India is the seventh largest and the second most populous country in the world .Such a great size in area and population needs a strong defense system.India has one of the worlds highest defense personal.The demography of India from the Coastal plains of Kerala to the Himalayan belt ,Indian army has to deal with different geographical terrains which itself are accompanied by equal number of diverse climates.Such type of diverse environments are to be dealt as second priority first ofcousre the enemy.The Thar desert has its implications on the weapon machinery as well as the man power So are the snowy mountainous terrain of North and North-Eastern India .The vast coastline from West Bengal to the Coasts of Gujrat are to be protected from any possible intrusion.As such we need to keep our defense equipment supplies and personal in pace with the world in number and in technology .As one of the few nuclear powers in the world we have a duty towards world peace .
The internal diverse segments of population and land give rise to internal security threats such as Moiasts in the central states and north eastern states , Separatist aspirations of the eastern states,Separatist aspirations of Kashmir and Punjab, religious fundamentalism.The internal security concerns are time being and soon the population will realise that the democratic setup will serve the purpose of each and every country.
After the civil war in middle east and the rise of ISIS India having the second largest Muslim population has good concerns for an advanced technological defense firewall.
Besides India has the worlds most notorious neighbors with China in North-East,Pakistan in the North-West .All the three nuclear armed countries are in an ruthless armed race.The world sometimes sees the deadlock at Doklam ,sometimes it has to witnesses Surgical Strikes and the wishy-washy war like situations.With China being the worlds second largest spender on defense equipment only after China ,India has concerns .Pakistan on the other hand is the alley to United States of America and a friend of People's Republic of China.Pakistan has been playing double hand in Afghanistan-America war ,that is an established fact.Thus notoriously earning a good deal of arms.Besides it spends a good portion of its GDP on defense .Pakistan is geographical a small country in comparison to India. Still it has its own concern like Islamic fundamentalism,Intra group conflicts,Afghanistan-America war etc.
When after Independence India opted the NAM as a principal policy for foreign affairs ,Pakistan joined the West Bloc ;one consequences was it got high tech defense equipment.
Non aligned movement (NAM) might slowed our armed growth for some decades but now when the world is depolarised ,we have option and we have many.We can buy equipments from Russia , Israel and USA thus adding to our diversity of options.We can take the best from any country in the world besides these France ,Germany are good options and we are currently using some of there equipment as well.
The new Sherpa Renualt defense vehicles brought from France is a all weather 4×4 full armed small truck.Rafale deal with all the news in the media is also related to France.In total we have a lot of options to buy defense commodities but do we have the funds?
Our current spending on defense is roughly two percent out of which military takes more than half but the real problem lies a bit deeper.
In the 1960's and 1970's we were spending less than what we are spending now.But the problem is that the in those decades we were spending directly to harness defense machinery but now we have obligation of much needed pension needs and other not so direct needs of defense.
Does Indian defense need modernization?
Truly ,Every defense equipment needs modernization in order to be more competent .Indian defense system is also in need of modernization .The small weapons that Indian army uses include AK 47,INSAS -standerd rifle used by Indian army,AKM-modernized version of AK 47.These weapons have one ore the other complication .The defense transport vehicles including heavy trucks and other machinery needs be brought into supervision.
Strictly speaking we need to recheck our defense spendings and form a policy which is more equipment and arsenal friendly than what we are spending now.Besides we need to spend more on lighter weapons than on heavy arms and ammunition .Given the nature of war these days any heavy weapon is only a showpiece till the war escalate into a nuclear war eventually eating the world.More money should be utilised in defense research organizations like DRDO to promote more technical defense stuff.In my opinion the ministry of defence is much concerned about showing the weapons heavy to the world than placing some good guns in the hands of army personal.Who knows.Till next budget let's hope no weapon is needed.

Email:------turabi1294@gmail.com