7). Choke Points – such as the Suez and Panama Canals, straits of Bab el- Mandeb, Hormuz, Malacca and the Sunda straits and ‘High-Ground’, which could be any sort of power position, geographic or even key technology, and resources, must be within our ability to monitor and when necessary to protect our interest or even exercise control thereon and denying the same to the enemy/adversary, resorting to Cover by Fire, and the use of Mines etc. We should expand our island bases, such as being undertaken on the Car-Nicobar island, and even on suitable locations on the Lakshadweep islands, to establish and strengthen our abilities for surveillance and control over the choke-points in the seas.

The advantages of the proposed Rama-Nahar canals project, a dual Panama type canal across the KRA Isthmus connecting the Andaman Sea to the South Vietnam Sea, would greatly enhance India’s maritime security and also greatly enhance international sea-trade between the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions, and even eliminate the threat of piracy that now exists when traversing the Malacca straits. This should be taken up more strongly with Thailand as being for mutual benefit, even if at as present, Thailand is being influenced to consider a land transfer facility, if at all, by other affected countries.

8). Wars today, are not just being fought by only our Military in border regions, but also all across the Country and in different ways and we need to recognize and prepare for such methods. Our ‘No First Use’ policy for ‘Nuclear’ weapons, and our general peaceful attitude, calls for a very strong, credible and recognized Second-strike capability across the spectrum. A fairly de-centralized military command structure, with an Integrated Military Head Quarters and appropriate Theatre Commands. The Iran war demonstrates the advantage of such de-centralization of Command. The aim should be to have centralised strategic direction with the ability of decentralised execution of pre-approved/ considered plans when communications are disrupted.

Our Integrated Military Head Quarters must be staffed by personnel and Commanders from all the Services with common Uniforms and Badges of Rank, to instil an effective common and objective attitude, not a parochial or partisan attitude. At above operating formation levels, it is the strategic thinking capabilities that are required from our Commanders/Generals. Their Deputies from each Service will be able to help them co-ordinate across Services, as may be necessary. Do remember that in the second World War, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the East was General Douglas McArthur and in the West was General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and they were both very effective and successful.

We should have greater confidence in our appreciation and selection processes and in our Training Establishments, starting from the National Defence Academy, through Defence Services Staff College, and other such Joint Services establishments such as the National Defence College.

Theatre Commands: India is a large Country, with great terrain and climatic variations and very different threat perception across the various regions of the Country, it hence needs region specific Integrated and multi-Services Theatre Commands each of which must have a comprehensive defensive capability and also a very effective and independent offensive strike capability, that should be organized and equipped as required. Their operational plans should be independently calibrated to meet any threat they may face and coordinated through the Integrated Head Quarters and with the other adjacent Theatre Commands. Theatre Commanders should also be able to function effectively, as per pre-determined plans, even if communications with other Commands or the Head Quarters is compromised. Continual interaction at various levels and reasonable awareness of each other’s responsibilities and plans will help. Modular, functional limits should be considered, where feasible, to allow for cross support across theatres.

Each Theatre Command should also be organised with offensive and defensive troops and capabilities. This will allow for better use of troops and resources. All defensive forces need not be as fit as the offensive element, thus allowing for better use of experienced troops.

Areas in which we need to expand our capabilities:

All under our Atmanibhar programme. The value and involvement of our Private Sector, even as the danger of the unbridled growth of the military industrial complex as in the USA, must be recognized and regulated against. Allowing for the User at various appropriate levels to determine the need for, and procure their requirements preferably locally, as is being done today is a good decision, avoiding bureaucratic delays and cost overruns. Note the example of the European countries today, trusting USA for their Defence, cutting down on Military costs and now as the UK Defence Minister quotes his General as saying they are not only not ready for war, but also, they do not have an adequate standing Military Force.

We should allocate adequate resources for defence and R&D in such sectors and encourage them to ‘Think out of the Box’ and work with the acceptance that some failures are part of the way to progress and to work even harder to achieve more and scale up for cost benefits. Exports of such weapons and systems, to friendly countries and with a proper ‘end-user’ certification, and cross-use of such technologies and products in the Civil sector must be encouraged.

Also, note that the slogan Prime Minister Lal Bahadhur Shastri gave us had ‘Jai Jawan’ first and only then ‘Jai Kisan’, even as he called for recognition of other wealth creators, say ‘Jai Udyogan’. If you do not have a strong military, then ‘Might becomes Right’ and you may lose all that you have and value. Remember the famines we had under the British Raj. Hence, do not scrimp on Defence. Every other achievement is possible and useful to you only if you can use or trade and freely benefit from what you have produced or created, with no obstacles or interference or claims from others.

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