Our defence public sector units (PSUs) and ordnance factories employ more people than almost any other country in the world, but have failed to produce any cutting edge military equipment. In the West, MIC has been replaced by other terms, such as “permanent war economy” and “war corporatism”.īut it may still have relevance in India. In the 1960s, Bob Dylan sang about the “Masters of War”, who “build the death planes (and) hide behind desks”. Fifty years ago, US President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell speech to the nation warned against “the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex”. Why can’t India do the same for its domestic economy ? Why shouldn’t it create its own MIC, a giant web of major factories that work as system integrators numerous small and medium industries that supply specialized parts a cutting-edge military research agency the armed forces to say what they will need in the future several layers of supervision and coordination and the government funding it all. They will bring in money and help create and sustain thousands of domestic jobs. Big-spend defence orders from India are important to each of them. In the next few months, at least three other high-profile visitors, President Sarkozy of France, President Medvedev of Russia and President Obama of US, will arrive in Delhi, hawking military wares. A single-page agreement was finally signed, enough to satisfy the visiting delegation. When British Prime Minister David Cameron landed in Bangalore on Tuesday and realized the 735million-pound deal for 57 new Hawk trainer aircraft wouldn’t be signed as expected, there was much last-minute diplomatic manoeuvering by the British. Now, it is virtually mandatory for visiting world leaders to bargain in Delhi for big-ticket defence purchases. India’s big-spend on weapons has not gone unnoticed by the wider world, mainly sellers.
More than 70% of India’s defence purchases are from firms in Russia, Israel, Europe and the US. Given the two-pronged threat from Pakistan and China and concerns about the Indian Ocean, India is expected to remain a voracious consumer of military equipment for the foreseeable future. But, India’s defence budget rises year on year. In 2009, except for a few helicopters from Russia and France, Beijing did not buy any major systems. Other traditionally big arms importers such as China have moved away from buying and towards creating their own military-industrial complex.Ĭhina’s conventional weapons imports show a steady decline. The list includes undemocratic oil-rich countries in West Asia. India has the dubious distinction of heading the list of the world’s biggest arms importers.
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