate-papers/1871-india-s-defence-budget-strategic-orientation-and-military-modernisation.html Mohan, C. Raja. "India and the Balance of Power." Foreign Aff. 85 (2006): 17. Pandey, Gyanendra. "In defense of the fragment: writing about Hindu-Muslim riots in India today." Representations (1992): 27-55. Pei, Minxin. "The dark side of China’s rise." Foreign Policy 153, no. March/April (2006): 32-40. Schiff, R. L. (1995). Civil-military relations reconsidered: A theory of concordance. Armed Forces & Society, 22(1), 7-24. The Economist Newspaper. “Know your own strength,” The Economist Newspaper, March 30, 2013, http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21574458-india-poised-become-one-four-largest-military-powers-world-end Read More