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During the discussion, well-known General (Retd.) NS Brar too under - • Singing praises The constant hype around formation Warfare in the country.
defence expert and commentator Colo- lined the need to ensure the long-term surgical strike, experts say, was unwarranted Another session saw experts advocate
nel (Retd.) Ajai Shukla cautioned against impact on the enemy before undertaking a level playing field for private entrepre-
the recent trend to colour military any such operation in future. neurs for boosting Defence production
achievements with political motives. He Cautioning the political masters available inputs. He also highlighted the in the country in order to make the coun-
also underlined the need to maintain against being adventurers, General Brar need to invest more aggressively in ac- try self-reliant in military hardware.
operational decency and sanctity of the asked if the political masters would have quiring language mastery in South Asian Taking part in a discussion on Military
operations undertaken by the defence taken responsibility had there been any languages like Mandarin, Sinhalese and Industrial Base and Make in India, For-
forces. causalities in the strikes. Pashto. mer Chief of Indian Army General (Retd.)
“Success has its burden”, Colonel Underscoring the need to adopt the VP Malik said that India was importing
Shukla said, adding that Pakistan had in Proposal to have marigold flower technology, he said in the present times, 14 per cent of the total arms and am -
fact been emboldened by the strikes as declared as a remembrance flower as a intellect and technology need to be syn- munition globally, which was more than
they now know that the Indian govern- tribute to the fallen soldiers chronised to achieve desired ends. “Our what China and Pakistan import collec-
ment would always be under immense One of the key developments at the covert capability would depend on the tively. He said that in 1992, the Defence
pressure to strike across the border Military Literature Festival was the in Indian Defence’, the experts under- regretted that the Indian government marriage of these two aspects”, General Research and Development Organisa-
after each terror attack. unanimous call by the veterans, experts lined the need for decision-makers to en- was spending crores on statues and bul- Davar added. tion had chalked out a 10-year plan un-
Shukla went on to add that the ex- during the session on “India’s contri- sure that, along with a booming econo- let trains while neglecting the defence der which the then trend of 80 per cent
cessive publicity of the September 2016 bution to the World War I” to moot a my, there should be no shortage of funds budget. Lt Gen KJ Singh (Retd) said In- Experts call for more indigenous import of weapons and 20 per cent ex-
strikes, which were an actually reaction- proposal to the centre government for the armed forces. dia should focus on punitive deterrents equipment of Information Warfare port was to be reversed within ten years.
that orange marigold be declared as a Gen. VP Malik (Retd), former Chief of against its enemies so that they think Defence experts also called for the
At the Military remembrance flower for honouring the Army Staff (COAS) moderated this ses- twice before initiating any action against development of more indigenous Defence experts
equipment of Information Warfare in
our country. He said that our country
sion while Lt. Gen. KJ Singh (Retd), Col
memory of fallen heroes, on the lines of
Literature Festival, the Red Poppy chosen for by the British PK Vasudeva (Retd), Lt. Gen. Aditya Singh needs more credible deterrents such as the country to build an edge against slam the recent trend
surgical strikes.
government for the same cause.
adversaries in the battlefield.
(Retd) were the panellists.
a proposal was The proposal, mooted by noted mili- Lt. Gen. Aditya Singh (Retd) said that Participating in a discussion on ‘In- to colour military
mooted to the Centre tary historian Squadron Leader Rana China is bringing Artificial Intelligence Wisdom of spies formation Warfare- the new face of war’, achievements with
(AI) in drones, which is equipped with
Chhina, was supported in by all panel-
No military gathering would be com-
Lieutenant General (Retd.) Vijay Oberoi
to declare orange lists, and it was resolved to formally face recognition features. He said that plete without mentioning the Kargil war said despite major advancements in the political motives,
marigold as forward this proposal to the Central the future of war would be the war of and therefore, Kargil was a major part of field, India was still banking on Informa- urging the need to
tion Warfare Techniques imported from
discussion during a session on “Wisdom
Government. The discussion also
drones and robots along with hyperson-
a remembrance resulted in a demand for a dedicated war ic aircrafts. Gen. VP Malik (Retd) said that of Spies” wherein former RAW chief A other countries, which could be very maintain operational
flower to honour memorial to commemorate the sacrific- along with these, the next warfare would S Dulat disclosed that sufficient Intel- fatal. decency and sanctity
Citing an example, he said that GPRS
es of all World War I heroes.
ligence reports pointing to intrusion of
also be cyber and space-based.
fallen heroes The panellists consisted of Squadron Col PK Vasudeva (Retd) questioned Kargil heights were submitted to the cen- Technology, belonging to the US, did not of the operations
Leader Rana Chhina, Prof David Omissi, whether India was spending enough on tral government just ahead of the Kargil perform as well during the Kargil War
Prof. Anju Suri, besides Dr Santanu Das its Armed forces as compared to China. conflict. as was expected to. Lieutenant General
ary strike to Pakistan’s attacks’ on Indian and Lt. Gen. NS Brar, engaged in a discus- “In case of any conflicts, I can frankly say Participating in a discussion on `Wis- (Retd.) Oberoi said that at a time when
Army’s Pathankot base and Uri, had set sion that underlined the social and emo- that we will not be able to face as bla - dom of Spies’, Dulat said the intelligence all forms of weapons, whether nuclear, However, General Malik said that in 2005
a dangerous benchmark for the Indian tional turbulence suffered by soldiers tantly as we have done in 1971 or 1965. reports were shared with the Centre with conventional or sub-conventional, were it was found that exports had increased
political dispensation, which they would and families during the 1914-1918 War. What has happened? The army is basi- all the pointers gathered by the Army be- being managed by computers it was not to just 30 per cent and imports had de-
find difficult to maintain in the eventual- cally indulging in counter-insurgency, fore the war had started. Dulat, who was good that we were still banking on equip- creased to 70 per cent.
ity of future terror attacks. Government not keen on taking inputs counter-terrorism operations in Jammu with the Intelligence Bureau at the time ment made by others. Addressing the gathering, Vice
To a query from the audience, from Defence Experts, rue Veterans & Kashmir and North East. Our sol - of the Kargil conflict, said the vital infor- In his address, Lieutenant General Admiral (Retd.) HS Malhi called for a
General Hooda said, “In hindsight, it Another highlight of the event was the diers are suffering because there are a mation was shared with the then Union (Retd.) RS Panwar said that while coun- paradigm shift in Defence Produc -
would have been better had we done plain-speaking by the former officers large number of casualties because of Home Minister, who was also holding the tries like the US, China and Russia had al- tion. Citing the figures, he said that
it(referring to the surgical strikes) and war veterans alike who minced no lack of equipment, small arms, lack of charge of Deputy Prime Minister. ready taken concrete steps to strengthen 75,000 crore was the annual import
secretly. The aim of any such offensive words when it came to India’s defence ammunition etc. This is an economy Earlier, Lt Gen Kamal Davar high - their Information Warfare techniques, of weapons in the country whereas
had to be not only tactical but strategic strategy and the way ahead. which is one of the largest in the world, lighted the importance of putting all the India was still to take an appropriate call 25,00 crore was the value of weapons
too, which substantially hampers enemy Defence experts regretted the re - but has not been able to provide the three defence wings physically under on it. He said that like Army, Navy, Air- exported from the country. Vice Ad -
morale”, he said, adding that he could not luctance of the central government to basic minimum equipment to soldiers,” one unified command, with convergence force, Space and Cyber Domain, it was miral (Retd.) HS Malhi said that the fig-
say with certainty if India had actually take inputs from them in drafting the he rued. in decision making ensured. Cautioning also a part of modern warfare. ure of imports was likely to swell up to
achieved that objective in full measure. country’s defence strategy and called Giving the example of Israel, he said against the current trend of NSA being Lieutenant General (Retd.) Panwar 35,000 crore by 2025, adding that this
Citing the example of the 1981 Israeli for brainstorming for a long-term that the small country was surrounded the ‘Intelligence Czar’ of the country, batted for framing new doctrines and needs to be reversed immediately.
air strikes on Iraqi nuclear sites, which cohesive combat and defence plan. by 17 of its enemy countries, but still, Davar said it was one thing to have infor- new structures, besides adequate skill
had caused considerable damage, Lt. At a session on `Evolving Challenges the entire region was afraid of them. He mation but totally another to act on all development to give a major push to In- LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM
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