Special Article
India’s frenzied militarisation
and its huge military budget
By Dr. Qutubuddin Aziz

Although 40 per cent of India’s population of a
billion people lives in grinding poverty, the surge
of frenzied militarisation continues unabated. India’s military budget for FY 2001-2002, which was unfolded in the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Indian Parliament on February 28, showed an allocation of well over Rs. 68,000 crores for defence. It deftly camouflages in the allocations of civil ministries large amounts of military-related expenditure such as the building of strategic roads in border areas, the maintenance of more than 200,000 paramilitary force such as the Border Security Force, the Rashtriya Rifles and the Central Police Reserve Force and the operations of the burgeoning Coast Guards on a par with naval vessels. Also tucked away in the spending of civil ministries are large sums of money lavished on military-related research and development such as missile and space rocket components. If all this deceptive military-linked camouflaged spending is analysed, the Indian military budget for FY 2001-2002 would swell to 80,000 crores of rupees – so far the biggest in India’s history. Indian financial wizards in gerrymandering budget figures, who have an eye on the sensitivity of India’s foreign aid donors, raised the FY 1999-2000 budget by 28 per cent and for the new budget the hike is of nearly 14%.

A major component of India’s new budget is the $ 3 billion arms purchase contract India signed with Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, during his New Delhi visit last October. The Indo-Russian arms deal resulted under the aegis of the “Strategic Partnership” (an euphemism for a military alliance) which President Putin signed with India in New Delhi last October, in a way replacing their August 1971 20-year military pact (under the guise of a Friendship Treaty) which had terminated in 1992 following the break-up of the Soviet Empire. The secret components of this so-called Strategic Partnership were disclosed neither in New Delhi nor in Moscow. But at the time of its signing in New Delhi an agreement between the home ministries of India and Russia was signed and publicised in the capitals of the two countries (reported in New Delhi’s daily Hindu) under which both the governments agreed to impose a censorship blanket on news of the sale of Russian arms to India and the so-called murky “strtegic acts” which the two countries would engage in as virtual military allies. Surprisingly, the Indian Press, which tom-toms freedom of the Press, then raised no objection to the Moscow-New Delhi skulduggery against the Press. A former KGB operative, Putin has no love for the Press and its freedom; India’s Advani is no better.

According to India’s new defence budget, the largest single fiscal allocation is for India’s 1.3 million strong Army i.e. Rs. 30,110 crores, Rs. 7700 crores for the Indian Air Force and Rs. 4200 crores for the Indian Navy. In the past fiscal year ended March 1, this year, India’s military budget was of 58600 crores of rupees in which a 28% hike was made. This year the swell in the Indian military budget is of a little under 14 per cent, meaning an increase of Rs. 7600 crores. (A crore is 10 million; $ 1 equals Rs. 46).

A major item in this year’s Indian defence budget is the acquisition of a virtually mothballed Soviet aircraft career Gorshov which carried nearly a hundred aircraft and helicopters. More than a quarter century old, it has been leading a retired life in a Russian shipyard, experiencing a variety of intensive tests by Indian navy experts interested in getting it for free from Moscow. Weighing some 40,000 tons, it needs a complete refit. In a burst of generosity, Russia’s President Putin bestowed the limping Gorshov on India as a gift but with the proviso that it will be repaired and rejuvenated in Russian shipyards by Russians only for which India would be billed in US dollars. All the nearly 100 planes and helicopters to be put on board will be new Russian-made warplanes for which India would pay in US dollars. At present one of India’s two British aircraft careers, Vikrant and Virkaat has been mothballed while the other, despite repairs in Indian dockyards under Russian supervision, is too aged to be called a “man of war”. Another major acquisition under the new Indian budget will be some 380 latest style Russian tanks and a number of warships and submarines, including another leased nuclear submarine. The Indians need it for advancing their own nuclear submarine project espoused ten years ago under late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. A host of other war weapons and technologies including nuclear fuel and “Heavy water”, special gear for high-altitude warfare and electronic warfare equipment and upgrading of old Soviet warplanes and missile-equipped warships are included in the $ 3 billion Indo-Russian arms deal.

The production of more than 300 Prithvi missiles and a host of other lethal missiles such as the Agni is also included in the Indian arms budget. More than a hundred Prithvi missiles are said to have been supplied to the Indian Army and are stored in silos near the Pakistan border in western Punjab. India is increasing its military spending on the Siachin and Kargil fronts. India’s new army chief recently announced that some units of the Indian Army would be trained in atomic and biological warfare. On the sly, India is expanding the number of its paramilitary personnel for the long haul in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir and the disturbed parts of North East India (such an ULFA, Bodoland and Tripura).

India’s nuclear submarine project is still being kept in the wraps and a naval cell in the Prime Minister’s office in New Delhi monitors its progress. In the meantime, India is getting two kilo-class new model diesel submarines from Russia and the lease of an atomic submarine for the Indian navy is being negotiated. Indian naval personnel have been training for it in Russian dockyards while Russian naval experts have been looking into its hull and other components in a section of the Mazagaon docks in Bombay. Some parts are being tested in the Indian Navy’s Cochin and Vizagapatnam dockyards. The Russians have been busy upgrading many of India’s Soviet-supplied MIG 23, MIG 25 and MIG 29 aircraft with new force multipliers. India is adding three squadrons of SU-30 multi-role jet aircraft in its Air Force. Budgetary allocations for the military hardware India is buying from Israel have not been specifically disclosed. A major Israeli contract is for installing barbed surveillance wires in cantonment areas in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir and along strategic salients on the Line of Control (LoC) and the Siachin front. It costs Rs. 1500 million to electronically fence for surveillance one kilometre of sensitive ground in the border area. Recently, the headquarters of the 15th Indian Corps at Badami Bagh in Srinagar was fenced for electronic surveillance by a team of Israeli military personnel and technicians.

The Indian Navy is beefing up its military installation in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and deploying more warships and patrol boats. It claims that foreign piracy has increased in the islands in recent years. The Indian Navy is also beefing up its defences on the small-size Muslim majority Lakshamdeep island below the Arabian sea facing Western India. India has built up naval base facilities at this island facing Bombay. The Indian Navy is also playing its role in coastal development and the modernisation of old ports. Indian naval experts argue that although China has a smaller coastline than India, it is developing its coastal region rapidly. The Indian Navy is strengthening ties with the Vietnam Navy and is said to be extending nuclear cooperation to Vietnam. This seems to be to provoke China whose relations with Vietnam have been less friendly in recent years.

Although India’s spending on spy operations abroad is not disclosed in the budget, the allocation for the Home Ministry, headed by L.K. Advani, has been boosted to support expanded Indian spy operations under the notorious RAW and other Indian intelligence agencies. Their training camps are being increased and more espionage equipment is being imported for Indian spies from Israel and Russian firms. For India, Pakistan is Enemy Number One and the Indian RAW’s favourite target.

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand and China are also important target areas for Indian espionage operations for which more funds will be provided this year.