Summer of 2020. As the country contemplates the continued entry of the Covid-19 pandemic in panic, a sudden Chinese offensive on the arid and cold high altitude plateau of Ladakh dealt a double blow to the Indian Army. They faced a distinct two-front threat: not Pakistan and China for which they were preparing, but Covid and China. At a time when the military had to chip in with logistics to fight the pandemic, the Chinese secretly attacked the Line of Actual Control (LAC), advancing into Indian-occupied territory.
With a steady build-up of troops, armor and heavy equipment on the Chinese side, the Indian war machinery swung into action – a Jumbo C-17 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) made a quick flight to Ladakh from its base in Hindon. Near Delhi, airdropping heavy military equipment, men and material, ensuring that there was no shortage of supplies to troops in Ladakh, increased to over 50,000 over the next few months. As well as helping to protect the border, the plane flew around the world, carrying large oxygen tankers as thousands of people sick with Covid were gasping for breath. Even Indian Navy ships were part of the Covid relief operations as the country faced its biggest military threat in years along the border with China.
For Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, high-ranking officials in the three services and the Defense Ministry, the twin challenge of an aggressive China and a raging pandemic was unprecedented. It could not have been a war game.
However, despite 15 rounds of talks in Ladakh, brief conflicts, eyeball confrontations and near-stagnation have pushed for self-reliance in defense along the lines of the government’s mantra. atmanirbhartaIn various defense projects aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing, indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant is the major big ticket platform. The ship completed her maiden voyage in August 2021 and will be commissioned by August 15 this year.
The emphasis is on self-reliance with decisions like the Ministry of Defense excluding imports of 310 defense platforms and weapon systems starting August 2020. In addition, the ministry will have restrictions on imports of 2,851 items being procured from abroad. According to its estimates, there is a saving of up to Rs 3,000 crore every year. Of course, the ban on defense imports is aimed at bolstering domestic manufacturing. The new defense policy aims to double defense exports to Rs 35,000 crore and domestic procurement of equipment to Rs 1.4 lakh crore in five years (2025).
cover story , challenges ahead
Along with refraining from self-reliance, the Defense Budget for 2022-23 has earmarked 25 per cent of research and development expenditure exclusively for Indian companies, start-ups and academia. However, key strategic partnership models aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing of defense equipment in joint ventures with foreign companies face hurdles. Projects under the model included helicopters, submarines, fighter aircraft and tanks, but talks on technology transfer have been going on for more than five years since the plan was announced.