India Defence and Security Report Q2 2008

As in the previous two quarters, most security issues in India were overshadowed by the deterioration of the political and internal security situation in Pakistan. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27 2007 and the subsequent unrest, including widespread fighting between Pakistani government forces and militants on three fronts, has further compounded the regional instability engendered by the poor security situation in Afghanistan. While the possibility of a partial or complete breakdown of law and order in Pakistan constitutes a significant (if entirely unpredictable in nature) threat to India's security, at least one positive implication of the situation has been the diminishment of Indo-Pakistani tensions relating to the dispute over Kashmir.

With respect to its myriad internal security challenges, the news from India remains pretty grim. For example, 50 Naxalites were among the 300 prisoners who escaped from Chhattisgarh jail in mid- December. At the same time, attacks by Naxalites against police stations - and other targets - in Uttar Pradesh continued. In north-east India: the United Liberation Front of Assam carried out several bombings. Also, at the beginning of January 2008, the state government of Nagaland was dismissed: that state is now run directly by the Government of India from New Delhi. Violence also continued in Nepal, where the Constituent Assembly elections were postponed until April 10 2008.

An ongoing notable feature of India's defence industry is the strength of its relationship with Russia. This is testified to by the recent signing of an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the Joint Development and Production of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft. At the same time, the continuing delay in the refitting and delivery to India of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, and the spiralling of its associated costs, in part due to the decreasing value of the US dollar, has proved a slight annoyance to India.

Several significant recent events reported by the Indian Ministry of Defence are also worth noting. On January 18, the 6th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment departed from Delhi in order to take up its role in the UN Peace Keeping Mission in Congo. On the same day, the Minister of State for Defence Shri MM Pallam Raju announced that the government had no immediate plans to initiate conscription. This announcement came in response to widespread speculation that the government was considering adopting conscription due to an acute shortage of students opting for military officers' training through the NDA and CDS exams. Finally, on January 21, the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony inaugurated a two-day seminar entitled 'Synergising Defence, Industry and Technology through Standardisation - Perspective concerns and Spin offs'. The seminar was organised by the Directorate of Standardisation under Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, and was seen as the first step of the plan to develop and upgrade the country's defence standardisation and codification procedures in line with international standards.

India and Vietnam have agreed to further expand their relations in defence co-operation. The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony announced that New Delhi will assist Vietnam in restoring and maintaining the operational capabilities of its ageing navy by transferring 5,000 naval spares designed for the Petya class warship. The coming months should also see an Indian team training Vietnamese troops for UN Peace Keeping Operations. In general, these events are indicative of the ongoing movement by India and Vietnam towards a close strategic partnership. India has likewise been increasing its defence ties with France, discussing plans for service-to-service co-operation activities later this year, and hosting discussions pertaining to the joint development, production and research of defence infrastructure and munitions.

Finally, it is worth noting that over the past 12 months, the Indian Army has staged joint exercises with the Armies of China, the UK, Maldives, Russia and Singapore. The joint exercise with China was particularly noteworthy, being the first of its kind between the traditional military rivals. The Indian Air Force carried out joint exercises with the air forces of France and Russia, and the Indian Navy carried out joint exercises with the navies of the US, Russia, Japan, Oman, Australia, France, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.