Armchair security experts of the country casting aspersions over the military budget of the country were given a gentle rap on the knuckles by Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General C P Mohanty on Monday (September 27). The Vice CoAS remarked that if India wouldn’t have invested in its armed forces, then the country would have lost the battles in Galwan valley and Doklam against the Chinese troops.
Speaking at a public event, Mohanty said, “Had the country not invested in security, we would have lost probably the war in Kargil, Doklam. Even internal security in Jammu and Kashmir would have been in turmoil. Our northeast region would have been in turmoil and Naxals would have had a field day.”
It is the role of armed forces to ensure peace, be it internal or external. If Tibet had strong armed forces, they never would have been invaded. If there was peace in Afghanistan, there would have been prosperity: CP Mohanty, Vice Chief of Army Staff, at an event in Delhi pic.twitter.com/nXPPhEBBV5
— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2021
Lieutenant General Mohanty also added the incidents in Doklam and Galwan has not only enhanced the prestige of the nation but has given the country a ”big stature” in the international arena.
He said, “Today everybody talks about India as the net security provider and it is a security umbrella against a big nation.”
China evaded Tibet because of the latter’s weak armed forces
Giving the example of Tibet, Mohanty argued that “if Tibet had strong armed forces, they would have never been invaded.”
As reported by TFI, Tibet has had a tumultuous history after Mao invaded it in 1950. Since the 1960s, the Chinese government has made great efforts to change the ethnic composition of the region habituated by the Tibetan people.
Millions of Han Chinese were sent to live, marry, and establish a family with ethnic Tibetans. This demographic takeover was done in the name of the integration of Tibet in mainland China as the weak Tibetan forces could not mount a strong defence, unlike the Indians.
Read More: Tibet was a peaceful and independent country that China conquered and brutalized
India’s Defence spending for 2021-22
Talking about defence spending, the ministry of defence, earlier this year had informed a parliamentary standing committee that in the current financial year 2021-22, the Narendra Modi government has allocated a budget of Rs 4,78,196 crore of defence expenditure which is 13.73 per cent of the total central government expenditure.
The ministry of defence also stated that the amount for capital acquisitions aimed at modernisation of armed forces has increased by Rs 41,463.21 crore in absolute terms since 2016-17.
It is under the Modi administration that the country has truly started to make all three forces compatible with the standards of modern warfare.
Recently, in August, the first batch of India-made multi-mode hand grenades (MMHG), manufactured by a private firm named Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) was delivered to the Indian Army in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at a ceremony in Nagpur.
Similarly, the depleted squadrons of the Indian Air force have been given a booster shot with the inclusion of French-made Rafale jets that have been stationed in the strategically important borders of Arunachal Pradesh to corner China.
Moreover, in June, the Defence Ministry issued a tender expected to be worth around Rs 50,000 crores for building six conventional submarines under Project-75 India.
Self-sufficiency in Defence manufacturing for India is critical as India strides ahead in the 21st century in an increasingly hostile neighbourhood. Moreover, developing defence equipment on its own can help modernise the forces as well.
However, modernising the forces requires intensive capital, something which the pseudo-intellectuals generally have a problem with. The same species of intellectuals then question the government for not innovating. The duplicity is what the Vice CoAS has called out in his statements.