US and EU sanctions against key Russian arms producing firms, design bureaus and export organisations have had significant implications for Russian arms importing nations.
Ukraine’s security predicament in the face of the Russian military onslaught brings into focus the vacuity of big power security assurances in the absence of legally binding security guarantees and treaty commitments.
The Srijan defence indigenisation portal is a limited but concrete example of the implications of India’s defence indigenisation efforts for key strategic partners like Israel.
Defence procurement in India needs to adopt a mix of procurement avenues in which the indigenous solutions, foreign equipment and futuristic R&D continue together in a balanced manner. Considering that piecemeal solutions are not effective in the long term, there is a need to adopt a ‘Systems Approach’ to come up with a holistic solution which is enduring and progressive.
In the current geopolitical situation, India needs to increase the indigenous defence production and build a strong military force armed with technologically advanced defence equipment to create a robust security framework that meets the requisites of modern warfare.
The GFR 2017 permit individual ministries to issue detailed instructions to address the needs and complexities of procurement carried out by them. The question is whether those principles and rules come in the way of the Ministry of Defence evolving a more efficient procurement procedure that meets the armed forces’ aspirations.
If existing procurement procedures are a hindrance in acquiring state-of-the-art defence materiel expeditiously, a case needs to be made out, based on demonstrable drawbacks of the existing system for a detailed blueprint of what system should replace it.
The Ministry of Defence has taken significant steps in recent times to boost domestic defence manufacturing and increase the role of the private sector to reduce dependence on imports and achieve self-reliance.
Defence of India is a multi-dimensional responsibility involving coordination with not only organisations within MoD, but also several external departments and agencies. Irrespective of whether the subject of defence of India is assigned to DoD or DMA, it is the defence minister who is responsible for the subjects allocated to the ministry.
Budgetary Reforms: The Forgotten Agenda
Micro and macro-level budgetary reforms are required to ensure optimum utilisation of the allocated resources for executing financially viable plans.