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

  • India’s efforts in increasing Maritime domain awareness

    The article analyses India’s efforts in increasing the maritime domain awareness while increasing the cooperation with the neighbourhood and other countries.

    Indian Navy improving domain awareness

    • The enemy at sea is often unrecognisable — a terrorist, a pirate, a criminal or a sea robber.
    • Of late, the Indian Navy has been on a drive to improve domain awareness in the Indian Ocean.
    • The Indian Navy’s efforts seem focused primarily on monitoring Chinese activity in the Eastern Indian Ocean, particularly in the seas around the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
    • The Navy is seeking to expand India’s surveillance footprint by setting up radar stations in the Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
    • Mauritius, the Seychelles and Sri Lanka have already integrated into the wider coastal radar chain network.

    Increasing international cooperation

    • Seven Indian Ocean countries — Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles — will soon post Liaison Officers at the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram.
    • France already has an officer at the IFC.
    • Four other Indo-Pacific navies — Australia, Japan, the U.K and the U.S. — have also agreed to position officers at the centre.
    • As a result of such cooperation, IFC is fast emerging as the most prominent information hub in the Eastern Indian Ocean.
    • India is increasing engagement in the Western Indian Ocean by positioning a Liaison Officer at the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) in Madagascar.
    • India has also posted an officer at the European Maritime Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz (EMASOH) in Abu Dhabi to assist in the monitoring of maritime activity.

    Stronger partnership with France

    • Delhi’s moves in the Western and South-Western littorals have been facilitated by France.
    • Two countries have signed a logistics agreement in 2019.
    • France is keen for a stronger partnership in the maritime commons.
    • France has been instrumental in securing ‘observer’ status for India at the Indian Ocean Commission and is pushing for greater Indian participation in security initiatives in the Western Indian Ocean.
    • However, the Indian Navy’s priority remains South Asia, where the naval leadership remains focused on underwater domain awareness in the Eastern Indian Ocean.

    Concerns over increasing Chines presence

    • There is concern that the Chines navy may be poised to develop a generation of quieter submarines that would be hard to detect.
    • As a result, India has moved to expand its underwater detection capabilities in the Eastern chokepoints. 
    • India might also partner Japan in installing an array of undersea sensors near the Andaman Islands to help detect Chinese submarines.

    India as a security provider: Manifestation of SAGAR

    • India’s initiatives in the maritime domain are motivated by more than just strategic considerations.
    • Shipping agreements with 21 countries in the Indian Ocean have enabled a comprehensive picture of maritime traffic.
    • Efforts are under way to help smaller island states build capacity to combat regional threats.
    • India’s military satellite (GSAT-7A) may soon facilitate a real-time sharing of maritime information with partners.
    • These endeavours are a manifestation of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) that advances the idea of India as a ‘security provider’ and ‘preferred partner’ in the Indo-Pacific region.

    Challenges

    • Indian initiatives, however, are yet to bring about an alignment of objectives and strategies of regional littoral states.
    • While cooperative information sharing allows for a joint evaluation of threats, countries do not always share vital information timeously.

    Conclusion

    To bring real change, India must ensure seamless information flow, generating operational synergy with partners, and aim to expand collaborative endeavours in shared spaces.

  • Carrying out transformational reforms in military

    The article examines issues of national security like the recent creation of a Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and also some focus areas like Threatre Command. 

    Understanding the significance of  DMA and CDS

    • Through the creation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the management of the armed forces, so far which was assigned to the civilian Defence Secretary, was brought under a military officer, the CDS.
    • The designation of CDS as Secretary DMA made him the first military officer to be recognised as a functionary of the Government of India (GoI).
    • With the DMA is now a part of the GoI, it would aid the resolution of organisational, hierarchical and financial issues faced by the military.

    Recent steps taken by DMA

    • The responsibility for accruing savings to fund defence expenditure has been placed on the DMA.
    • DMA has floated two schemes aimed at reducing the defence pensions bill.
    • One penalises officers seeking early release from service and another envisages a three-year “Tour of Duty” for jawans.
    • Issues with these ideas:
    • Penalising officers for early release is likely to harm morale.
    • “Tour of Duty” will degrade the military’s combat-capability in today’s technology-intensive battle-space.
    • The need here is that DMA must focus on military matters and leave the plans of financing national defence to finance ministry or the Niti Aayog. It will better serve it’s purpose.

    Another area of needed reform – Theatre Command

    • Theatre Commands stands for jointness and integration in the Indian military are varying degrees of synergy and cross-service cooperation between the military wings of Indian armed forces.
    • Objectives of the creation of theatre command should be:
    • To hand over the military’s warfighting functions to the Theatre Commanders, while retaining the support functions with service HQs.
    • To combine India’s 17 widely-dispersed, single-service Commands into four or five mission/threat-oriented, geographically contiguous “Joint” or “Theatre Commands”.
    • To place the appropriate warfighting resources of all three services directly under the command of the designated Theatre Commanders; and
    • To achieve efficiency/economy by pooling of facilities and resources of the three services.

    Advantages of Theatre Commands

    • The Theatre Commanders and their staff will be trained and groomed in jointness.
    • With that jointness, they will be able to plan operations and to employ land, maritime and air forces, regardless of the service to which they belong.
    • For this to happen, radical changes are required in the content of our system of professional military education.
    • The Theatre Commander will also have the benefit of advice from commanders representing each service.

    Issues with Theatre Commands

    • Two thorny issues are the chain of command of the Theatre Commanders and the relationship of the CDS (or his equivalent) with the service Chiefs.
    • To avoid over-concentration of power in any single military functionary, the system followed by the US ensures that the chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary (Minister) of Defence and then, directly to the Theatre Commander.
    • In India, the peacetime management of the armed forces is left to the MoD and the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).
    • However, during war, strategic guidance to the military,  has always come from the PM.
    • In the system of higher defence under implementation, ideally, the Defence Minister needs to be brought into the command/operational chain of the Theatre Commanders, with the CDS acting as his adviser.
    • Due to frequency of elections and intensity of politics in India that no Defence Minister has had the time or inclination to devote his/her undivided attention to complex national security issues.

    Consider the question “Examine the implications of the creation of Theatre Commands. What are the challenges in its creation.”

    Conclusion

    India’s military reforms are complex, the GoI needs to seriously consider the constitution of a Parliamentary Committee, with military advisers, to oversee and guide this transformational process.

  • The possibility of a two-front war

    The possibility of a two-front war has been debated for long in the Indian security establishment. However, the Galwan valley incident has added an urgency to that possibility. 

     

    Two front situation

    • In the Indian military’s thinking, while China was the more powerful, the chance of a conventional conflict breaking out was low.
    • The Chinese intrusions in Ladakh in May this year, the violence that resulted from clashes have now made the Chinese military threat more apparent and real.
    • This comes at a time when the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan has been steadily deteriorating.
    • Between 2017 and 2019, there has been a four-fold increase in ceasefire violations.
    • The larger challenge for India’s military would come if the hostilities break out along the northern border with China.
    • In such a situation, it is unlikely that Pakistan would initiate a large-scale conflict to capture significant chunks of territory as that would lead to a full-blown war between three nuclear-armed states.

    China-Pakistan relationship

    • China has always looked at Pakistan as a counter to India’s influence in South Asia.
    • There is a great deal of alignment in their strategic thinking.
    • Military cooperation is growing, with China accounting for 73% of the total arms imports of Pakistan between 2015-2019.
    • It would, therefore, be prudent for India to be ready for a two-front threat.

    The dilemma for India: In resources and strategy

    • It is neither practical nor feasible to build a level of capability that enables independent warfighting on both fronts.
    • A major decision will be the quantum of resources to be allocated for the primary front. This is the dilemma of resources.
    • If a majority of the assets of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are sent towards the northern border, it will require the military to rethink its strategy for the western border.
    • This is the second dilemma.
    • Even though Pakistan may only be pursuing a hybrid war, should the Indian military remain entirely defensive?
    • Adopting a more offensive strategy against Pakistan could draw limited resources into a wider conflict.

    Way forward

    • We need to develop both the doctrine and the capability to deal with this contingency.
    • Capability building also requires a serious debate, particularly in view of the country’s economic situation.
    • We need to focus on future technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, cyber, electronic warfare, etc.
    • The right balance will have to be struck based on a detailed assessment of China and Pakistan’s war-fighting strategies.
    • Diplomacy has a crucial role to play.
    • India would do well to improve relations with its neighbors so as not to be caught in an unfriendly neighborhood.
    • The engagement of the key powers in West Asia, including Iran, should be further strengthened.
    • Relationship with Moscow should not be sacrificed in favor of India-United States relations given that Russia could play a key role in defusing the severity of a regional gang up against India.
    • Political outreach to Kashmir aimed at pacifying the aggrieved citizens would help in easing the pressure from the western front.

    Consider the question “India faces the possibility of a two-front war. What strategy India should follow to deal with such a challenge?” 

    Conclusion

    A politically-guided doctrine, comprehensive military capability, and exploring other options will help to deal with the China-Pakistan threat.

  • Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC)

    India is looking at integrating more countries into coastal radar network IMAC.

    What is IMAC?

    • The Indian Navy’s IMAC located in Gurugram which was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks is the nodal agency for maritime data fusion.
    • It functions under the National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) Project.
    • The NMDA project was launched in accordance with the vision of PM on SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).
    • The IMAC monitors movement of more than 120,000 ships a year passing through the Indian Ocean.
    • The cargo carried by these ships accounts for 66 per cent of world crude oil, 50 per cent of container traffic and 33 per cent of bulk cargo.
    • Thus, IMAC performs a very crucial role in collecting shipping information, analysing traffic patterns and sharing the inputs with the user agencies.

    Mission SAGAR, unlike other missions, can create confusion with the name and its purpose. Make note of such special cases. UPSC can ask such questions as one liner MCQs.

    Expanding IMAC

    • It is meant to enable real-time monitoring of the high seas for threats as also expand India’s assistance for capacity building to Indian Ocean littoral states.
    • Efforts are in advanced stages to set up coastal radar stations in Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
    • Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka have already been integrated into the country’s coastal radar chain network.
    • Similar plans are in the pipeline with Maldives and Myanmar and discussions are ongoing with Bangladesh and Thailand.

  • What is Project 17A?

    Himgiri, the first of the three stealth frigates being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, under Project 17A for the Navy, was launched into the water.

    Try this question:

    Q“To be secure on Land, we must be Supreme at Sea”. In this context, discuss why India is primarily a Maritime Nation?

    Project 17A

    • The coveted ‘Project 17A’ was cleared by the govt back in 2015.
    • It involves the building of seven stealth frigates at an estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore.
    • Of these seven, the contract for three frigates was awarded to GRSE while the contract for another four frigates was awarded to Government-owned Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) which is based in Mumbai.
    • These frigates will come armed with advanced state-of-the-art sensors and boast of top-notch stealth features.
    • They will represent the most advanced class of major surface warships for the Indian Navy in a decade, also featuring BrahMos supersonic surface-to-surface missiles.
    • These will also have torpedoes and rockets to hit submarines and rapid-fire guns to destroy anti-ship missiles as well as a heavy main gun to engage ships and coastal target.

  • Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS)

    User trials of the indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be held very soon.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.Discuss why high-altitude warfare is challenging. Also, discuss India’s preparedness for a long-term war.

    ATAGS System

    • The ATAGS is a 155-mm, 52-calibre artillery gun jointly developed by the DRDO in partnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the Tata Power SED.
    • ATAGS has greater than 95% of indigenous content. It set a world record for the longest unassisted projectile range of 48 kilometres.

    Its features

    • The gun consists of a barrel, breech mechanism, muzzle brake and recoil mechanism to fire 155 mm calibre ammunition with a firing range of 48 km.
    • It has an all-electric drive to ensure reliability and minimum maintenance over a long period of time.
    • It has advanced features like high mobility, quick deployability, auxiliary power mode, advanced communication system, automatic command and control system with night capability in direct fire mode.

  • Operation Trident and its significance

    Every year, India celebrates December 4 as Navy Day to commemorate Operation Trident – a key offensive during the 1971 India-Pakistan War. This year, it is the 50th anniversary of the victory in the 1971 War.

    This newscard is crucial for the CAPF aspirants. It hardly holds any importance for CS prelims. But the grit, glory and honour of our armed forces is a matter of pride that every CS aspirants should know.

    Operation Trident

    • The India-Pakistan War of 1971 had begun on December 3, when the Pakistan Air Force launched pre-emptive strikes on airfields in Western India.
    • Following the Battle of Longewala, the Indian Navy inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels in Karachi harbour.
    • India responded by formally declaring war in the wee hours of December 4.
    • On December 4, under Operation Trident, the Indian Navy sank three vessels near the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
    • The Indian Air Force also played a crucial role, when Karachi’s Kemari oil tanks were strafed by the IAF on the same day in an independent operation which it did not claim.

  • To be taken seriously, Quad needs military heft

    The article suggests projection of naval power to ensure the stability in the Indian Ocean. 

    Quad conducts Malabar exercise

    • In November, the Quad converged to continue the Malabar series, with a total of just eight ships.
    • The idea of Quad is to form a grouping of democratic nations in the Indian Ocean, and use naval power to convey a message to Beijing.
    • The message a grouping of eight ships would convey to a nation thinking in terms of five aircraft carriers remains would not be taken seriously.

    Importance of naval power in ensuring oceanic stability

    • There is no substitute for naval power to ensure oceanic stability, but one alternative lies in the area of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). 
    • Perhaps, some thought may already have been given to MDA in the twin agreement to BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement), and Maritime Information Sharing Technical Agreement (MISTA) signed between India and the US.
    • There is little information available in the public domain about MISTA.
    • But MISTA should cover an omnibus agreement for Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) operating and information sharing for the entire Indo-Pacific.
    • The Pacific has a high density of MPA assets, while they are sparse in the Indian Ocean, particularly the western Indian Ocean.
    • The Australians can cover the Malacca Straits, but for the west Indian Ocean, the US will probably have to base a squadron of P-8 aircraft at Masirah or Diego Garcia.
    • Today, the primary weapon system of most warships is the surface-to-surface missile, with ranges of up to 200 km.
    • The ships’ sensor range is only up to 100 km.
    • So, accurate target information has to be supplied beyond 100 km by aircraft or helicopters in what is called Over the Horizon Targeting (OTHT).
    • With the Indo-Pacific fully covered by the MPAs of the Quad, a PLAN ship in the Indian Ocean is in imminent danger of being sunk at will

    Conclusion

    A public announcement of a division of the Indo-Pacific into areas of responsibility for MDA, between members of the Quad will send an unmistakable signal to Beijing. With a desultory Quad naval exercise, once a year of a few ships, Beijing will only be amused that a “threat” exists to its ambition to become a global power.

  • BrahMos Missiles and their significance for Armed Forces

    India’s Armed forces are conducting back-to-back tests of various versions of BrahMos missile.

    Take a quick look at India’s missile arsenal:

    [Prelims Spotlight] Missiles

    The BrahMos Missiles

    • A combination of the names of Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, BrahMos missiles are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by DRDO and Mashinostroyenia of Russia.
    • It is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster as the first stage and liquid ramjet as the second stage.
    • The cruise missiles like BrahMos are a type of systems known as the ‘standoff range weapons’ which are fired from a range sufficient to allow the attacker to evade defensive fire from the adversary.
    • These weapons are in the arsenal of most major militaries in the world.
    • The versions of the BrahMos that are being tested have an extended range of around 400 km, as compared to its initial range of 290 km, with more versions of higher ranges currently under development.

    Various versions

    • Various versions of the BrahMos, including those which can be fired from land, warships, submarines and Sukhoi-30 fighter jets have already been developed and successfully tested in the past.
    • The earliest versions of the ship launched BrahMos and land-based system are in service of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army since 2005 and 2007 respectively.

  • National Maritime Domain Awareness Centre (NMDAC)

    The Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), the nodal agency for maritime data fusion will soon become a National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) centre.

    Try this question:

    Q“To be secure on Land, we must be Supreme at Sea”. In this context, discuss why India is primarily a Maritime Nation?

    What is IMAC?

    • The IMAC monitors movement of more than 120,000 ships a year passing through the Indian Ocean.
    • The cargo carried by these ships account for 66 per cent of world crude oil, 50 per cent of container traffic and 33 per cent of bulk cargo.
    • Thus, IMAC performs a very crucial role in collecting shipping information, analysing traffic patterns and sharing the inputs with the user agencies.
    • It tracks vessels on the high seas and gets data from the coastal radars, white shipping agreements, Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders fitted on merchant ships, air and traffic management system and global shipping databases.

    Transforming to NDMAC

    • The IMAC will soon transform into a national NMDA centre, wherein it will be a multi-agency centre.
    • The NMDA project was launched in accordance with the vision of PM on SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).
    • Approved by the Defence Acquisition Council in 2012, the IMAC became operational in 2014 and is located in Gurugram.
    • It is the nodal centre of the National Command Control Communication and Intelligence System (NC3I), which was established to link the Navy and the Coast Guard.

    Why such a move?

    • India has a coast line of about 7500 km and an Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) of over 2 million sq kms.
    • In addition, we are endowed with abundant oceanic wealth comprising a large number of island territories and vast sea bed area, over 97 % of our national trade is carried by sea routes.
    • It is therefore, imperative that we modernize the Navy which always has to be in a high state of preparedness.