Defence reboot policy: Revamp R&D, simplify weapons purchase – The Times of India.
It raises several contradictions and while increasing the cap to 100% FDI to make the industry more indigenous, and lower the imports from the high 65%, I will question the prudence of the decision. Clearly this indicates a strong sense of Nationalism in seeing India as a great super power not dependent for it arms from the international market, who yearn for the demand for it by watching the conflicts from the sidelines. The point is will this not take us back to economic dependencies on foreign investment i.e.: profiteering.
The other issue of placing armed forces officers in ministerial staff positions needs to be carefully seen. Will this be the militarisation of the civil administration? I’d rather the staff so placed be retired out of uniform or this be part of a resettlement scheme. Do we want to emulate our neighbours where the armed forces have brought their nation to the ground?
Increasing R&D facilities should get a great thumbs up! Arms procurement is always a tedious process and can not be done in a haste. Not sure how much of the complexity can be removed.
A better idea is to focus on diplomacy to reduce the need for arms.
The BJP has some challenges, like anyone who wants to make a change. Kudos to them and Modi to make the change! I hope they do it with progressive measures and not entirely a blind nationalistic zeal.
