Reality of Indian Army: Rusted Weapons and inability to Fight in Night

India's tank fleet lacks ammunition, its air defences are "97 percent obsolete" and its elite forces lack essential arms, the country's army chief wrote in an explosive letter. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

NEW DELHI: India’s tank fleet lacks ammunition, its air defences are “97 percent obsolete” and its elite forces lack essential arms, the country’s army chief wrote in an explosive letter leaked Wednesday.

The letter to the prime minister dated March 12 – widely reported by the Indian media – lists the shortcomings of the armed forces in embarrassing detail in a blow to the government and the Asian giant’s military prestige.

Its publication also ups the stakes in a public battle between army chief General VK Singh and the government which began with a dispute over Singh’s retirement earlier this year.

“The state of the major (fighting) arms i.e. mechanised forces, artillery, air defence, infantry and special forces, as well as the engineers and signals, is indeed alarming,” Singh wrote in the letter, DNA newspaper reported.

The army’s entire tank fleet is “devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks”, while the air defence system is “97% obsolete and it doesn’t give the deemed confidence to protect… from the air,” he wrote, according to DNA.

The infantry is crippled with “deficiencies” and lacks night fighting equipment, while the elite special forces are “woefully short” of “essential weapons”.

Singh also told The Hindu newspaper this week that he had informed Defence Minister A.K Antony of a $2.8 million bribe offered to him in 2010, leading to embarrassing questions as to why the government did not order an enquiry.

Antony told parliament on Wednesday that he was aware of the letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he would reply appropriately.

Indian Army Gen V K Singh indoctrinating Army against Defense Ministry

Defense Ministry has launched a probe into a complaint which claimed that the Army chief had deployed interceptors for clandestinely listening to important phone conversations in resentment of reprisal of his age row controversy. 

On the other hand, adding insult to injury, our Army, without any proof, in a surprise reaction that made its internal strife public, had accused the former head of the Director General of Defense Intelligence Agency (DGDIA) of 'spreading stories' that General V.K. Singh was spying on defense minister A.K. Antony and other senior officials.

Moreover, the evil intentions of Gen V K Singh to malign Defense Ministry can be interpreted by his recent statement which stated that Indian Army has left with only two days stock of ammunition if waged in war whereas conversely, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), in its report, said India accounted for 9% of all international arms imports between 2006-2010, making it the world`s largest weapons importer. (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-14/india/28687498_1_largest-arms-sipri-arms-imports).

Stop State Murder: Orange For Rajoana

“The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the State. This cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is done in the name of justice.”- Amnesty International

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When the Indian State continues to  sanction the brutal killing of Sikhs what can we in the Diaspora do to stop it? Our first responsibility is to create awareness to this injustice- to show the world that India is not the world’s largest democracy, but instead a State that is riddled with corruption and oppression.
On March 31st, 2012 the Indian government will hang Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana.
Bhai Balwant Singh took no legal counsel, did not appeal his sentence, and did not participate in his trial. He did this not out of desperation, but out of protest. He objected to engaging in the Indian judicial system that oppresses so many, or to recognize the Indian constitution, a document that does not even recognize his own Sikh faith.
On March 29th you will have an opportunity to show the world that you stand against this injustice. That you oppose the barbaric practice of hanging someone till death, and that you believe that the State should not be able to take away someone’s life. On that day pledge to leave your house wearing something orange along with your friends and family members. Get as many people to wear Orange as possible in a campaign to bring awareness to the unjust practice of State murder.
We choose orange as our color or resistance that day in recognition of the Sikh Nishaan Sahib, a flag that reminds us to always take a stand against injustice. Leave your house on March 29th as a living Nishaan Sahib.
For those in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Join us for a discussion on Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana and the death penalty, educate and express yourself regarding the first State execution in Punjab in 24 years.
Do not let this injustice go unheard or unknown. Bring awareness to the State murder of Bhai Balwant Singh, and show the world that you stand against it.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Pledge To Wear Orange: On march 29th, 2012 wear orange to show your opposition to the death penalty
Facebook: Change your facebook display pic to the image available here in the post and write “I Pledge Orange” on the event wall!
Twitter: hashtag your tweets with #rajoana and #IPledgeOrange
Participate: Join a  Discussion on Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana and State murder on March 30, 7pm, Dixie Gudrwara, Hall 5

Massive Infighting between Indian Army HQ and Indian Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

NEW DELHI: Continuing to vehemently deny allegations of clandestinely tapping phones of senior defense ministry officials, the Army says strict action is being taken against the serving officers spreading such "fictitious, malicious and preposterous'' stories.
With a major-general and a colonel among other officers under the scanner in what has emerged as a bitter factional feud within the 1.13-million strong force, Army chief General V K Singh said, Necessary action will be taken against some of these officers. Our aim is that we come up with facts upfront and we don't hide them. Such fiction has to be countered.''
The raging controversy revolves around Army's alleged tapping of some sensitive phones in the national Capital through misuse of listening devices and "off-the-air interceptors'', especially during the recent tussle between the defence ministry and Gen Singh over the latter's date of birth.
The Army HQ has directly accused a former director general of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Lt-Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh, and some other ``disgruntled'' serving and retired military intelligence officers of ``fabricating the fiction'' that a covert Army unit had spied on MoD officials during the prolonged stand-off.
It even accused Lt-Gen Tejinder Singh of offering bribes on behalf of a foreign military vehicle supplier that has a tie-up with a defence PSU. The retired DIA chief has dismissed the charges as ``ridiculous'' and even threatened to take the Army chief to court to clear his name.
This is just the latest in the unseemly controversies dogging the Army, which even saw Gen V K Singh drag the government to court over his age in the first-ever such move by a military chief. Apart from the Army itself being divided down the ranks, the controversies have sharpened the civil-military divide in South Block even further.Internal differences in Army units are aggravating the situation and adversaries are making one another scapegoat which is making everybody demented.

Hegemony of Indian Army over MoD

It’s a question that has begun to make my head hurt. It isn’t a lazy rhetorical question either. And it’s a question I suspect (or at least hope) disturbs a lot of people in this country. Because if there’s one thing that’s certain in this inclement, hateful time, it is this: the Indian Army needs saving. And fast. Nothing can be worse than a country desensitized to the idea of instability and tumult in the Army. The end begins when citizens expect little more than bad news from the barracks or South Block.

Well, I hate to do this, but there’s actually some worse news: Of those who have the power to fix the Army, who hold offices that put them in a position to actually do something to recover from a dangerous situation, there is nobody (at least nobody I can think of) who inspires a splinter of confidence. Here they are, and here’s why I think they can’t:

First, Defence Minister A.K.Antony. As the principal antagonist in the unfinishing face-off with Chief of Army Staff General Vijay Kumar Singh over his age and tenure, he has demonstrated, with resounding consistency, that he probably doesn’t have (a) the necessary proficiency and judgement to actually salvage such a festering situation, and (b) the very willingness to accept — until it is clearly way to late — that there is a problem. The age row stands as a glittering example of this unfortunate ineptitude. Unfortunate, because Mr Antony isn’t by any stretch a bad man. Just that he almost definitely doesn’t have what it takes to fix the collateral victim of this very personal war: the Indian Army itself.

Second, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As someone who was drawn into the Antony-General face-off by a letter that the Chief addressed directly to him, bypassing the Defence Minister, he cannot say he was wasn’t part of the discourse or that there wasn’t an opportunity for him to intervene and ensure a settlement. His refusal (or failure) to recognise a desperately ominous situation doesn’t say much about his abilities to fix things. The person who has the power to fix the Army needs to be proactive, nimble and the resilient enough to (a) recognise that there is a problem, and (b) work through it. Dr Singh doesn’t fit.

Third, Sonia Gandhi. Several armed forces chiefs have had an equation with the UPA chairperson, including two former Chiefs from the Army and Navy. Somehow, it doesn’t look like the Army is, or ever will be, a priority. She could certainly ensure that the two people named above get off their chairs and actually chase down a solution, but she’s got way too much else on her mind. So no chance.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the man who will lead the Army from the afternoon of May 31, Lt Gen Bikram Singh, takes office in the most unhappy of circumstances for civil-military relations. The general will be perceived to be an establishment man, as someone who the government ensured becomes Chief despite a massive age row campaign that would have put him out of the reckoning if the government had lost the age case in Supreme Court. Going simply by human nature, therefore, he has no reason to rock the boat — indeed, there may be an element of gratitude in his approach to his duties. And since anyone who wishes to save the Indian Army needs to be fearless of confrontation and friction, it is unlikely that Bikram Singh will have any incentive to go out on a limb to do anything dramatic or revolutionary. Of course, I may be completely wrong — and to be fair, few people know Lt Gen Bikram Singh well — but let’s just say that if he did manage to fix the Army in his circumstances, or even try, the country should be seriously surprised.

The bureaucracy? Good one! It’s too busy being chuffed about cutting the Army chief to size in the age row, and will perhaps therefore be even more condescending and difficult in future dealings. The chances of the MoD bureaucracy driving change are never promising even at in good times. (A notable exception is the Ajai Vikram Singh Committee report that gave the Army a younger profile and more efficient promotion system, but the former Defence Secretary only headed the committee — it was largely driven by the Army itself.)

Gen V K Singh feuling Indian Army Against the Civil Government-Proofs Unvieled

The birth date controversy has been on the simmer for over a year. The Adjutant General's branch which deals with manpower has issued recorded General Singh's date of birth as May 10, 1951 but the Military Secretary's branch that deals with promotions and postings recorded it as May 10, 1950. General Singh insists 1951 is his correct date of birth and calls 1950 a clerical error but, after considering the stark response of Defense Ministry over his age controversy, Indian Army General V K Singh, in order to save his reputation, has come up with another gambit of a compromising formula for the Government with his recent assertions of terming it a battle for honor and not tenure. The suggestion is that he would resign on time if the ministry accepted 1951 as his year of birth. What a joke!!

Well, rumors swirling around the corridors of South Block say General Singh may resign ahead of his retirement date if he feels his battle is lost. But, clearly, the personal crusade has hobbled his options. In 1961, General K.S. Thimayya resigned as Army chief. Thimayya's reasons were never personal. He was dissatisfied with the Army's poor preparation against China and defense minister V.K. Krishna Menon's neglect of adequate equipment. General Thimayya was persuaded to withdraw his resignation by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In the case of the present Army chief, however, things are different. "There is no interest in this case except self-interest," says a senior Army officer.

Whoever wins at the end of this bitter controversy, the outcome will have substantially diminished one of the nation's great institutions. It can lead to what the Army uses to describe a depleted war machine-hollowness.