India's police to get American 3D technology, weaponry boost

[LETHALFORCE]

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New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) India's long-standing ambition of massive police modernisation with sophisticated weaponry and hi-tech systems has received a major boost after a US pledge to transfer 3D technology and other devices.

Home ministry sources say India is looking to acquire the latest 3D imagery technology from the US and make it available for young officers at the Indian Police Service (IPS) training institute, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad.

"After getting the latest technology, the police academy will have a library of 3D images of vital installations which are potential terror targets. This will help train special police commandos to deal with the hostage situation in buildings," an official told IANS.

Home ministry sources say the India-US security dialogue last month between Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has boosted India's police modernisation plan.

India plans to better equip its more than 1.5-million strong state police forces and over 750,000 personnel of paramilitary organisations like the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The official said when terrorists were holed up inside the Taj hotel in Mumbai in the November 2008 attack that claimed 166 lives, security forces became "lame duck targets" because they were moving in the corridors without any knowledge of the building.

"The 3D image of the building could have given them the building plan and they would have moved inside the hotel strategically knowing exactly where terrorists are and from where they could be targeted," he said.

The weaponry expected to be bought from the US and some other Western nations include laser range finders, modern global positioning system (GPS) devices, latest thermal imagers and 3D imaging warfare technology, according to the sources.

The 3D technology that uses helicopters or remote piloted vehicles is a modern imagery system that can capture images of an area - in a forest or any building - occupied by guerrillas like terrorists had done in Mumbai by occupying the Taj Mahal Hotel.

The system provides a tactical advantage by enabling the rapid generation and production of highly detailed three-dimensional maps of any area.

Talking about the weaponry to be bought from the US, sources said they were looking at close-combat weapons of less than 50 m range, assault weapons from 50 to 100 m range and long-range weapons that cover a range of cover 500 m and beyond.

The sources said India is also looking at a regular police training exchange programme to learn from each other's experiences in fighting terror, hostage negotiation and investigating bomb attacks.

The police modernisation is part of the sweeping reforms of India's security apparatus, first recommended by an experts group in 2000 following the Kargil conflict with Pakistan in 1999.

Ironically, the plan has not taken off because of an "incompetent bureaucracy", according to Ajay Sahni, a known security expert.

"With or without America, we should have upgraded our security apparatus long ago. We have enough in-house resources to do that. We have not been able to upgrade because of the incompetent bureaucracy who are not well-versed with technology and are corrupt," Sahni, executive director of the South Asia Terrorism Portal, told IANS.

He said the country needed police upgrade 10 years ago because of the worsening internal security and growing terror trouble in the neighbourhood.

"You cannot afford laxity in security... It is a necessity of the country. We have been destroyed by the sheer weight of our leadership and the system."

 

[asianobserve]

This is what I'm saying. Let's not hesitate to be close to the US then let's make the most out of the relationship. If Japan and SKorea reaped rewards under US umbrella then why not us? There should be no hesitation. Its either we go for them or not. The period of half-baked foreign policy should be buried with the demise of the USSR.

 

[Tshering22]

This is what I'm saying. Let's not hesitate to be close to the US then let's make the most out of the relationship. If Japan and SKorea reaped rewards under US umbrella then why not us? There should be no hesitation. Its either we go for them or not. The period of half-baked foreign policy should be buried with the demise of the USSR.

I am all for getting the best of out our relationship. But you forget something; Japan and South Korea are puppet states that toe in the US lines. We are sovereign country with our own powerful ancient influence and sphere of territorial reputation. We cannot sacrifice that for some toys that we will be making ourselves in the coming couple of decades.

Now regarding police modernization, I think GOI would do us all Indians a great favour if it could teach the cops some decent manners and get to reduce their monster tummies first before giving them "3D technology". And also remove all the SLRs and 303s replacing them with something like that Trichi assault rifle.

 

[asianobserve]

I am all for getting the best of out our relationship. But you forget something; Japan and South Korea are puppet states that toe in the US lines. We are sovereign country with our own powerful ancient influence and sphere of territorial reputation. We cannot sacrifice that for some toys that we will be making ourselves in the coming couple of decades.

They may be puppets according to you but they're both very prosperous and their people live the most comfortable lives in the whole of Asia, or the World really. They also have the most vibrant defense industries in the world today. India on the other hand may have a bloated sense of pride but the majority of the people are stil wallowing in abject poverty and its defense industry is still half-stuck in the Soviet era.

 

[Tshering22]

I am all for getting the best of out our relationship. But you forget something; Japan and South Korea are puppet states that toe in the US lines. We are sovereign country with our own powerful ancient influence and sphere of territorial reputation. We cannot sacrifice that for some toys that we will be making ourselves in the coming couple of decades.

They may be puppets according to you but they're both very prosperous and their people live the most comfortable lives in the whole of Asia, or the World really. They also have the most vibrant defense industries in the world today. India on the other hand may have a bloated sense of pride but the majority of the people are stil wallowing in abject poverty and its defense industry is still half-stuck in the Soviet era.

Now you are comparing two totally different things. I am talking about national and defense sovereignty and you're talking about economic prosperity. It is very immature of posters to actually bring out the same sources that once said that Saddam has nuclear bombs, conveniently to say that "half of India's population" is wallowing in poverty. Japan and South Korea have vibrant defense industries not because of US but because of their work ethics and national character. The Japanese were always like that and were the most advanced nation in modern history. US merely assisted them. Had the US not got nukes, it would have cracked under the pressure of trying to keep up with Japanese.

There's nothing called bloated sense of pride because we know where we stand and cannot accept social prosperity while keeping our national and political independence as a hostage.

 

[niharjhatn]

(Repost)



They may be puppets according to you but they're both very prosperous and their people live the most comfortable lives in the whole of Asia, or the World really. They also have the most vibrant defense industries in the world today. India on the other hand may have a bloated sense of pride but the majority of the people are stil wallowing in abject poverty and its defense industry is still half-stuck in the Soviet era.

The assistance the Japanese received from the US in recuperating from ww2 cannot be understated. Apart from financial assistance, the Japanese received immense technical assistance from the US.

Hell, the US still have a naval base in Japan whilst the Japanese constitution prohibits the recruitment of a military for Japan (although they get around it), their national sport is not sumo wrestling/kendo/karate...its the distinctly american baseball!!...if that's not being a puppet, I am not sure what is!

I don't understand how they suddenly achieved the most vibrant defense industries in the world today - the US, Israelis (US again ), Russians and French are much bigger players than Japan and South Korea.

Besides, the Japanese have always been a war-like nation, extending from the barbaric times of its feudal period to its latest outburst in world war 2!

India on the other hand may have a bloated sense of pride but the majority of the people are stil wallowing in abject poverty and its defense industry is still half-stuck in the Soviet era.

India has implemented one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in history - we have barely been independant for 60 years... why don't you criticizers ever look at the other side of the bottle?

BTW it is a poor nation indeed that draws national pride on the basis of economic prosperity alone.

 

[sandeepdg]

They may be puppets according to you but they're both very prosperous and their people live the most comfortable lives in the whole of Asia, or the World really. They also have the most vibrant defense industries in the world today. India on the other hand may have a bloated sense of pride but the majority of the people are stil wallowing in abject poverty and its defense industry is still half-stuck in the Soviet era.

Western European and Scandinavian countries have always been considered the best places to live in the world as they offer the best quality of life according to annual UN surveys over the past decade, Japan ranks lower than most of them, Singapore has been in the top ranking for quite sometime, and South Korea is not even in the top 15 or so. So, please check up on your facts before you vouch for something.

I agree that the quality of life in Japan, Singapore and South Korea is the best in Asia and one the best in the world, but there are a lot of factors for that, one important thing being that what they are today, they owe a lot to American support over the past 5 decades, also they are very small countries with a low population. All these 3 countries combined would probably be as big as the state of MP or UP in north India, that makes a huge difference. Plus the Japanese have been more or less self a sufficient nation since the middle ages and equally powerful with a disciplined, hard working and highly dedicated population always. That helps in building a strong, self reliant nation. But there are huge differences between our and their history, culture, civil values etc.

We are taking America's help in things that matter most to us, like defense, trade & industry, education etc since the past 2 decades, depending upon what requirements we have in what sectors and how the American help can be utilized for developing those sectors. We should continue doing that, but that we become an outright stooge to the US.

Forget, Japan. Do you think South Korea has any say in any world affairs ? Whatever they are is solely because of US's generosity towards them to counter the communists in the North and keep a check on their growth. South Korea wouldn't have been a quarter of what it is today, had it not been under the American umbrella since WW2 !

 

[asianobserve]

There's nothing called bloated sense of pride because we know where we stand and cannot accept social prosperity while keeping our national and political independence as a hostage.

What do you call this then? Humility? The comfort and prosperity of the people only take second fiddle to "political independence(whatever that means...)"?

 

[asianobserve]

Forget, Japan. Do you think South Korea has any say in any world affairs ? Whatever they are is solely because of US's generosity towards them to counter the communists in the North and keep a check on their growth. South Korea wouldn't have been a quarter of what it is today, had it not been under the American umbrella since WW2 !

The last time I checked SK has been selling more weapons and systems around the world that India... And their weapons are becoming the envy of the world. The SK's defense industry is on the march on all front, air, land and naval. A lot of their systems are co-developed with a lot of countries, not only the US. Japan on the other hand would be another excellent defense industry powerhouse were it not for its arms importation restrictions.

Ah, I forgot, these countries are PUPPETS... okay...

 

[asianobserve]

Err: "arms exports" (Japan on the other hand would be another excellent defense industry powerhouse were it not for its arms importation restrictions.)

 

[asianobserve]

South Korean land systems:

K1A1

 

[asianobserve]

Sorry. Here it is:

 

[asianobserve]

Their K2:

 

[asianobserve]

K21:

 

[asianobserve]

K9 "Thunder:"

 

[asianobserve]

I guess it pays to be a US "puppet" big time?

 

[asianobserve]

The best contribution of India to these countries is Buddhism. I hope India can also learn a lot from these countries in return...

 

[Ray]

This is what I'm saying. Let's not hesitate to be close to the US then let's make the most out of the relationship. If Japan and SKorea reaped rewards under US umbrella then why not us? There should be no hesitation. Its either we go for them or not. The period of half-baked foreign policy should be buried with the demise of the USSR.

Have you wondered why Zardari has offered naval port facilities to Russia during his visit to Russia?

If Russia is left totally in the lurch, would India and the US be able to handle the axis between Russia - China - Pakistan?

Foreign Policy is not dictated by mere pique!

 

[Virendra]

Why are the Pakistanis offering everything to everyone lately?

Sorry, went OT. By the way when is the primary weapon of Indian police changing for better. I've heard the rifles they use were declared failure during WW II.

Regards,
Virendra

 

[sandeepdg]

The last time I checked SK has been selling more weapons and systems around the world that India... And their weapons are becoming the envy of the world. The SK's defense industry is on the march on all front, air, land and naval. A lot of their systems are co-developed with a lot of countries, not only the US. Japan on the other hand would be another excellent defense industry powerhouse were it not for its arms importation restrictions.

Ah, I forgot, these countries are PUPPETS... okay...

I never said that SK is not capable enough, but the environment that helped SK to become a industrial giant was due to the long association and support from America. That does not mean that the country itself is not capable enough, but the building block of their economy and industry was laid with substantial American help, which we didn't have in the years after our independence.

I know that SK makes some really good arms, the best I think is the K2 Black Panther MBT which is surrently the costliest MBT in the world right now, but it is still to enter service. India's is also developing the Tank-EX with similar capabilities as well as the FMBT with highly advanced capabilities for an MBT.

And out of all these platforms, South Korea has not sold even a single piece to any other country, except to Turkey