Defence Minister Parrikar has his hands full The wait for a full-time Defence Minister ended on Sunday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi handing over the crucial portfolio — held by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as an additional charge — to Manohar Parrikar. If Jaitley’s five months at the helm were marked by decisions on some important acquisition projects, stern statements and responses to the ceasefire violations by Pakistan and importance attached to infrastructure projects along the China border, expectations are that Parrikar will have to go further than that. He will have to give the armed forces their due — be it in enhancing fighting capabilities, bigger involvement in decision-making or simply welfare of the veterans. In his short tenure, Jaitley set the ball rolling and took prompt decisions towards some important deals. He paved the way for Apache attack helicopters and Chinook heavy lift helicopters for the IAF, approved Israeli anti-tank missile over the US system, scrapped the controversial tender for 197 Light Utility Helicopters and opened projects for the Indian industry — including the Avro transport aircraft replacement programme which stands at single vendor stage at present — in line with Modi’s Make in India slogan. Among the projects likely to feature on Parrikar’s priority list is a decision on 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft, which has been awaiting final approval after having zeroed down on French Dassault Rafale in January 2012. The contract is crucial for the depleted fighter fleet of IAF, which had its Sukhoi fleet grounded since October 22. Also, while Jaitley in his last Defence Acquisition Council meeting cleared a project for the construction of six submarines in India, experts said his successor will hopefully take it further to ensure timely delivery. This is crucial for the Navy which in 1999 envisaged 24 submarines by 2030 but has been operating at a much lower strength. Hopefully, the new Defence Minister will set in procedures that will ensure time-bound implementation of this project, which was supposed to start in 2008. The prime need of the Army, according to a top officer, is its artillery arm, which has not had a single acquisition after the Bofors scandal broke, besides immediate replacement for its ageing Cheetah and Chetak helicopter fleet, anti-aircraft guns and night-fighting capabilities for its armoured and infantry regiments. “While the present government opened tenders for Indian industries, there is a need for policy decisions pertaining to taxation, licensing, exports to ensure that the Indian industry comes up to the ability to produce,” said Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur. He emphasised on higher defence management — more involvement of the services in decision-making bodies. Experts said the new government has already sent out a “firm” message to Pakistan over ceasefire violations. Also, Jaitley had indicated the increased impetus the government gives to projects along the China border. Both these aspects, experts said, need continuation. “The latest response of calling off dialogue with Pakistan after it held talks with J&K separatists, or the response to ceasefire violations has been befitting. The only way to deal with Pakistan is to make misadventures expensive for that country — a line aptly used by Jaitley. This needs continuation,” said a general. “While the China issue is more diplomatic, the government’s decisions to give environmental and forest clearances to defence projects along the borders is a welcome step,” he said. Last, but not the least, the Modi government came to power promising one-rank-one-pension (OROP), war memorial and a veterans’ commission to address their grievances among others. While the war memorial proposal seems to have progressed with budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore, clarity on OROP is yet to come. [In Picture: Manohar Parrikar signs the register after taking oath as a new Cabinet minister at the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday.]
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 21:10:27 +0000
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