Current Events
India Stockpiles Arms:
$100 Billion ‘Defence Upgrade’ -
And a Billion Starving Souls Look On in Awe & Gratitude?
REUTERS
India approved on Saturday, November 22, 2014, the purchase of 814 mounted gun systems for the army at a cost of 157.5 billion rupees ($2.55 billion), a defence ministry spokesman said.
India, already the world's largest arms importer, is in the midst of a $100 billion defence upgrade.
Last month, the new government approved long-delayed projects worth $13 billion to modernise hardware and boost the domestic defence industry.
In June this year, the government cleared defence deals worth $3.5 billion.
"The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) today cleared the acquisition of 155 mm/52 calibre mounted gun systems worth 157.5 billion rupees," a defence ministry spokesman told reporters after the meeting, chaired by newly appointed defence minister Manohar Parrikar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is accelerating the modernisation plan in an attempt to catch up with neighbour China's rising military air, sea and land power. India's poorly equipped soldiers often scuffle with western neighbour Pakistan and brush up against Chinese forces patrolling a disputed Himalayan border.
Some of the mounted guns will be imported, but most will be made in India in a collaborative effort between foreign companies and domestic manufacturers.
"The initial 100 guns would be imported, but the remaining 714 would have to be produced in India," the official said.
According to local media reports, Tata Power's Strategic Engineering Division unveiled its first mounted gun system on a Tata track in 2012. Other Indian competitors could be Mahindra Defence, L&T and Bharat Forge.
Parrikar also announced that the DAC would meet more frequently, at least once in a month, to expedite acquisition proposals, the official said.
(1 US dollar = 61.7625 Indian rupees)
[Courtesy: Reuters. Reporting by Nigam Prusty, writing by Manoj Kumar; editing by Susan Thomas.]
November 26, 2016
Conversation about this article
1: Dr Birinder Singh Ahluwalia (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), November 27, 2014, 7:56 AM.
Every nation or country or empire -- in the past or in the present -- that is built solely or primarily on the foundation of mere force and not values will either implode due to intrinsic destructive forces or will be destroyed through external aggression or take over. Someone on the opposing side always comes up with a bigger and a smarter gun -- an unwritten principle of the ages. Nations, countries, empires first built on values that dignify humanity, and then followed up with arsenals to defend these values, will always survive and flourish and cannot or will not be defeated easily as every individual member will be prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice to defend and propagate such values. Nations like Canada, USA and UK have defined values that dignify and protect its citizens whereas countries like India and Pakistan have still to enunciate values that dignify and protect their people. So, rather than spend their wealth on weaponry, these latter nations should first focus on nation building and then indulge in other activities like stockpiling arms and building arsenals.
2: Kaala Singh (Punjab), November 27, 2014, 11:59 AM.
India is no America (GDP=$16 trillion) or China (GDP=$10 trillion). India's GDP has not been able to even touch the $2 trillion mark, despite all the noise of being an economic superpower, while a majority of its population can't afford even the basic amenities of life! Not food, not shelter, not even toilets. In any future conflict, India cannot even defeat Pakistan with all these weapons worth billions of dollars, a fact acknowledged by some knowledgeable and unbiased generals of the Indian army. India should rather invest to make peace with its neighbours and to make life easier for its teeming millions who live extremely miserable lives, if it is at all serious about wanting to ensure a secure future.