House panel rings alarm bells over border readiness against China, Pak - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: India's operational military and infrastructure readiness on its borders with China and Pakistan is dismal due to the government's lack of long-term strategic planning and timely decision-making as well as the shoddy performance of DRDO and defence PSUs in delivering weapon systems to the armed forces.
This much-needed red alert has been sounded by the parliamentary standing committee on defence, after a rare review of the "threat perception, preparedness of the forces and border connectivity", in its latest report tabled in Parliament.
"What can be more disturbing than the fact that our nation is lagging behind in all areas of border connectivity, whether it be road, rail or air," said the committee, taking note of China's build-up of massive infrastructure all along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).
China can swiftly mobilize over 30 divisions (each with over 15,000 soldiers) to the LAC to outnumber Indian forces by at least 3:1, with at least five fully-operational airbases (Gongar, Pangta, Linchi, Hoping and Gar), an extensive rail network and over 58,000-km of roads in the Tibet Autonomous Region, as reported by TOI earlier.
The committee also slammed the defence ministry for its failure to ensure proper military modernization despite facing a twin-threat from China and Pakistan. The sharp decline in the number of IAF fighter squadrons (each has 18-20 jets), for instance, shows "lack of foresight among the decision-makers" because the grim situation would have been averted with "advance planning" and "concerted efforts", it said.
IAF will continue with just 34 squadrons till at least 2017, despite the ongoing induction of 272 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters because of the progressive phasing out of the ageing MiG fleets, when it needs at least 42 squadrons to face all exigencies. Negotiations for the much-delayed $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project, under which IAF is to induct 126 French Rafale fighters, should be "completed at the earliest" with the procurement being "accelerated", said the committee.
But a major part of the report dealt with India's "very dismal" air, road and rail networks on the border. "What can be more appalling to learn than that many of the border passes from China side are now connected with roads," it said.
From "nil achievement" on the 14 strategic railway lines to extremely poor progress on the 73 all-weather roads identified for construction along the "northern borders" with China, the committee said, "It's shocking to note only one road out of the 27 ITBP roads is complete, and as many as 11 roads are behind schedule and not even detailed project reports have been finalized."
The committee "repudiated" MoD claims that infrastructure development was being implemented in consonance with threat perceptions. "The committee is baffled to learn that an issue so serious as providing border connectivity through rail in the north-east region and other strategic places is taking the rounds of bureaucratic tables," it said.
"The three pillars of plan, budget and procurement, on which defence preparedness of our country hinges, should get proper attention by all stakeholders, policy-makers... the budget should not come in way of defence needs," it added.
NEW DELHI: India's operational military and infrastructure readiness on its borders with China and Pakistan is dismal due to the government's lack of long-term strategic planning and timely decision-making as well as the shoddy performance of DRDO and defence PSUs in delivering weapon systems to the armed forces.
This much-needed red alert has been sounded by the parliamentary standing committee on defence, after a rare review of the "threat perception, preparedness of the forces and border connectivity", in its latest report tabled in Parliament.
"What can be more disturbing than the fact that our nation is lagging behind in all areas of border connectivity, whether it be road, rail or air," said the committee, taking note of China's build-up of massive infrastructure all along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).
China can swiftly mobilize over 30 divisions (each with over 15,000 soldiers) to the LAC to outnumber Indian forces by at least 3:1, with at least five fully-operational airbases (Gongar, Pangta, Linchi, Hoping and Gar), an extensive rail network and over 58,000-km of roads in the Tibet Autonomous Region, as reported by TOI earlier.
The committee also slammed the defence ministry for its failure to ensure proper military modernization despite facing a twin-threat from China and Pakistan. The sharp decline in the number of IAF fighter squadrons (each has 18-20 jets), for instance, shows "lack of foresight among the decision-makers" because the grim situation would have been averted with "advance planning" and "concerted efforts", it said.
IAF will continue with just 34 squadrons till at least 2017, despite the ongoing induction of 272 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters because of the progressive phasing out of the ageing MiG fleets, when it needs at least 42 squadrons to face all exigencies. Negotiations for the much-delayed $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project, under which IAF is to induct 126 French Rafale fighters, should be "completed at the earliest" with the procurement being "accelerated", said the committee.
But a major part of the report dealt with India's "very dismal" air, road and rail networks on the border. "What can be more appalling to learn than that many of the border passes from China side are now connected with roads," it said.
From "nil achievement" on the 14 strategic railway lines to extremely poor progress on the 73 all-weather roads identified for construction along the "northern borders" with China, the committee said, "It's shocking to note only one road out of the 27 ITBP roads is complete, and as many as 11 roads are behind schedule and not even detailed project reports have been finalized."
The committee "repudiated" MoD claims that infrastructure development was being implemented in consonance with threat perceptions. "The committee is baffled to learn that an issue so serious as providing border connectivity through rail in the north-east region and other strategic places is taking the rounds of bureaucratic tables," it said.
"The three pillars of plan, budget and procurement, on which defence preparedness of our country hinges, should get proper attention by all stakeholders, policy-makers... the budget should not come in way of defence needs," it added.
Plus, It's better to spend smarter than to spend more. A Su-30MKI costs at least 4 times as much to operate as a Tejas. 
