India rising, and flexing military muscles
NO CHAMPAGNE bottles were broken at the launch of India’s first homemade nuclear submarine this week.
Instead, the political and military elite gathered in the port city of Vishakapatnam to watch Gursharan Kaur, the wife of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, crack an auspicious coconut on the new boat to mark the occasion.
The submarine – named Arihant, meaning destroyer of enemies in Sanskrit – will not be fully operational for several years but it is symbolic of India’s strategic aspirations.
Military spending has doubled over the past decade to about $US30 billion ($36 million) a year and if military outlays keep up with the country’s anticipated economic growth, analysts say it will be the world’s third largest military power in two decades.
As its military capacity swells, India’s potential to project its growing military might in the Indian Ocean – a region of great strategic importance to Australia – could be relatively unimpeded.
Deba Ranjan Mohanty, a strategic analyst at Delhi’s Observer Research Foundation, says that by about 2025 India is likely to have three to four aircraft carrier battle groups, a fleet of nuclear submarines, an air force with 35 squadrons and sophisticated land-based weapon systems to go with its huge army.
‘‘There is no doubt that India will be a comprehensive military power in the region,’’ he said. ‘‘The larger aspiration is to play a constructive role in the global arena.’’
India is the biggest importer of military hardware in the developing world and its recent acquisitions are a guide to its ambitions. It is purchasing more military hardware that can operate a long way from home, such as aircraft carriers, giant transport planes and airborne refuelling tankers.
‘‘A lot of this new equipment is about power projection,’’ says Rahul Bedi, a Delhi-based correspondent for Jane’s Defence Weekly. ‘‘As India’s economy grows, India’s ability to extend and display its power away from home is going to increase. It’s entering the big league.’’
Another factor in India’s military build-up is New Delhi’s concern about growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.
On Thursday a senior naval official revealed plans to add almost 100 warships to the navy over the next decade. Captain Alok Bhatnagar, the director of naval plans at the ministry of defence, said 32 warships and submarines were under construction, the Financial Times reported.
However, India will have to overcome some obstacles before it can claim to be the caretaker of the Indian Ocean and beyond.
A lot of its military hardware has reached obsolescence and Mr Mohanty says it will be difficult for India to rapidly acquire and manage the sophisticated weapons systems it wants.
It is also hampered by many perceived threats on its doorstep.
ANU strategic specialist, Professor Sandy Gordon, says India will eventually emerge as a major force in the Indian Ocean but for now it is constrained by internal security challenges and threatening neighbours, such as Pakistan and China.
‘‘India’s strategic attention is still demanded by these continental imperatives,’’ Professor Gordon said.
Because of the perceived threat from its nuclear-armed arch-rival Pakistan, India maintains a huge land force. Its regular army numbers about 1.3 million with a further part-time reserve force of about 1.2 million. In addition, India’s paramilitary forces number about 1.1 million. Only China has more security
India rising, and flexing military muscles