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    Here's how India can make light of any threat posed by hostile neighbours like China and Pakistan

    Synopsis

    Beyond a point, no country on earth can control what other countries are doing are planning. The solution to these problems lies within.

    ET CONTRIBUTORS
    In the uncertain world we live in, the 24-by-7 media tends to highlight the threats posed by India's unfriendly neighbours ganging up at a time when our strategic allies are preoccupied with their own problems. Beyond a point, no nation can control what other countries are doing or planning. The solution to these problems lies within. A country with a resilient economy, a strong level of defence-preparedness and a sound polity with a robust thrust on civil liberties would inevitably be taken more seriously by the outside world.

    There are challenges for a country like India which is the world's most populous democracy. In a democratic process, it has, for instance, taken much longer to introduce even the most needed economic reforms like a nation-wide GST (Goods and Services Tax). The process can also be complicated if there are elections at different times and in different parts of the country throughout the five-year tenure of a national government. For instance, this year's Budget speech was delivered after assembly elections were notified in India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh. Hence, care had to be taken to ensure that there were no references in the Budget speech to UP.

    The obvious solution would be to move to a system where elections are held simultaneously for Parliament and the state assemblies but that would require consensus among all political parties. Prime Minister Modi has gone on record that simultaneous elections would facilitate good governance. At present, assembly elections are being held almost throughout the entire five-year cycle of the national government. A sustained process of timely reforms would go a long way in consolidating India's position as the fastest-growing economy in the world.

    In terms of defence-preparedness, India does not at present have a full-time minister in charge of this vital portfolio. May 26 will be the third anniversary of the day the NDA government assumed office. Manohar Parrikar was sworn-in as defence minister on November 9, 2014, and continued to hold that portfolio until March 13, 2017, when he resigned and returned to Goa as chief minister. The Union finance minister Mr Arun Jaitley was asked to look after defence from May 26, 2014 to November 9, 2014, a period of five months and 14 days. Once Parrikar returned to Goa, Mr Jaitley has again been asked to look after defence. If he continues to look after defence until May 26, 2017, for the second time (two months and 13 days since Parrikar returned to Goa), it will, in effect, mean that India has had/is having a part-time defence minister for almost eight of the 36 months since the NDA assumed office on May 26, 2014. In percentile terms, that would mean that India has had a part-time defence minister for 22% of the NDA government's tenure between May 26, 2014, and the third anniversary on May 26.

    The question is not one of Mr Jaitley's competence to handle two very sensitive portfolios. The longer defence is being looked after on a part-time basis, the more questions will be asked whether there is an acute paucity of ministerial talent in the BJP-led NDA. In other democratic countries like the USA, defence is taken very seriously and President Obama made it abundantly clear that he did not see this from a partisan perspective when he asked his predecessor's choice of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to continue. And Obama hailed from the Democratic Party unlike his predecessor George W Bush who was a Republican and chose the former CIA director (and member of the Iraq Study Group Robert Gates) as his defense secretary. Likewise, President Trump has appointed the retired general James Mattis to be the Defense Secretary. General Mattis was earlier in charge of both the Joint Forces Command and the Central Command and oversaw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mattis is the second general officer to serve as the US Secretary of Defense after George C Marshall. In a profile published in the recent May 1/May 8 issue of Time magazine, Robert Gates rates Mattis on par with General Marshall in terms of strategic vision, appreciation of America's national interests, integrity, and commitment to protecting the USA and caring for the men and women in uniform.

    In India, there are any number of retired generals, admirals and air marshals with the expertise to be appointed as the country's Minister for Defence. The Congress legacy of always having a civilian as Defence Minister has excluded all those with the required expertise from holding the portfolio of Defence Minister. In the 70 years since Independence, it has been proved beyond all doubt that India is not Pakistan where the military keeps overthrowing the elected governments.

    In his policy announcements, Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated time and again that he can think out of the box and disregard convention when it is in the national interest. The need for expertise at the top of the defence ministry can be realized when we see the speed at which China is launching its indigenous range of aircraft-carriers to patrol not just the Pacific but the Indian Ocean as compared with India whose home-grown INS Vikrant is, according to media reports, expected to be fully combat-ready only by 2023. India has also lagged behind in the development of its submarine fleet and anti-submarine armaments. Even the two newest submarines are, according to media reports, cruising the seas without torpedoes!

    Finally, a robust thrust on civil liberties in India would mean immediate action being taken against all those who threaten peace and harmony. For instance, while cow-slaughter is banned under the Constitution, Prime Minister Modi had, in August 2016, unequivocally condemned self-styled gau-rakshaks for taking the law into their own hands and brutally assaulting Dalits and others. There have been recent instances where even those transporting cattle on the highways have been brutally assaulted and sometimes killed. A firm response by the police to any future recurrence of vigilante action would go a long way in promoting peace and harmony which is the bedrock of every civilized society.


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    ( Originally published on May 07, 2017 )
    (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
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