Armed forces to be restructured, asked to plan for future wars

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 4

The high-powered Defence Planning Council (DPC), at its first meeting on Thursday, has asked for leaner, meaner and restructured armed forces ready for future wars enabled by proper use of budgetary allocations.

Top sources told The Tribune that the DPC headed by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval has tasked the three Service Chiefs — of the Army, IAF and Navy — with assessing and suggesting threats to national security in the immediate and long term.

The forces have been asked to plan restructuring and reforms by learning lessons from the past and cutting out the flab. In the past two years, some of the redundant activities of the Army such as military farms started by the British for fodder for horses and milk for troops have been shut down. More such activities have been suggested by a committee headed by Lt Gen DB Sheketkar.

The DPC, which actually has come about from a suggestion mooted by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, is looking to empower the forces by decentralising decision-making and increasing financial powers.

The committee will also relook at the budget for maximising its use. “Evolve a plan which enables the budget to be balanced while planning for future wars, not yesterday’s war,” said a source. This is indicative of a new doctrine for the future.

At present, 33 per cent of the country’s capital expenses (new infrastructure and equipment) are mandated for the defence. Overall, the defence has some 12 per cent of the entire budget of the country.

Despite this, a report of the parliamentary standing committee in March quoted Lt Gen Sarath Chand, the Vice-Chief of the Indian Army, that the Budget 2018-19 has “dashed” all hopes of modernisation of the force, which is saddled with equipment, of which more than two-thirds is “vintage”.

He added that the marginal increase in the budgetary allocation barely accounts for inflation, and the Army won’t be able to pay instalments of past purchases with the money it has received.

The DPC has decided that forces will list out the immediate criticality of weapons and ammunition. At the Thursday meeting, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed the members about the changing geo-political situation, the recent changes like the tango with China in Wuhan and the shape of things to come.