Friday, August 28, 2015
Submarine disasters: If Narendra Modi becomes PM, India must overhaul its defence policy in favour of the US, dump Russia
It slowly seems that BJP’s Narendra Modi is becoming popular by each passing day and if he clinches the Prime Minister’s throne (which is slowly becoming a possibility), his first job would be to overhaul the defence policy that has been followed by the Congress for decades (in favour of Russia and against the Americans), especially in the wake of the recent submarine disasters.
A few months ago, it looked like the BJP would bag no more than 160-180 seats in the forthcoming parliamentary elections (and the Congress 90-100 seats) but now it is being perceived that this number could surge for the BJP (may be 220-230) and dwindle for the Congress (at may be as low as 70).
India’s defence strategy, right from the time of Indira Gandhi, has remained flawed. Instead of opting for American arms and equipment, the country has tilted towards the Russians for arms and ammunition. And, it has been that way ever since then.
The end result: We are lagging China in weapons and even the number and quality of our fighter aircraft fall far behind our neighbour.
The navy witnessed a serious setback when INS Sindhurakshak, a submarine that had only recently returned from an extensive refit in Russia, exploded in a Mumbai dockyard, killing all the 18 on board.
This has come as a big blow to a country, which claims to have one of the best defence capabilities. But no lessons have been learnt.
Also, India's navy chief had quit about a week ago after an accident on board another submarine off the coast of Mumbai, which injured seven sailors and left two missing.
Despite seeing a slew of blunders with its Russian defence tie-up, the government is unfazed. It is learnt that India is now planning to take on lease another nuclear submarine from that country.
If India goes ahead with this new plan, it could cost the country Rs 6,000 crore and may also pave the way for more disasters or setbacks.
Unfortunately, India has never even considered American defence equipment, which in terms of quality is simply the best as well as hi-tech.
Another area of disaster for India is the MiG-21s, which are (unpopularly) known as Flying Coffins.
Between 1993 and 2000, the air force lost over 100 pilots in 280 accidents. Totally, the IAF has lost around 115 aircraft to crashes and not combat.
Instead of going for Russian fighters, India could have pitched for F-16s, one of the best fighter jets in the world, which our neighbour Pakistan uses. India could have also shopped for stealth aircraft like the B2 Bomber or the F/A-22 Raptor, which would have made India’s defence capabilities nearly at par with China’s.
The biggest defence blunder by India is the purchase of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. The original price was $947 million. The Russians upgraded it and the agreed price later (in 2009) was around $3 billion.
The carrier was named INS Vikramaditya but despite the hype and hoopla, Admiral Gorshkov failed sea trials in September 2012.
So, if Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister, India must overhaul its defence policy in favour of the US and just dump Russia.
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