India has been making progress with its self-reliance project or the Atmanirbhar Bharat (AB) initiative that was launched in May 2020. This flagship undertaking has shown signs of incremental progress in the defense sector. Independent of AB, examples of successful defence indigenisation under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have largely been confined to missile technology. But by the end of 2022, the defence ministry disclosed that under AB’s Positive Indigenization List (PIL) a total of 3,700 items have been taken off the import list and sourced from the domestic industry.
Military Strength Ranking of India
India’s Military Strength Ranking in the world is fourth. For 2022, India is ranked 4 out of the 142 countries that are considered for the Global GPF review. India holds a PwrIndx score of 0.0979. In general, a score of 0.0000 is considered perfect. Above India are three major countries: the United States of America, Russia, and China respectively.
The military forces of the Republic of India include Indian Army Forces. It comprises three main services: the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Army.
The Central Armed Police Forces, Indian Coast Guard, Assam Rifles, Special Frontier Force, and several inter-service commands and institutions together support the Indian Armed forces.
The President of India is known to be the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. India has around 13,25,000 active frontline personnel, around 6500 tanks, a total of 1905 aircraft, and 15 submarines.
Regiments in the Indian Army
In the Indian Army, there are a total of 65 regiments. The army recruits are selected in these regiments as per their skill and valor.
All the regiments of the Indian army have made great sacrifices for the country over the years and have protected our country.
Every regiment is unique in its own way. Each regiment plays a significant role in bringing about operational efficiency and effectiveness.
Each regiment of the Indian army specializes in its particular field. Some of the most important regiments of the Indian Army include the Dogra Regiment, Gorkha Regiment, Ladakh Scout Regiment, Kumaon Regiment, Sikh Regiment, and so on.
At the time of independence 76 years ago, our military was highly combat-experienced, having participated in World War II. However, we were taken by surprise by Pakistan in 1947 and by China in 1962. But today, we are the ones who are surprising our adversaries, be it the Surgical Strikes or Balakot air strikes, be it stopping the Chinese advance in Doklam in 2017 or blocking them at Ladakh in 2020.
In 1947, Pakistan employed invaders as well as army soldiers to attack Jammu & Kashmir, which led to J&K joining India. Then the Indian Army was inducted, and they stopped the Pakistan advance bravely. In1962, Indian Army was surprised by Chinese assaults in the face of peace overtures between both countries. It was more a political failure than a military one.
The Many Past Successes of the Indian Military
The Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 was a huge victory with unprecedented success; 93,000 Pakistani soldiers soldiers laid down their arms in a formal surrender ceremony and another country was created. It was arguably the largest victory since World War II.
All along, the Indian Army also continued to battle internal insurgencies when the state governments and Union police forces could not control the situation in Northeast, Punjab, and J&K. In 1987-89, Indian Army conducted operations in Sri Lanka at the request of Sri Lanka government. The Indian Army acquitted itself well and helped the neighbour. It is not easy to fight an insurgency in another country, as the fiascos in Vietnam and Afghanistan have shown. In 1988, Indian Army assisted the Maldives government against a coup by a swift and professional response. These operations go to show the country’s capability and the faith reposed by the neighbouring countries.
In the 1980s, Indian Army also established dominance at the Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world. In 1998, India successfully carried out the nuclear tests again and entered the select club of nuclear nations. In 1999, Pakistan intruded forces in Kargil with a sinister aim to cut off the Siachen glacier and Ladakh. The Indian Army resolutely evicted the intruders, with scores of frontal battles at the icy heights with young leaders doing the country proud by leading from the front and inspiring the soldiers to success against all odds.
Another common denominator is the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), in which the Indian Army is supposed to be the instrument of last resort, but more often than not ends up being the first responder. We have provided HADR to other countries as well, which has earned global appreciation.
Making the Army Future-Ready
This was our past, but we can’t rest on old laurels, we must make the army future-ready. The need of the hour is to prepare the army for the future, and convert India from a military force to a military power. In brief, we have to prepare for future conflicts, a two-front threat, and grey zone warfare.
In recent years, certain bold operational decisions have been taken, and some transformational changes have been initiated, yet much more needs to be done. When terrorists launched an attack on the Army Base at Uri and we lost 18 young soldiers, Indian Army boldly launched surgical strikes at the terrorist camps across the Line of Control. The enemy was taken totally by surprise, as he had least expected this unprecedented action. A couple of years later when we lost 40 CRPF men to a terror attack launched by a Pakistan-based terror outfit, India’s precision air strikes caused havoc at a terrorist camp at Jabba Top near Balakot, deep inside Pakistan. On the LAC, when the Chinese PLA attempted to advance into Bhutan territory at Dolam Plateau, the Indian Army forced the PLA to stop on his side of the LAC in 2017. In 2020, when PLA tried to alter the LAC unilaterally in Ladakh, they were stopped at the expense of a bloody battle at Galwan, in which both sides lost soldiers, for the first time in half a century.
Military reforms had been ushered in after the Kargil war, but were left unfinished. HQ Integrated Defence Staff had been raised, but a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) had not been appointed. This shortcoming was removed and a CDS was appointed on 1 January 2020 to usher in transformational reforms and integration of structures and processes of armed forces. This was a game changer. Raising a separate Department of Military Affairs was another significant reform, which was a long-standing need to streamline the office procedures. Such reforms will go a long way to strengthen military machinery for a shorter decision matrix, which is the need of the hour in this era where multiple inputs have to be processed simultaneously to arrive at decisions with speed.
Sensitive to the demands of new-age warfare, Defence Cyber and Space Agencies have been raised. Information Warfare processes have also been strengthened and integrated. A Special Operations Division has also been established to coordinate the Special Forces operations of all three services. Such structures will help in negotiating the grey zone warfare.
The Importance of Self-Reliance
No country that aspires for a regional role can remain dependent on foreign arms and equipment. Hence, some transformational and never-before reforms have been ushered in to make India self-reliant (Atmanirbhar Bharat) in defence needs. A boost has been given to domestic industry and special incentives to the private sector. Under strategic partnership, defence manufacturers are being encouraged to form a partnership with foreign defence manufacturers to bring in better technology as well as investment. Since India is a huge defence market, big global players are keen to set up shop here.
For the first time, an allocation of 25% percent of R&D budget has been reserved for the private sector. Several advanced countries follow this model, and it will pay good dividends in the long run. The government has announced a negative import list, or a positive ‘atmanirbharta’ list, listing over 300 defence components that cannot be imported; they must be procured indigenously. Such steps will give a boost to the private sector, especially Medium and Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs).