India’s Military Reforms: Addressing Nation-Building, Capability and Modernisation, and Budget Optimisation

A TPF Conversation on “India’s Military Reforms: Addressing Nation-Building, Capability and Modernisation, and Budget Optimisation” on 30 June, 2022.

Concept Note:

Major militaries of the world continue to restructure, modernise, and adapt to fight the wars of the 21st Century. With its emerging global power profile, India faces many complex challenges concerning the security and development of the nation. As the defender of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its military is the guarantor of peace and plays a pre-eminent role in nation-building. In this context, timely structural and doctrinal reforms are vital. Resistance to change is a general character but change is inevitable particularly when faced with techno-intensive battle environments. The military has been bogged down by piecemeal reforms and excruciatingly slow processes, with the Indian Army stuck to the “Boots on the Ground” concept.

The changing contours of warfare require a lean, mean, and techno-savvy force to tackle the various evolving security challenges. Various solutions such as a younger profile military, reducing the budgetary expenditure on pay and pensions, concepts of compulsory military service, etc have been discussed for decades. The Agnipath recruitment scheme is an outcome of these discussions with the geopolitical environment hastening the process.

As mentioned in the 2001 GoM Report on National Security, “Military Capability cannot exist in isolation from broader societal trends and many of the factors that buttress the military ethos are at odds with trends in the civilian society”. On this note, a combination of evolutionary and revolutionary approaches is required to bring about transformational changes to strengthen the confidence of society. The need for a National Security Strategy and a National Security Doctrine is indispensable in this regard. This event will seek to address the questions on the issues of Military Reforms that should address nation-building through the concept of military service experience to a larger segment of the young population, the nuances of economics and operational efficiency involved in these processes, as also the larger societal impact.

About the Distinguished Panelists:

Admiral Arun Prakash PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM (V)
Former Chairman, COSC and Former CNS, Indian Navy

Admiral Arun Prakash served as India’s 20th Naval Chief from 31 July 2004 to 31 October 2006 and as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) from 31 January 2005 to 31 October 2006. An aviator by specialisation, during his 40-year career, he commanded a carrier-borne fighter squadron, a naval air station and four warships: including the aircraft carrier INS Viraat. Earlier he was C-in-C of the Andaman & Nicobar Command and the Western Naval Command. During his tenure at the helm, the navy saw many initiatives being launched in the fields of doctrine, strategy, transformation, and foreign maritime cooperation.

He is a graduate of the IAF Test Pilots School, Defence Services Staff College, and the US Naval War College. During the 1971 War, he was awarded the Vir Chakra while flying with an IAF fighter squadron in Punjab. Post-retirement, he served two terms as a member of the National Security Advisory Board and was Chairman of the National Maritime Foundation.

He served on the 1999 Arun Singh Task force as well as the Naresh Chandra Committee on national security reforms. He lives in Goa and writes and speaks on strategic and security-related topics. The Admiral holds the distinguished chair at the college and is the guiding light for research carried out by faculty and course participants.

Lt. Gen. Philip Campose PVSM, AVSM & Bar, VSM (V)
Former VCOAS and Former GOC-in-C, Western Command

Lieutenant General Philip Campose served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from Aug 2014 till his retirement in July 2015. He was commissioned into 9 Gorkha Rifles in 1974. He has vast operational and command experience including being the commander of a mechanized infantry battalion and commander of an infantry division near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. He was the Chief Staff Officer (Land Vector) at the headquarters of Strategic Forces Command and Commander of XII Corps (Jodhpur). He has also served as an instructor at National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and at the tactical wing of Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACCS). He was deputed to United Nations peace keeping missions in former Yugoslavia and northern Iraq.

In 2013, he was appointed as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command, prior to his appointment as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS). Gen. Campose is an alumnus of the National Defence College, New Delhi, the Higher Command Course at Army War College, Mhow and a tactical course in Russia. He holds an M Phil in Defence Management and Security Studies and in Strategic Studies from Indore and Madras Universities respectively.

Air Marshal B Suresh PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (V)
Former AOC-in-C, Western Air Command and Southern Air Command

Air Marshal Balakrishnan Suresh was the AOC-in-C of Western Air Command as his last appointment before retiring on 31 July 2020. Earlier he was AOC-in-C of Southern Air Command. He was also the Air Officer Personnel at Air Hq, responsible for the HR policies of the IAF. He has flown varied fighter aircraft as well as Helicopters in his career spanning nearly 40 years. He is an alumnus of TACDE (Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment) and spent a total of eight years in the elite unit including as Commandant of the establishment.

The Air Marshal held many commands, staff, and operational appointments that include command of a MiG-27 squadron during the Kargil conflict, Director, Air Staff Inspection Directorate (DASI), Air Assistant to Chief of Air Staff, command of one of the largest IAF bases (western front), and Assistant Chief of Air Staff, overseeing entire Air Defence Operations of the country (for nearly 04 years). In this capacity, he headed the Joint Services Study Group (JSSG) for the formation of Space Command and was also deeply involved with important indigenous AD programmes.

The Air Marshal has a Master’s in Defence Studies (University of Madras) and another in Global Security from Cranfield University, UK.

Capt R Sivasailam IAS (Retd)
Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

Capt Sivasailam served as a Captain in the Indian Army for 6 years before joining IAS. He was with the 1968 IAS Batch of Govt. of West Bengal. He retired as the Principal Secretary of the Govt. of West Bengal. He joined the Indian Army as an Emergency Commissioned Officer in the Regiment of Artillery and served from 1964 to 1970. He is a veteran of the 1965 Indo-Pak war. After his service with the Indian Army, Capt Sivasailam worked as the Assistant Accountant General in IAAS Staff College, Shimla for 2 years. Then, as an IAS officer, he worked for about 25 years with Govt. of West Bengal and Govt. of India in various capacities in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Commerce, etc. He has also worked as a Consultant and Administrator for Evacuee Relief and Disaster Management under UNHCR, Dacca and carried out the settlement, evacuation and resettlement of about 8 Lakh evacuees/refugees from East Pakistan (Bangladesh) during the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971-1972.

He holds an MA in Public Administration and MSc in Defence Studies from the University of Madras. He is a faculty at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai and Babaji Vidyashram, a CBSE School. He is also a visiting faculty for programs conducted by Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussorie, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), Kolkata and Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi and Regional chapters, etc. He is currently serving as an advisor to Babaji Vidyashram and International Village School (CBSE and IB Schools) and King Maker’s IAS Academy, etc.

Ms. Huma Siddiqui
Senior Journalist, Financial Express

Ms Huma Siddiqui is a Senior Correspondent for The Financial Express in New Delhi. She specialises in coverage of Latin America & Defence Issues pertaining to India. Huma is a noted personality in the media circle and was earlier associated with The Indian Express. She is an alumnus of Delhi University. She is also the Vice-President of the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), India’s first association of women journalists.

About the Chair:

Air Marshal M Matheswaran AVSM VM PhD (V)
President, The Peninsula Foundation

Air Marshal M Matheswaran is an Indian Air Force veteran with 39 years of active service. He is the Founder-President of The Peninsula Foundation, a policy research think-tank based in Chennai. He is a fighter pilot, an Experimental Test Pilot, and a Fighter Combat Leader, and has flown over 40 types of aircraft. He is an alumnus of IAF’s prestigious institutions, ASTE and TACDE where he was Commandant and Deputy Commandant respectively. The Air Marshal is also a graduate of the Defence Services College, Wellington and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He has held various operational and command appointments that include Senior Air Staff Officer of Eastern Air Command, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Space), Air Officer Commanding (Maritime Air Operations), Principal Director (Air Staff Acquisition) and Director of Ops at the Strategic Forces Command.

The Air Marshal has a master’s in military science, M Phil, and a PhD in Defence and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras. He has a post-graduate diploma if financial management. He has done a Senior Fellowship in National and International Security from the Harvard Kennedy School of Governance, Harvard University. He has been an advisor to HAL, Cyient, and also as President, Aerospace Business in Reliance Defence. He continues to be involved in strategic consultancy in Defence and Aerospace.

Event Partners:

1. Department of Defence and Strategic Studies (DODASS), University of Madras

2. Government Law College, Villupuram

3. Colours of Glory

4. Saveetha School of Law, SIMATS University