At a seminar held in new Delhi recently to mark the 10th anniversary of the arun singh committe on the managment of defence, chief of Air staff PV Naik reignited the chief of defence staff controversy when he claimed that it was not needed. His claims notwithstanding,there are significant problems in tactical in teroperability, defence planning and overall coordination that suggest otherwisw.The defence reforms process,initiated over a decade ago,has largely failed to deliver. Sigficantly, however,the Arun singh committee itself was flawed in its approach.Hence,instead of contradicting the kargil review committee, Naik would do better to focus on the need for the next generation of defence reforms.
that the services lack the capability to operate seamlessly has been proven time and again in operations. During the deployment of the indian peace keeping Force in srilanka,the army used to embed its radio detachments with naval ships and air force attack helicopters to enable communicationslinks.Among the instances where the army requested naval gunifire support,the navy engaged targets 2km away. More recently, kilometers away more recently, during the kargil war in 1999,air force jets did not have the capability to communicate with troops operating on thee front.in troops operating on the front.
In troops operating on the front.in fact the air force did nothave secure, encrypted communication capability in some of its planes, forcing them to fly in radio silence a characteristic of the area.similarly, intelligence gathering and analysis has been one of our weakest links.there are reports that in the aftermath of the mumbai terror attacks,while the air force was prepared to carry out surgical raids,it to was hampered by a lack of accurate intelligence on the location of terror facilities in pakistan.
it was too obviate some of these weaknesses,recognised during the kargil war, that the arun singh committe was formed.it comprised11 people with varying backgrounds and experience.in carryiing out its mandate,yhe committee deliberated over testimonies from different stakeholders.
However,it did not examine the files that obviously illuminate the functioning of different organisations.hence,its analysis wasmore opinion based than data driven.For instance,when it argued that "the COSC has not been effective in fulfilling its mandate",it did not provide any evidence for this claim.An examination of the files of the COSC would have been more helpful in identifying the structural problem, which probably is the difficulty in making controversial decisions in a consensus-based committee.As a result,
the arun singh committees recommendation was simplistic-appointment of a CDS. for historical and bureaucratic reasons,this measure was not approved.
that the services lack the capability to operate seamlessly has been proven time and again in operations. During the deployment of the indian peace keeping Force in srilanka,the army used to embed its radio detachments with naval ships and air force attack helicopters to enable communicationslinks.Among the instances where the army requested naval gunifire support,the navy engaged targets 2km away. More recently, kilometers away more recently, during the kargil war in 1999,air force jets did not have the capability to communicate with troops operating on thee front.in troops operating on the front.
In troops operating on the front.in fact the air force did nothave secure, encrypted communication capability in some of its planes, forcing them to fly in radio silence a characteristic of the area.similarly, intelligence gathering and analysis has been one of our weakest links.there are reports that in the aftermath of the mumbai terror attacks,while the air force was prepared to carry out surgical raids,it to was hampered by a lack of accurate intelligence on the location of terror facilities in pakistan.
it was too obviate some of these weaknesses,recognised during the kargil war, that the arun singh committe was formed.it comprised11 people with varying backgrounds and experience.in carryiing out its mandate,yhe committee deliberated over testimonies from different stakeholders.
However,it did not examine the files that obviously illuminate the functioning of different organisations.hence,its analysis wasmore opinion based than data driven.For instance,when it argued that "the COSC has not been effective in fulfilling its mandate",it did not provide any evidence for this claim.An examination of the files of the COSC would have been more helpful in identifying the structural problem, which probably is the difficulty in making controversial decisions in a consensus-based committee.As a result,
the arun singh committees recommendation was simplistic-appointment of a CDS. for historical and bureaucratic reasons,this measure was not approved.
