Urgent Need to strengthen the Capabilities of the Indian Army

Sir,

I draw your attention to media reports about the unpreparedness of the Indian Army, essentially on account of slow pace of its modernization, shortage of warfare equipment procurement, delay in replenishment/recruitment of officers and lack of infrastructure.

The Indian Army is crippled with a shortage of 12,000 young officers who actually lead its sections and companies in the battle. Its 400-odd infantry battalions are currently functioning with less than half the sanctioned strength of 40 officers.

It is shocking to note that there is a delay of more than a decade on commissioning two critical projects to equip infantry with modern assault rifles, night vision devices and devices for high speed encrypted communication and another Field Artillery Modernization Plan.

This issue assumes greater significance in view of the fact that our neighbhour China has been aggressively building up along the Leh border and Arunachal Pradesh with connecting roads and rail network, increasing its troops on the border and strengthening capabilities to amass a million troops in a short duration – while we are still grappling with bureaucratic issues.

These deficiencies are extremely worrying, and put the nation at a formidable risk. I urge the Government to take immediate action to strengthen the capabilities of the Indian Army.