BJP, Congress manifestos highlight national security in contrasting ways

Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (Retd)

Military Commentator

THE BJP’s election manifesto covers several aspects of defence and national security, albeit in a fragmented manner. The government’s achievements and pledges feature largely in the section named ‘Modi ki Guarantee for Surakshit Bharat’. The party claims that there have been ‘zero major terror attacks in any city since 2014’. The word ‘city’ is used tactically to justify the omission of the attacks in 2016 (Pathankot airbase and Uri) and 2019 (Pulwama). The implication is that there has been no incident in the past decade that can be compared to the Mumbai terror strikes of 2008.

Also mentioned are the impact of the revocation of Article 370 on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, 52 per cent reduction in left-wing extremism-related violence and 71 per cent reduction in insurgency-linked violence in the North East. Reaffirming its zero tolerance to terrorism, the manifesto describes the surgical strikes of 2016 and the air strikes of 2019 as “examples of our dedicated efforts towards countering terrorism.”

The BJP has vowed to accelerate the development of robust infrastructure along the Indo-China, Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Myanmar borders and introduce technological solutions to make fencing smarter. However, there is no mention of the troubled border state of Manipur, which has been on the boil for the past year.

In the section ‘Modi ki Guarantee for Global Manufacturing Hub’, it’s written under the sub-head ‘Promoting Defence Manufacturing’: “We will vastly expand domestic defence manufacturing and exports of Made in Bharat equipment. This effort will be facilitated by accelerating indigenisation in major air and land equipment platforms.” Last year, on completing nine years in power, the BJP had highlighted its achievements by producing a booklet in which a chapter was titled ‘Nation First: Foreign Policy and National Security’.

In the Congress manifesto, defence, external security and internal security are reviewed separately. It highlights the perceived loss of 2,000 sq km of territory and 26 of 65 patrolling points in Ladakh. The party has promised to unveil the National Security Strategy (NSS); revise the Defence Minister’s Operational Directive last issued in 2009; institutionalise and make transparent the process of appointing the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS); reverse the decline in defence spending while allocating adequate funds; scrap the Agnipath scheme; bring the National Security Council and the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) under parliamentary oversight; secure global supply chains for strategic materiel; rectify anomalies in the implementation of the OROP (one rank, one pension); and restore tax-free disability pension. The internal security provisions focus on eliminating hate speech and hate crime and preventing communal disaffection. The party has promised to ‘operationalise’ the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) and the National Counter-Terrorism Centre within a year. I think the Congress scores over the BJP in the intent and content of its defence and security objectives.

What is most surprising in the defence sector is the sub-2 per cent allocation, even as the GDP is steadily increasing. Capability development and efforts to catch up with China have suffered, even though capital expenditure has been integrated for the Services. The government’s magic mantra to have more funds for modernisation through the skewed Agnipath scheme will take a decade or more to fructify. In 2022-23, the pension bill due to OROP arrears exceeded the modernisation budget, which BJP decided to redress by rightsizing the armed forces. This has resulted in deficiencies in the combat strength of fighting units. In 2022, the personnel shortfall was 1.18 lakh in the Army alone; this will grow exponentially as the retirement rate outpaces the recruitment intake because 75 per cent of the Agniveers will be demobilised after four years. One must pray that ‘this is not an era of war’ (a Modi aphorism) would be true for the region, even though two wars (in Ukraine and Gaza) are raging on.

The government’s flagship atmanirbharta project has been in focus for its greater emphasis on self-reliance than on state-of-the-art equipment, as the late CDS Gen Bipin Rawat had predicted. The L1 tender system is one of the culprits for inadequacy in quality. Defence exports have shot up, with the government giving lines of credit to friendly countries, which are buying mainly non-lethal equipment. The Defence Planning Committee consisting of the service chiefs and the NSA has yet to bring out the long-awaited NSS, which is one of the reasons for theaterisation being held up. A draft of the NSS was given to NSA Ajit Doval by the Integrated Defence Staff in 2021; this will require updating. Shedding the colonial legacy is proving to be an avoidable diversion for the armed forces, which must spend time on enhancing combat capabilities rather than on refashioning the military apparel.

The most critical issue for the fighting forces is the resource crunch — and the ability to spend the capital allocation — which in the past decade has not crossed 2 per cent of the GDP despite the threat magnification. The mid/late 1980s were the heyday of national defence. The first tri-service 15-year defence plan was produced in 1988 and mentioned in Parliament.

The BJP has appointed five defence ministers in 10 years, one of whom was the Finance Minister but twice held the additional charge of defence. The Modi government appointed S Jaishankar, a former Foreign Secretary, as Foreign Minister, and he has transformed India’s international image. Defence of the realm warrants similar political and professional attention. The new Defence Minister or MoS for defence must be endowed with military expertise. That will ratchet up decision-making and curb time and cost overruns for achieving atmanirbharta.

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