‘Giving neighbours a stake in India’s progress, vital’
Excerpts of Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh’s recent address to India’s Combined Commanders’
Conference
It gives me immense pleasure once again to address the Combined
Commanders Conference of the Indian Armed Forces. You have the singular
privilege and honour of leading our gallant soldiers, sailors and air
warriors. Our men and women in uniform have demonstrated unflinching
devotion to duty each time the nation’s security has been challenged or
when we have faced natural calamities.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh |
The armed forces have played a stellar role in safeguarding our
borders, in fighting terrorism and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir,
insurgencies in the North-East, pirates in the Indian Ocean and aiding
civil authority in Sikkim during the recent earthquake. Our countrymen
look up to the armed forces as the epitome of honesty, integrity,
character and professionalism.
Multiple challenges
Your Conference is taking place at a time when the country is faced
with multiple challenges. In this age of rapid information flows and
explosion of technologies, one of the most important security
imperatives is our ability to respond to these challenges quickly and in
an integrated fashion.
We should be justifiably proud of the excellent civil-military
relations that we have traditionally maintained and which has been the
bedrock of our democracy. We must, however, continuously build upon this
tradition and leverage the combined will of the nation to meet new and
emerging threats.
Broadly speaking, the international strategic and political
environment has deteriorated from our point of view. The policies we
adopt, whether internally or externally, must factor this in.
We have paid special attention to our immediate neighbourhood. This
is based on our conviction that the task of India’s socio-economic
transformation will always be more difficult and less likely to succeed
if we do not manage relations with our neighbours properly; more
importantly, if we do not give them a substantial stake in India’s
economic progress and stability.
Domestic problems
Most major powers today are preoccupied with their own domestic
problems. This has made the task of effective and coordinated global
response to international issues that much more difficult. While we must
work with the international community to address global issues, we must
also strengthen our own capabilities and be ready to stand on our own
feet, whenever required. We must therefore consolidate our own strategic
autonomy and independence of thought and action.
The fundamentals of our economy remain strong. Despite the global
slowdown, we will still achieve a growth rate of close to eight percent
this year. Our short term challenge is to bring down inflation, while in
the long term we have to make our growth process more inclusive, spur
agricultural growth, expand the delivery of education, health and other
services, protect our environment and improve our overall
infrastructure.
It is equally the responsibility of the government to equip our armed
forces with all the necessary means to meet all threats to our nation,
including those which go beyond conventional warfare.
Cyber threats
We have a long history in fighting terrorism. Today terrorist groups
are highly networked, nimble footed and more lethal. This calls for
appropriate responses. Cyber threats are emerging as a major source of
worry. Cyber and information warfare could qualitatively change the
concept of a battlefield. Nuclear proliferation and nuclear security
remain a serious threat in our neighbourhood.
We must focus much more on maritime security, and on securing our
coastline, our exclusive economic zone, our island territories and the
sea lanes of communication.
Internally, we have to work assiduously to address problems in the
North East and deal with left-wing extremism in a comprehensive manner.
We have to be sensitive to the needs of the weaker sections of
society and ensure that the fruits of our progress reach them. Issues
relating to use of scarce resources such as land and water and
strengthening institutions of governance require much closer attention
than they have received in the past.
Scarce resources
The government will never fight shy of finding the funds for the
modernization of our forces. At the same time we have to recognize that
resources are not unlimited. I would urge upon you to optimize the use
of scarce resources. You are the best judges of how this can be done,
but advance and long term planning and the creation of common
institutions, communication networks and infrastructure are some
examples of how this could be achieved. We should keep this in mind
particularly when we build new capacities for meeting emerging threats.
The development of an indigenous defence industry is a national
security objective. We have succeeded in persuading many of the advanced
countries to dismantle their export control regimes targeted at us which
will give us access to high technology, but we need to gear up our own
efforts.
Modernisation of the armed forces should not be limited only to
acquisition of foreign equipment or foreign technologies. We have to
progressively reduce our dependence on external sources. This has to be
a national effort, involving our armed forces, our scientists and
captains of Indian industry.
We are among the world leaders in information technology and a
knowledge based economy. We have a vibrant private sector. It is
necessary to put in place policies to promote a viable defence industry
in the country using the large industrial and skill base that already
exists. Greater competition will lead to greater efficiencies and more
research and development. The Defence Production Policy announced this
year is a step in the right direction.
Public institutions
The Ministry of Defence has over the last few years taken several
steps to streamline the processes of acquisition. I am glad that the
Defence Procurement Procedure 2011 contains new provisions to encourage
private sector participation in ship building and expansion in the scope
of the offset guidelines. Procurement procedures must ensure
transparency, probity and accountability. We must also constantly work
towards reducing time for processing proposals. Well formulated long
term integrated plans will facilitate this task.
Our armed forces must attract the best and the brightest of our
youth. The skills of those who are already in the forces should be
continuously upgraded and broad-based so that our forces operate at the
cutting edge of technology. As Commanders, you have a special
responsibility to inculcate the finest qualities of character, integrity
and professionalism among your junior officers and men and women. We
live in an increasingly open society characterised by instant
communications and mass media. These impose greater responsibilities on
all public institutions of our Republic, including the armed forces.
Ensuring the welfare of ex-servicemen is a responsibility that the
nation has towards our men and women in uniform. It is necessary that
the relevant plans and schemes are implemented diligently, that we
ensure appropriate retraining and above all, we show compassion to those
who have served our nation so well.
You are commanders of one of the finest armed forces in the world.
Our nation is truly proud of your achievements and indebted to you for
your bravery, for your valour and for your sacrifices. I wish you even
greater success in the service of our nation in the years to come. |