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The Rediff Special/Admiral J G Nadkarni (Retired)

The irrelevance of self-reliance

Many years ago, in the first flush of Independence, and possibly as result of our debacle against China, India's defence industry gave itself the goal of self-reliance in defence hardware. Never again would we be held to ransom by big powers. India's crucial defence requirements would be totally met by Indian factories and Indian shipyards.

Fuelled by Indian pride we acquired factories, set up defence public sector undertakings and took over three shipyards. We also set up a massive defence research organisation to aid and assist the process of indigenisation. Every major defence contract was concluded with an element of technology transfer and indigenous production. For the next 30 years self-reliance became the cornerstone of defence production. The mantra of self-reliance has been repeated ad nauseam by every defence minister, service chief and scientific advisor for the past 30 years.

After 30 years of toil and sweat the time is opportune to take stock of the situation and to assess what we have achieved on our road to self-reliance.

The common man has seen the Arjun tank roll down Rajpath on Republic Day and seen television shots of the Agni and Prithvi being launched. At present his chest is puffed with pride at the Pokhran explosions. He has been told from the highest quarters that the recent sanctions would not have the slightest effect on our relentless march towards Self-reliance. So far, so good.

Now let him also consider the following:

• The much-touted Light Combat Aircraft, scheduled to make its first test flight, more than year ago, has been grounded following the US sanctions. It now transpires that a major part of the aircraft including the crucial engine, landing gear, control systems and electronics not to mention the weapon systems and missiles are all to be imported.
• After not placing any orders on the Indian defence shipyards for nearly 10 years, the Indian Navy last year placed an order for three destroyers and two submarines at a whopping Rs 40 billion on Russian shipyards. A further order may follow if and when the navy decides to buy the aircraft carrier Gorshkov. The naval order follows another order by the Air Force worth Rs 60 billion.
• After producing the MiG-21 aircraft in India for 30 years one would have thought that we would be capable of modernising the aircraft. But even here the order went to the Russians. Similarly the Indian Navy's Kilo class submarines are still sent to Russia for their half-life refits.

As long as the end-product rolls out of an Indian factory it becomes an achievement in self-reliance, never mind if most of the innards are imported. The total lack of any transparency and the draconian Official Secrets Act are the props by which we have cloaked our lack of progress. Tall claims, most of them unable to stand detailed scrutiny, are beginning to replace actual achievement. Thus a claim was made recently that the Air Force would save nearly Rs 300 billion foreign exchange when the LCA is inducted, quietly forgetting the fact that nearly two thirds of that will have to be paid to import systems and equipment.

Why are we at a standstill in our goal towards self-reliance? To start with we began with the wrong approach. Instead of beginning from bottom upwards we started from top down. No defence industry can be self-reliant unless the country has the necessary infrastructure and local availability of the basic building blocks such as components, sub assemblies, microchips and sophisticated gyros. Without these home-grown products self-reliance can only mean putting together imported knock-down kits and full-scale systems with screw driver technology. That unfortunately has been the fate of the Indian automobile industry. Even after 50 years of production India does not design its cars or produce engines. Our defence industry is reduced to a similar fate.

Unfortunately, development of sub systems and components does not have the same glamour as producing an Arjun tank, an LCA or an Agni missile. We have tended to concentrate on "prestige product" rather than get down to the dull but necessary task of producing the building block of defence production.

Secondly, self-reliance is an expensive luxury. A look around the world will bring home the point. Many countries have long given up the ghost of self-reliance. Pragmatism has replaced pride. Thus Israel after spending nearly $ 2 billion on the development of the Lavi fighter gave up the proposition as too expensive. Countries of Europe have realised that no single country or company can bear the massive cost involved in developing new systems. Multinational development has replaced self-reliance. Two separate groups are developing the next European frigate, one by Britain, France and Italy and the other by Holland, Spain and Germany. Similarly there is Eurocopter, Eurotorpedo and Eurofighter. A poor country like India does not have the enormous resources required to be self-reliant.

Finally, even if we wish to indulge in the expensive hobby of Self-reliance it must be subsidised by exports. For a country which has a substantial production apparatus, India exports next to nothing.

The total defence exports have hovered around Rs 1-1.5 billion for many years, peanuts by world standards. Even tiny Israel and Singapore each export 20 times that amount.

The Indian defence shipyards have exported practically nothing during their 30-year existence. Despite a huge research and development establishment with over 40 laboratories and 40,000 scientists we have not been able to produce a single world beater.

Time has now come to examine the relevance of self-reliance. The mantra of total self-reliance is a baggage left over from our socialist economy days. It is time we threw it out of the window. No country today, however affluent, can afford to produce all its needs within its borders. Yet we want to manufacture everything from aircraft carriers to motor boats, from strike aircraft to trainers and from tanks and guns to shells and bullets. Trying to do everything within the country we end up doing nothing.

Does this mean that we are doomed to be forever at the mercy of foreign powers? We certainly are, at least until we change our approach. The massive orders for Russia mean that we will have to rely on that country for our spare parts and ammunition for years to come. On our road to self-reliance we have become more Russia-reliant than ever. What is even more worrisome is the present state of the Russian economy. Would a wise investor invest his money today in a company close to bankruptcy?

What then should be our strategy for the future? To start with let us not fritter away our resources and energy trying to produce everything under the sun in India. We should concentrate on just a few small items which should not only be the best in the world but exportable. For example, most of the countries in the Indian Ocean littoral have the need to patrol their exclusive economic zones. Would it not be possible to put all our design brains together to produce a utility but cheap and affordable offshore patrol vessel of Indian design which could be mass produced by our shipyards? The same could be done for the production of an effective infantry weapon such as the AK-47 or a Uzi machine gun.

The ultimate aim should be not to make us self-reliant but to make us an arms exporting country which would earn enough foreign exchange to enable it to buy the best equipment.

As far as self-reliance as a remedy against blackmail is concerned, one might consider the case of Pakistan, Iraq or Iran. Does the Chinese-supplied Ghauri with the Korean-supplied warhead make the Pakistani nuclear deterrent any less potent than the Agni? Despite the so-called arms embargo on Iran and Iraq both countries seem to get the most sophisticated weapons for their defence forces.

Some years ago the scientific advisor was giving a briefing on the Arjun tank to the prime minister and the Cabinet. He extolled the virtues of the tank, it had the best armour, speed and mobility. It had novel suspension and the best gun. It was also cheap to build and would save precious foreign exchange. The old man listened quietly. Finally he had only one question. "Arunachalam," he said. "If the tank is as good as you say it is why isn't the world making a beeline to buy it?" Exactly.

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