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GS Paper: GS3-24. Various Security Forces and Agencies and their Mandate.

  • Challenges facing Indian Air Force

    Context

    A host of challenges greets India’s new Air Chief.

    Challenges

    • The challenges include the rewiring of India’s military into new theatre commands, the reservations expressed by the IAF about its “support” role and the visible depletion in operational air assets due to obsolescence and lack of new platforms.
    • The decline in platforms is stark and from a strength of 42 combat squadrons in 2002, the IAF now operates barely 30.
    • This shortfall in numbers would remain through this decade.
    • Even as there are plans to create new theatre commands and allocate existing air assets to the new formations, the depletion in numbers merits urgent review.

    Steps taken

    • The purchase of 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) will be a fillip even as the sturdy MIGs are finally phased out.
    • In the next decade, the IAF hopes to induct the indigenous fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) — a new platform that would be built in India with a foreign entity, the “original equipment manufacturer” (OEM), and thereby move up to 35 squadrons.
    • Issues: The AMCA is “under design” and India’s track record in the design and manufacture of indigenous fighter aircraft is cost- and time-intensive.
    • As regards the MRFA, the request for information for 114 jets has just been issued.
    • The Rafale experience and the long delays associated with it would suggest that speedy selection of an OEM will be elusive.

    Way forward

    • Air power is becoming technologically more refined with unmanned platforms, cyber-space linkages and AI advances.
    • The inherent trans-border nature of this military capability needs astute professional and political husbanding.
    • Acquiring credible aerospace power with a meaningful degree of indigenisation will need a greater degree of national resolve, professional integrity and resource allocation than is the case now.
    • China has demonstrated the degree of suasion and intimidation that airpower can bring to bear in relation to Taiwan.

    Conclusion

    A reality check about the quantity and quality of India’s air power and the roles it can undertake should precede its disaggregation to theatre commands in the run-up to India@75.

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  • National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)

    The PM is soon expected to launch the National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID that aims to provide cutting-edge technology to enhance India’s counter-terror capabilities.

    What is NATGRID?

    • NATGRID is an intelligence sharing network that collates data from the standalone databases of the various agencies and ministries of the Indian government.
    • It is a counter terrorism measure that collects and collates a host of information from government databases including tax and bank account details, credit/debit card transactions, visa and immigration records and itineraries of rail and air travel.
    • It will also have access to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems, a database that links crime information, including First Information Reports, across 14,000 police stations in India.
    • As of 2019, NATGRID is headed by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ashish Gupta.

    Its establishment

    • The 26/11 terrorist siege in Mumbai back in 2008 exposed the deficiency that security agencies had no mechanism to look for vital information on a real-time basis.

    Access to NATGRID

    • Prominent federal agencies of the country have been authorized to access the NATGRID database.
    • They are the:
    1. Central Bureau of Investigation
    2. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence,
    3. Enforcement Directorate
    4. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
    5. Central Board of Direct Taxes (for the Income Tax Department)
    6. Cabinet Secretariat
    7. Intelligence Bureau
    8. Directorate General of GST Intelligence
    9. Narcotics Control Bureau
    10. Financial Intelligence Unit, and
    11. National Investigation Agency

    Future prospects

    • According to the first phase plan, 10 user agencies and 21 service providers will be connected with the NATGRID, while in later phases, about 950 additional organizations will be brought on board.
    • In the following years, more than 1,000 organizations will be further integrated into the NATGRID.
    • These data sources include records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and financial transactions, and telecommunications.

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  • The national security discourse is changing

    Context

    From a rising China to the pressures of climate change; from the challenges of counter-terrorism to the COVID-19 pandemic (the four Cs), the old order is collapsing much faster than the ability of nations to create the foundations of a new one.

    The reduced difference between the domestic and foreign policy of the  U.S.

    • The idea that foreign and domestic policies are tightly intertwined is not a novel one.
    • All serious grand strategic thinking in democracies looks for sustenance in popular public support.
    • A process that was started by former U.S. President Donald Trump has been taken forward by the Biden Administration.
    • Asserting that “foreign policy is domestic policy and domestic policy is foreign policy,” the new administration has suggested that their task is to re-imagine American national security for the unprecedented combination of crises they face at home and abroad.
    • These crises include the pandemic, the economic crisis, the climate crisis, technological disruption, threats to democracy, racial injustice, and inequality in all forms”.
    • There is a growing bipartisan acknowledgment in the U.S. today that the requirements of American national security today are different from what they were during the Cold War.
    • Today’s strategic environment requires a different response for national security: one that shores up domestic industrial base helps in maintaining pre-eminence in critical technologies, makes supply chains for critical goods more resilient, protects critical infrastructure from cyberattacks and responds with a sense of urgency to climate change.

    Indian situation: Dependence on the external supply chain is the national security challenge

    • In India too, there is greater recognition of the challenges emanating on national security from domestic vulnerabilities.
    • Dependence on Chinese manufacturing: One of the most significant consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to reveal how deeply India has been dependent on Chinese manufacturing for critical supplies.
    • At a time when Indian armed forces were facing the People’s Liberation Army, this exposed India to a new realization that dependence on overseas supply chains is a national security challenge of the highest order.
    • Dimensions of national security: The Indian Army chief has argued that “national security comprises not only warfare and defence but also financial security, health security, food security, energy security, and environmental security apart from information security”.

    Way forward for India

    • Shore up domestic capacities: India has since moved towards increasing domestic capacities in critical areas and also started looking at free trade agreements through a new lens.
    • Whole-of-government approach: Army Chief had suggested that instead of viewing national security “primarily from the perspective of an armed conflict, there is a need to take a whole-of-government approach towards security”.
    • Investment in armed forces: The Army chief has pointed out that investment in the armed forces contributes to the national economy.
    • Therefore, indigenization of defence procurement provides an impetus to indigenous industries, aid to civil authorities, or Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
    • Demand for hi-tech military products by the armed forces helps entire industries.
    • Transportation and logistics capacities of the armed forces are acting as force enablers for the Government in times of emergencies.

    Consider the question “The idea that foreign and domestic policies are tightly intertwined is not a novel one. In light of this, examine the challenges facing India’s national security that are linked with its domestic vulnerability. Suggest the ways forward.”

    Conclusion

    As nations across the world reconceptualise their strategic priorities, policymakers will need to think more creatively about the roles of various instruments of statecraft. National security thinking is undergoing a shift. India cannot be left behind.

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  • Needed: A tribunal for CAPF

    Context

    There have been numerous cases of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers overstaying leave. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to issue orders to the CRPF headquarters to “include the provisions of Security Force Court (SFC), for initiating disciplinary action against the delinquent officers.

    Departmental enquiries Vs SFC

    • The SFC is a purely judicial process where the guilt must be proved beyond reasonable doubt and the charged official is at liberty to engage a legal practitioner to defend him.
    • Departmental enquiry is a quasi-judicial proceeding where the mere element of the preponderance of probability is enough to determine guilt.
    • Though the Central Reserve Police Force Act of 1949 provides for conducting judicial trial by a Commandant in his capacity as a Magistrate, seldom is it exercised as it gets into the realm of the judicial process.
    • Hence, the conduct of a departmental enquiry is the better option.

    What leads to delay in departmental enquiries against gazetted officers?

    • CRPF rules lay down the procedure for the conduct of departmental enquiries against non-gazetted ranks, and in normal circumstances, the departmental enquiries are completed within three to six months.
    • But when gazetted officers are charge-sheeted, the time taken to order the enquiries is longer.
    • Delay due to getting the views of other institutions: In the case of a gazetted officer, the other institutions like the Union Public Service Commission, the Central Vigilance Commission, the Department of Personnel and Training, and the MHA are also roped in for their views and legal opinion.
    • Dealy due to postponement: When the delinquent officers appear before the inquiring authority presence of the presenting officer and the defence assistant of the charged official is also required.
    • Even if one of them fails to appear for the hearing, the conduct of enquiry must be postponed.
    • Procedural delay: Often, the enquiry is conducted ex parte (without the presence of the charged official), so the recorded statements and other documents must be sent to the charged official.
    • Quite often, delays occur in providing certain prosecution documents to the charged official who may demand them for preparing his own defence.
    • Postal delays further aggravate the matter.
    • Since most officers are busy with operational matters, which gain priority over everything else.

    Way forward

    • Appoint retired officers as inquiring authorities: The solution lies in appointing retired officers as inquiring authorities, who can afford to devote their time to the conduct of enquiries as is being done in most departments of the government.
    • Tribunal for CAPF: With increasing cases being filed in the High Courts across the country in service matters, it is high time the government considered the setting up of tribunals for the CAPFs on the lines of the Armed Forces Tribunal for defence services.
    • Retired officers of the rank of Inspectors General and Additional Directors General from the CAPFs could be part of these tribunals along with retired judges of High Courts.

    Conclusion

    Taking the steps suggested here would ensure the speedy delivery of justice and reduce the burden of the High Courts.

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  • Exercise ZAPAD 2021

    A contingent of 200 Army personnel will participate in the multinational Exercise ZAPAD 2021 being held at Nizhniy, Russia.

    ZAPAD 2021

    • ZAPAD is one of the theatre-level exercises of Russian armed forces and will focus primarily on operations against terrorists.
    • The NAGA Battalion group participating in the exercise will feature an all arms combined task force.
    • The exercise aims to enhance military and strategic ties amongst the participating nations while they plan and execute this exercise.
    • In all, 17 countries have been invited by Russia for the exercise. Of these nine are Participating countries which include Mongolia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Russia, India, and Belarus.
    • The other eight countries are Observers which include Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka.

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    Must read:

    [Prelims Spotlight] Various Defence Exercises in News

  • [pib] Exercise Malabar

    Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt have arrived at Guam, an Island Territory of the USA to participate in the annual Exercise MALABAR-21.

    Also read:

    [Prelims Spotlight] Various Defence Exercises in News

    Ex Malabar

    • MALABAR series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as a bilateral IN-USN exercise and has grown in stature over the years to include four prominent navies in the Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.
    • It is carried out between navies of Australia, India, Japan, and the USA
    • The exercise provides an opportunity for common-minded navies to enhance inter-operability, gain from best practices and develop a common understanding of procedures for Maritime Security Operations.

    Significance

    • The exercise will see the participation of all four Quad countries.
    • Indian Navy also conducted a number of Passage Exercises (PASSEX) with navies from Japan, Australia and the US.

    Another Exercise in news: Ex Konkan 2021

    • Exercise Konkan 2021 was held between INS Tabar and HMS Westminster on 16 Aug 21 in the English Channel.

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    Back2Basics: Quad Security Dialogue

    • QSD is a strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by talks between member countries.
    • The dialogue is paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.
    • Quad is widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power.

  • India’s leadership in the debate on maritime security

    Context

    Indian PM recently addressed  the UNSC High-Level Open Debate on “Enhancing Maritime Security: A Case For International Cooperation”, convened by India.

    Highlights of the UNSC debate on Maritime Security

    • India’s leadership: As President of the UN Security Council for the month of August, India’s leadership in the debate on maritime security has strengthened its credentials as a key stakeholder in the maritime commons.
    • Ocean as a common heritage: Prime Minister Modi described the oceans as a common heritage for humankind and a lifeline for the future of the planet.
    • Culture, history, geography: In enunciating five principles, Mr. Modi linked free and open trade to India’s civilisational ethos.
    • He outlined a far-sighted vision rooted in India’s culture, history and geography.
    • SAGAR: The relevance of SAGAR (Security And Growth For All In The Region) was also reiterated.
    • Need for a common framework: The global community needs to develop a common framework to deal with contemporary challenges, including maritime disputes and natural disasters.

    Importance of high seas

    • Ninety per cent of global trade is conducted on the high seas, for the simple reason that it continues to be the most cost-effective mode of transport.
    • Spread of prosperity: Freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce are key to the spread of prosperity. 
    • Critical supply chains depend on the concept of mare liberum (open seas).

    Suggestions and role of India

    1) Maritime dispute settlement  based on international law

    • The Prime Minister advocated the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes on the basis of international law.
    • The importance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as the legal framework governing all maritime activity needs to be emphasised.
    • India’s acceptance of the award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2014 paved the way for India and Bangladesh to put aside their maritime dispute and forge even closer ties.
    • In 2016, China summarily rejected the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in favour of the Philippines.
    • The neo-colonial concept of mare clausum (closed seas) in the South China Sea is anathema to the future of the global economy.

    2) Deling with natural disasters and maritime threats

    • Natural disasters and maritime threats posed by non-state actors have grown exponentially.
    • The global community needs to rally together to deal effectively with the ravages of cyclones, tsunami and maritime pollution.
    • First responder: India’s role as ‘first responder’ in the Indian Ocean, whether in thwarting piracy or providing relief after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, is well-documented.
    • The Indian Coast Guard’s operational reach and capability has vastly improved in dealing with environmental hazards and piracy.
    • White shipping agreements: India now has white shipping agreements with several countries.
    • Cooperation: The Indian Navy’s state-of-the-art Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) based in Gurugram hosts officers from the United States, Japan, France, Australia and the United Kingdom.
    • Training:The Indian Navy regularly offers a large number of training slots to friendly countries.

    3) Environmental concerns

    • The oceans remain our lifeline.
    • Yet, they have been overwhelmed by plastic waste which chokes all forms of marine life.

    4) Connectivity and infrastructure

    • Connectivity: The development of connectivity and infrastructure are also a major priority.
    • There are heightened concerns today over China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
    • Openness and transparency India stands for openness and transparency in the execution of projects, based on local priorities, with in-built fiscal viability and environmental sustainability.
    • Blue Dot Network: The U.S., Japan and Australia are also promoting better standards for global infrastructure through the Blue Dot Network.

    Conclusion

    India’s natural interests stretch across both the Indian and Pacific Oceans as reflected in its inclusive Indo-Pacific vision. No doubt, India’s initiative will further the prospects for a stable and enduring maritime environment.

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  • Exercise Al–Mohed Al–Hindi

    The maiden bilateral naval exercise between India and Saudi Arabia named ‘AL–Mohed AL–Hindi’ has got underway.

    Must read:

    [Prelims Spotlight] Various Defence Exercises in News

    Ex Al-Mohed AI-Hindi 2021

    • This is the first edition of a bilateral naval exercise between India and Saudi Arabia.
    • It comprises several shore and sea-based drills between the two navies.
    • It reflects the growing defense ties between the two nations in the wake of the Indian Army chiefs’ first visit to the West Asian country last year.
    • INS Kochi is the Indian warship participating in the exercise.
    • The exercise is being held against the backdrop of growing tensions in the Persian Gulf following a drone attack on the tanker MV Mercer Street off Oman.

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  • Advocating for sustained focus on the maritime domain

    Context

    In an innovative departure from normal practice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside (in virtual mode) over the UN Security Council, on Monday (August 9) when India holds the President’s chair for one month. The subject of debate is maritime security.

    Issues with global maritime security

    • FON issue: There is  tension in the South China Sea over freedom of navigation (FON) rights in international waters and how China has laid claim to “territoriality” based on artificial structures (not natural islands).
    • This formulation has not been accepted by the US that has exercised transit rights in these waters.
    • Many ASEAN nations and Quad members such as Japan, Australia and India subscribe to the principle of FON and do not accept the Chinese interpretation of the “nine-dash-line”.
    • Traditional challenges: Piracy and non-traditional challenges at sea such as gun-running and smuggling are old chestnuts.
    • Maritime pollution: Accidents in the oceans have added to the anxiety about marine pollution and its downstream consequences for the health of the oceans.
    • Global warming: A UN report has come up with grim statistics about the impact of global warming on the chemistry of oceans.
    • This study notes that oceans have become more acidic as sea water absorbs more carbon dioxide.
    • Furthermore, the upper layers of the open ocean have lost between 0.5 per cent and 3.3 per cent of their oxygen since 1970 as temperatures have risen.

    Way forward for India at UNCS: Security and equitable growth

    • The subject to be deliberated upon by the UNSC members is “Enhancing maritime security: A case for international cooperation”.
    • This would be an extension of India’s advocacy of SAGAR (security and growth for all in the region) in relation to the Indian Ocean region (IOR).
    •  At the UNSC strategic and security issues such as the South China Sea and FON would find little consensus as China is a permanent member and would stall any meaningful debate.
    • Focus on global goods: What may find support for a useful debate at the UNSC would be those areas that could be brought under the rubric of the “global good”.
    • For instance, the welfare of seafarers who are the sinews of the global merchant marine, has received scant attention in this Covid-scarred period and the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) has been unable to effectively address such issues.
    • Correlation with globalisation: India can also advocate for sustained focus on the maritime domain and the correlation with globalisation, the blue economy, the health of the ocean and the overall impact on human security.

    Conclusion

    Security and equitable growth for all by husbanding the global ocean for future generations is a laudable goal and encouraging the UNSC to prioritise this issue is a worthy cause.

  • Places in news: Agalega Island

    Mauritius has denied a report that it has allowed India to build a military base on the remote island of Agalega.

    Agalega Island

    • Agaléga are two outer islands of Mauritius located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers north of Mauritius island.
    • The islands have a total area of 2,600 ha (6,400 acres).
    • There is an MoU between the governments of Mauritius and India to develop the Agaléga islands and resolve infrastructural problems faced by Agaleans.

    Why in news?

    • India asserts that these new facilities are part of its Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) policy, which aims to increase maritime cooperation between countries in the region.
    • Mauritius, for its part, has indicated that its coastguard personnel will use the new facilities.
    • But it is clear that the Indian investment of $250m in developing an airfield, port, and communications hub on this remote island is not aimed at helping Mauritius develop its capacity to police its territorial waters.

    Significance of this area

    • The Agalega area is currently a blind spot for the Indian Navy and by building a military facility in it, New Delhi hopes to expand its maritime domain awareness.
    • In times of conflict, knowing the location of enemy ships and submarines, without being detected in the process, creates a significant advantage.
    • China’s naval forays into this region are the true motivator for its expanding naval presence.
    • In peacetime, effective maritime domain awareness helps establish international partnerships with like-minded militaries and also acts as a deterrent to both state and non-state adversaries, by signaling reach.

    Conclusion

    • The Indian Ocean is now increasingly contested.
    • Whether or not China is deterred by India’s surveillance efforts, Agaléga is now a pawn in this new era of major power competition across the Indian Ocean and indeed the wider Indo-Pacific region.