Indian Army: News & Discussion

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 22 Feb 2011 03:22

Salient Issues Affecting Defence Manpower in India -- Gurmeet Kanwal*

Manpower costs are increasingly becoming unmanageable and are driving national security planners towards thinking creatively about what used to be called ‘affordable defence’. Despite leap-frogging from third to fourth generation weapons technologies in the short span of about two decades, modern armed forces are still far from being able to effect substantive reductions in manpower by substituting fighting personnel with innovative technologies while ensuring operational effectiveness. In fact, more often than not, technological solutions are proving to be costlier than the present arrangements for security. It may be quite a long wait to see which way the technology cookie crumbles. In India’s case, because of the Army’s extensive commitments in border management and manpower-intensive internal security duties, it is unable to undertake major reduction in its manpower. Direct personnel costs amount to almost 50 per cent of the Army’s revenue budget and indirect costs add further to the burden. As the defence budget is unlikely to increase beyond 2.5 per cent of the GDP, the Army’s modernisation plans have fallen way behind the required qualitative levels. It argues that there is a need to seek innovative and creative solutions to reduce the costs of manpower even if the manpower itself cannot be reduced in large numbers at present.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 22 Feb 2011 03:27

bureaucrats always try to save money...there was the case of the young officer who was killed in an accident while riding home after a meeting with the CO. His family was denied benefits until Supreme court ruled that it was a death on duty ...will have to find the link. Been a while since I read that.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 Feb 2011 10:20

Govt to hike defence budget

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Govt- ... et/753123/

In the backdrop of evolving Asian security scenario, defence modernisation is poised to get a massive boost in the coming fiscal with the Budget likely to increase capital acquisition allocation by almost 25 per cent. Defence Ministry officials said that the Finance Ministry has agreed to a “significant jump” in the capital acquisition outlay to nearly Rs 56,000 crore in 2011-12 from revised provision of Rs 45,000 crore in the current fiscal.

...

However, most of the enhanced Budget — nearly Rs 35,000 crore — would go towards “committed liabilities of the past few years”, said the officials. Besides, there would be new spending on big ticket items such as medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) and much delayed reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters.

India plans to spend Rs 46,000-crore for 126 MMRCA, the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft, for Indian Air Force and more than Rs 60,000 crore for 197 advanced helicopters for IAF and the Indian Army. “Field trials have been completed for both products and only the government (Cabinet Committee on Security) approval remains,” said the officials.

The enhanced outlay is also reflective of the Defence Ministry’s past record in spending. After struggling during his initial years as the Defence Minister, A K Antony has been able to exhaust the Budget allocation for the second year in a row.

“We are reasonably confident that we will be able to place orders for the money allocated to us during the current fiscal,” said a senior ministry official. Most of it, he said, has been tied up. “What remains is CCS approval for Akash missiles, C-17 Globemaster aircraft, Mirage-2000 upgrade and additional purchase of patrol vessels. These proposals are being dealt with at various levels and are likely to be cleared before March 31 (when the fiscal year ends),” he said.

Good job!

pkudva · Post by **pkudva** » 22 Feb 2011 10:31

But the capital expenditure in the last budget was mentioned as 60,000/- crores, how can be mentioned as 45,000/- which means again we will fail to utilise nearly 14,000/- crores.

Also, intrestingly 56,000/- crores is less than the amount allocated in the earlier budget which was 60,000/- crores.

nits · Post by **nits** » 22 Feb 2011 15:21

National Geographic is starting a new series on Indian Army - see detailes here - http://www.natgeotv.co.in/missionarmy/

nits · Post by **nits** » 22 Feb 2011 15:24

As per the Budget article - hike is due to MRCA & Heli purchase... But IMHO we don't need to pay 100% payment in advance and we will be paying in installments as we produce\recieve the products...

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 23 Feb 2011 09:21

It pays to look after your trooops – even after retirement

Lt Col AK Sam Sharma (Retd)

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 23 Feb 2011 17:59

Indian Army sets up COI into leakage of Howitzer trial papers

kmc_chacko · Post by **kmc_chacko** » 23 Feb 2011 20:33

abhishek_sharma wrote:Govt to hike defence budget

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Govt- ... et/753123/

In the backdrop of evolving Asian security scenario, defence modernisation is poised to get a massive boost in the coming fiscal with the Budget likely to increase capital acquisition allocation by almost 25 per cent. Defence Ministry officials said that the Finance Ministry has agreed to a “significant jump” in the capital acquisition outlay to nearly Rs 56,000 crore in 2011-12 from revised provision of Rs 45,000 crore in the current fiscal.

...

However, most of the enhanced Budget — nearly Rs 35,000 crore — would go towards “committed liabilities of the past few years”, said the officials. Besides, there would be new spending on big ticket items such as medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) and much delayed reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters.

India plans to spend Rs 46,000-crore for 126 MMRCA, the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft, for Indian Air Force and more than Rs 60,000 crore for 197 advanced helicopters for IAF and the Indian Army. “Field trials have been completed for both products and only the government (Cabinet Committee on Security) approval remains,” said the officials.

The enhanced outlay is also reflective of the Defence Ministry’s past record in spending. After struggling during his initial years as the Defence Minister, A K Antony has been able to exhaust the Budget allocation for the second year in a row.

“We are reasonably confident that we will be able to place orders for the money allocated to us during the current fiscal,” said a senior ministry official. Most of it, he said, has been tied up. “What remains is CCS approval for Akash missiles, C-17 Globemaster aircraft, Mirage-2000 upgrade and additional purchase of patrol vessels. These proposals are being dealt with at various levels and are likely to be cleared before March 31 (when the fiscal year ends),” he said.
Good job!

expenditures are increasing but inductions are delaying

sum · Post by **sum** » 23 Feb 2011 20:43

chackojoseph wrote:Indian Army sets up COI into leakage of Howitzer trial papers

And there ends the wet dream of atleast M-777s coming any time soon..

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 23 Feb 2011 21:46

Hahahahaha! What a mess, I said gunships. One of the few times I trusted an outside agency.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 24 Feb 2011 13:11

Indian Army opens automobile training centre in Congo

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 25 Feb 2011 05:40

Gaya OTA to admit 1st batch this year

The Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) at Gaya is nearing completion and the first batch of 200 is expected to join by mid 2011-said Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal, adjutant general, Integrated HQ of MoD (Army). He was addressing the annual recruiting seminar of the Indian Army at the College of Military Engineering (CME) in Pune. “The final orders have been received from the government. Raising of the staff, support staff and other infrastructural requirements are met and the first batch of 200 for this academy training for Short Service Commission (SSC) would join by mid 2011. Next year, the number will be increased to 750 which would further take up the intake of officers,” he said adding, “Last year, the net intake of officers in the country was increased by 400, while this year it is expected to go up by 800.”

In order to meet the officer shortage that the Indian Army has been facing, the second academy, on the lines of OTA, Chennai was proposed by the government about two years ago.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 25 Feb 2011 09:04

Lt Gen P S Bhalla is new NCC DG

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 25 Feb 2011 10:57

Found this article written by an army officer in Orkut

A Humbling Experience

A senior officer, I know, once said at a social gathering, “It’s humbling to see a woman run 100 km”. He was referring to a 100 km marathon he participated in, every year. I didn’t know what to say. Of course, my intention here is far from initiating a debate on the capabilities of the fairer sex, but I had seen people in flesh n blood that would make others seem less human. And, we are not talking about physical capability here, because I feel it can be achieved by anyone or everyone through dedicated training or simply just by sheer god’s gift, or maybe, we find it extraordinary because we are just too caught up with our own priorities to even pay attention to existence of such possibilities. But, very rarely one gets exposed to the virtues which a particular class of humans possess, who are so ordinary and simple that probably a dope would outsmart them on an abandoned straight street, and yet so extraordinary that their acts and behavior defy a common logic. What makes them do it? What is it behind that superhuman behaviour that could shake up any soul witnessing it? May be just a bond he shares with his colleagues or more appropriately, his comrades. May be just a sense of pride he has. Pride in his subunit, unit or profession or simply in his self being, better yet, in all of these.

My first realisation upon this fact came when I was admitted to a Hospital, getting myself treated for some, well, now in the introspection, superficial wounds I had incurred in a counter terrorist operation. And when I could get on my feet long enough to move outside Officers’ Ward, I went to see my buddy, down in the Surgical Ward, who had been my partner in the adventure and of course thus was party to the same consequences with little more serious injuries. While I was looking for him in the ward, I came across this man sitting on a bed with his back against the bed rest. When I looked at him he was twisting his moustache with his face filled with pride. As my sight moved towards his lower limbs, I realised he was missing his left leg below his knee, and as my sight went back to his face, the movement of which he was noticing all this while, his face filled with more pride. He immediately came into a more attentive posture and smartly greeted me. Now this wasn’t the first time I had seen a wounded soldier. I may sound like a “war veteran”, which, I am not, but I have seen a more than fair share of combat as per my seniority in my army. In fact most people would have probably considered me exaggerating whenever I told about my experiences of being “under the range”. But this one here, just left me speechless; and when I started to go around the ward I realised the irony of being an “experienced combatant”. All these were the men who had experienced combat situations just like those who had been with me during all my “experiences”. The irony was that the people, who stayed on the field after an action, never realised about the part which began for their comrades who were evacuated from the field, sometimes with their limbs missing, sometimes losing an eye or simply injured seriously enough to having seen the face of the death from a very close range.

Anyways, I soon found out that my buddy had gone to see the specialist. While I was waiting for him, I decided to find out more about this young man. He was from one of the Infantry units, deployed in a counter insurgency role near disputed borders. One night while he was acting as leading scout of a patrol, without realising, he entered an unmarked minefield. Our man here stepped on one of the anti personnel mines and as a result lost his left foot. Thereafter, his patrol followed the regular battle drills, recovered him from the situation and then evacuated him to the hospital as per set procedure. Eventually, he was operated upon and in order to save his life, the doctors decided to amputate his leg below his knee.

This man here was just in his late twenties and he had lost a limb to a stupid minefield, probably laid by his own army a few years back. He sure wasn’t eligible to serve anymore in the army because of losing a reasonable amount of ability. He sure wasn’t educated enough to take up a decent job on the civic street. He wouldn’t have been able to do some farming. Yet he had this strange sense of satisfaction of having done his bit for his comrades. His simple explanation that had it not been him, someone else may have got hit, defied the basic instinct of survival.

As I went around the ward, I met a number of soldiers, with different tales of combat incidents, most of them matching the sentiment of this young man in their narration. I do not remember the name of this young man, or for that matter of anyone else’s who told me about his experiences. But for me they were all the same. They all had one face, that of an infantry soldier, who had been through combat.

I had a number of interactions with this young man about his future plans, about his ongoing treatment and about what The Army intended to do with him. About a week later, I could manipulate my discharge from the Hospital, convincing the doctor that I would be assigned to some desk job in the battalion. Needless to say, I went to take leave from him before returning to the unit. He told me he was being referred to another Hospital for artificial replacement of his limb. That would be the last time I would be seeing this young man.

I got the opportunity to visit the same hospital about a couple of weeks later, but by then he had been transferred to another hospital for his limb replacement. My interaction with this young man started something, which, sort of, became customary for me then; a visit to the surgical ward and meeting all the men there. And here they all were, all new faces bringing a whole new series of experiences.

jai · Post by **jai** » 25 Feb 2011 11:45

[quote="jamwal"]Found this article written by an army officer in Orkut

A Humbling Experience

The MOD needs to do far more for its disabled veterans. For starters, all fresh openings in MOD and defense PSU's should only go to disabled veterans and ex servicemen - where ever the job can not be done by some one disabled.

There is no reason why MOD and defense PSU's need to be staffed by civilians. On the other hand, it would provide a huge confidence to serving soldiers that they would be suitably taken care of even if they got disabled fighting for the country. The services would certainly benefit getting more ex servicemen in MOD as things will become more streamlined and will move much much faster, with lesser corruption.

Similarly, a lot of opportunities closer to the forces - running Canteen Service depots, wet canteens, shops in cantonments etc etc should be reserved for disabled veterans.....this way the veterans would stay close to their units and be suitably rehabilitated.

The directorate of resettlements should also put a higher priority in placing disabled vets and needs a bigger budget to advertise and let the corporate world know of the world of capability available in disabled and fit ex.servicemen.

All corporates now have huge budgets for corporate social responsibility , time some of it was diverted for rehabilitation of ex servicemen.

This is one account Mr Clean clearly needs to do more on....

Gaur · Post by **Gaur** » 25 Feb 2011 14:11

Thanks a lot Jamwal and Jai for sharing that with us. That was very moving.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 27 Feb 2011 08:30

Army tells govt to provide land in Dwarka

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/army- ... ka/755416/

----

The Chief of Army Staff, Gen. V.K. Singh paying tribute to the Martyrs at Noida Shaheed Smarak ,at Noida, Uttar Pradesh on February 26, 2011.

http://pib.nic.in/release/phsmall.asp?phid=33916

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 27 Feb 2011 08:31

Army Chief to visit US Centcom HQ

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Army- ... HQ/755384/

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 28 Feb 2011 10:27

Indian Army excercise "Vajra Prahar" to trim mobilisation time to 48 hours

nits · Post by **nits** » 28 Feb 2011 13:02

Defence budget hiked to Rs.1.54 lakh crore

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday said India's defence budget for 2011-12 had been hiked to Rs.154,415 crore ($34 billion).

This will mark an over four percent increase from the 2010-11 allocation of Rs.147,344 crore. Mukherjee also told the Lok Sabha while presenting the annual budget that the capital expenditure for defence in 2011-12 would be scaled up to Rs.69,199 crore, up from the Rs.60,000 crore in 2010-11.

He said any further requirement for defence of the country would be met.

nits · Post by **nits** » 28 Feb 2011 13:04

Rs 9L disability compensation for defence personnel

Defence personnel, who have suffered 100 percent disability during the course of their government service, will henceforth get a one-time compensation of Rs 9 lakh on par with paramilitary personnel fighting Maoists.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced this benefit for defence personnel in his budget proposals presented in Lok Sabha Monday.

Defence personnel, who suffered less than 100 percent but over 20 percent disability, would be provided a proportionate amount as one-time compensation, he said.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 01 Mar 2011 02:09

Anotehr report to confirm Vajra Prahar's goals

Looks like Cold Start in a different bottle!

By Suman Sharma

Army drill to validate 48hr mobilization

Army drill in May to validate 48-hour mobilisation timePublished: Monday, Feb 28, 2011, 1:42 IST
By Suman Sharma |

Can Indian Army mobilise troops within 48 hours? The army believes it can and will seek to validate its answer at an annual exercise involving about 10,000 personnel in the Rajasthan-Punjab region in May.

After terrorists attacked parliament in December 2001, the government had ordered army mobilisation. But Operation Parakram took 27 days, by which time sufficient international diplomatic pressure had built up to pre-empt any military strike on Pakistan.

Since then, the army has been working hard to bring down its mobilisation time. Sources said better road management, offloading, rail links, equipment and man-management had reduced the time to 48 hours and every strike corps had been working at reducing its mobilisation period.

The two-week exercise, Vajra Prahar, will involve the Ambala-based 2 strike corps, besides elements from the Patiala-based 1 armoured division, Meerut-based 22 division and Dehra Dun-based 14 division, also called Rapids.

Earlier, the army used to launch an attack after an entire formation had gathered, but the new approach is for small battle groups with command-and-control abilities carrying out early launches. As elements have to be gathered from far-flung places, it’s important to plan in advance.

Training time will be reduced, and as small groups get ready, they would be launched.

Incidentally, the Pakistani army had held a war game last year near its India border with around 50,000 troops mobilised in three days from one end of that country to the other.

Former army chief general VP Malik pointed out that distances in Pakistan were shorter. “We took 20 days to mobilise troops for Operation Parakram. The lesson learnt was to reduce the time, which brought forth the doctrine of cold start for strategic re-location. Today, we are in a much better position,” he said.

Every year, the three corps take turns to hold war games. Last year, 21 corps had its first drill based on nuclear biological chemical warfare.

sum · Post by **sum** » 01 Mar 2011 09:11

^^ Without enough wheeled and SP artillery, what is the use of mobilising fast if we cannot "dash to RYK" and pummel the opposing forces with a sustained artillery blitzkreig?

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 01 Mar 2011 23:50

^^^Well, sir, IA is not without arty.....what we need is newer systems but that does not mean that 130mm M-46 will not do the job.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 02 Mar 2011 12:57

Indian Army Skiing Expedition to South Pole flagged off

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 03 Mar 2011 07:53

Looks like Cold Start in a different bottle!

The bottle gets filled much faster.............

The old one they could pronounce easily while complaining................. this one is more difficult to pronounce and the one listening to the complain should have some difficulty understanding what is being said.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 03 Mar 2011 08:39

If we have 4000 130 mm guns I would breathe a little better but it is still a bit outranged and has not shoot and scoot.

So someone tell me we have 4000 130 mm guns

The other problem in heavily populated India - mobilisation is a nightmare.

Every $@$@#%%@ paanwala and chaiwallah outside will be informing as the first convoy's head out. You can only decieve so much

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 04 Mar 2011 06:05

Army chief to visit US next week; howitzer deal to figure in talks

During the six-day visit, the Indian Army's proposed procurement of 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers, which India is to buy from the US in a direct government-to-government deal worth $647 million, will figure high on the agenda.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 Mar 2011 09:12

imo they should also slap around the pvt airline operators and practice the procedures by which B737/A320 can be comandeered enmasse to move people and light materials long distances from peacetime stations to mate with pre stored caches or eqpt moving by rail. a gruelling 2 days rail journey is more sapping than a 1 hr flight to the terminating railhead.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 06 Mar 2011 06:43

Year later, Gaya OTA plan yet to take off

But the Gaya OTA, on the lines of the existing one in Chennai, is yet to take off. This when the 1.13-million strong Army is currently grappling with a shortage of 12,510 officers in its "sanctioned strength'' of 47,864.

The defence ministry seems to be sleeping over the new OTA project, with even the "government sanction letter'' yet to be issued for it. "The letter is needed to commence implementation of the project. For instance, the recruitment of the around 200 civilian personnel needed for the OTA cannot be done without it,'' said a source.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 07 Mar 2011 03:25

Not Indian Army but could not fiure out where to post this

http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2B ... 66465.html

New Singapore Army Chief

The Singapore Army will soon have a new chief.

Brigadier-General (BG) Ravinder Singh s/o Harchand Singh will replace Major-General (MG) Chan Chun Sing as Chief of Army on March 25 2011.

46-year-old BG Ravinder Singh, currently Deputy Secretary (Technology) in the Ministry of Defence, was previously Commanding Officer, 3rd Signal Battalion; Commander, 2nd Singapore Infantry Brigade and Assistant Chief of General Staff (Plans); Head Joint Communications and Information Systems Department.

He also held the posts of Head Joint Plans and Transformation Department; Commander 6th Division and Chief of Staff - Joint Staff.

BG Singh holds a and a Master of Arts (Engineering Science) from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He also holds a Master of Science (Management of Technology) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States of America

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 07 Mar 2011 08:58

Bridge On The River Meghna : The Dash to Dhaka

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 07 Mar 2011 15:26

Check the image here (from broadsword):
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJY5M8KeIdM/T ... G_1819.JPG

This is taken in Spanggur Gap opposite chusul in Ladakh - tells you why one needs armored vehicles - APC and MBT- in Ladakh Sector. Infact, in 1962, it was feared that PLA might launch armored thrust from this very sector and we inducted the AMX-13 tanks.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 07 Mar 2011 15:42

WOW , looks like a highway

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 08 Mar 2011 14:29

Indian Army conducts exercise "Bold Kurukshetra" with Sigapore Army in Jhansi

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 08 Mar 2011 19:42

Army Chief in US

The current situation in Libya and West Asia, and the increasing assertiveness of China is also expected to come up during the talks here, officials said.

Why Libya?

The army chief is also expected to discuss the procurement of the Javelin missile system, which again has been offered to India through the FMS route.

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 08 Mar 2011 19:46

Compensation to personnel on peacekeeping missions hiked

The compensation paid to defence personnel killed in peacekeeping missions under the United Nations (UN) flag has been increased to USD 70,000 from USD 50,000, the Lok Sabha was informed today.In a written reply to the House, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "A sum of USD 50,000 was being paid for those killed. This has been revised to USD 70,000 with effect from July 2010. " "The death compensation paid to the families of personnel killed in such peacekeeping missions is over and above the normal package for similar cases in India," Antony said

Army to scale the worlds eighth highest peak

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 08 Mar 2011 22:03

i still believe that India can play a positive stabilising and reconstructive role in the mid-east - especially now
the arabs are wary of the US, Russians and especially the Chinese.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 09 Mar 2011 08:14

http://dailypioneer.com/323039/An-ode-t ... ldier.html

An ode to the Indian soldier
March 09, 2011 8:40:03 AM

Manvendra Singh

While India has chosen to forget the sacrifices of its soldiers in foreign land, Sri Lanka has erected a memorial in honour of the IPKF’s fallen heroes.

I was on the lookout for Harpal’s name. Like all those who knew him I too had been devastated by the loss of the Ropar Khalsa. He had that infectious persona. I had last seen him at his unit mess, during the 1987 cricket world cup. Even as the country partook in its cricket craze, there were those who didn’t have that luxury, as they were at war for India.

Harpal didn’t want to remain in the rear, looking after his unit ladies and children. An officer of 1 Para Commando, Harpal lost his life during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. His battalion, like countless others, had been part of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force that ended up fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam when they had gone to keep the calm in the island.

Nothing captured the irony and the idiocy of the situation more than an officer injured early in the fighting telling me later, “I was injured by the LTTE who were using arms and ammunition supplied by India, and saved by the Sri Lankan Army who had been supplied by the Pakistanis.” But it is not for the soldier to question political decisions, however bizarrely they may turn on their head.

A dear friend, Harpal had been the subject of the first article I had written about the IPKF in my early days as a journalist. It was on ode to Harpal, by name, and through him to all the others of the Indian Army who had fallen in a battle they had hardly prepared for.

So when I learnt of the memorial to soldiers of the IPKF, a visit there became inevitable. To bow my head, say a prayer, pay respect, and search for names that carried memories of fondness. And there it said — Capt H Singh PARA. Touching, and I was grateful.

Standing at the foot of the memorial I gazed in awe at its beauty and solemnity. Officers and jawans etched in perpetuity, white on black, and from across the country. There are Kashmiri names, just as there are Naga names. All casualties of a political decision to battle those they had gone to protect.

Every infantry regiment, and more, was recorded there. Tank men who volunteered for infantry duties, and didn’t come back to India are remembered for their valour. I saw the name of Col Chabra, whose son now dons the same uniform of the same battalion as he did while fighting for his country. It was humbling to stand before them, all together in memory, for posterity.

When the awe and pain of going through the names subsided, I couldn’t believe myself that there was, finally, a state inspired and funded war memorial to Indian soldiers. The fact that a Government-created memorial could be so beautifully made was as hard to believe as seeing one constructed in the first place. It is not a citizen’s initiative like, for example, the memorials in Chandigarh and Bangalore. It has been inspired by a national Government, funded and constructed by its agencies.

But, alas, in this case the state is not the Government of India, and the agencies that created it are not its PWD or MES. The credit is owed only to the Government of Sri Lanka, and the construction has been done entirely by the Sri Lankan Navy. And it has been done strikingly well.

Even as the Government of India resists the pressures of its soldiers and citizens to make a post-independence war memorial, Sri Lanka has recognised the significance of the Indian soldiers and sailors who died for its integrity from 1987 to 1990. The memorial has been made entirely from Sri Lankan funds, architectural consultants, and the contracting agency is the Sri Lanka Navy. Creditable when one considers the absence of any Government-made war memorial in India.

A plaque reads in English and Hindi: “This monument is dedicated to the members of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force who made the supreme sacrifice during the peace-keeping mission from 1987 to 1990 in Sri Lanka.” Another plaque says: “Indian Peace-Keeping Force — Valiant were their deeds; Undying be their memories.”

The IPKF memorial resides in the new capital of the country near Colombo, Sri Jayawardanepura Kotte. Past the Sri Lankan Parliament, the IPKF memorial is but a stone’s throw from the Sri Lankan national memorial for their own war heroes, rows upon rows of names etched in eternity. They fought to the bitter end with the LTTE, losing hundreds of brave soldiers in the process. And it is touching the level at which Sri Lanka values the contribution of the IPKF, for such is the pride of place which they have given to, and erected a memorial for, the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers.

I recall vividly the coincidence of dates in 1995. In the space of a few weeks there would be the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 30th anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war. I remember formally asking the Ministry of Defence as to how India was going to mark the events, both of which cost precious Indian lives. A bureaucrat replied, without any trace of irony or humility for the dead, that India was a peaceful country and did not believe in marking events like wars. The classic ahimsa line.

I was aghast, especially since the British Government was taking all Indian Victoria Cross and George Cross winners to London for the big celebrations. And India was silent on its own contributions. That attitude persists even today.

India’s attitude towards its soldiers, sailors and airmen can be gauged from the fact that a black plaque bolted on the IPKF memorial remains unlettered, blank. The Prime Minister of India was meant to inaugurate the memorial and have his name etched on this plaque. The inauguration was put off on account of political sensitivities within India, so the plaque remains bare and black.

Votes and political alliances are more important in India than respecting the memories of those 1,200 soldiers and sailors who lost their lives on account of the follies their rulers. The bare black plaque stares back at visitors, conveying a message of ingratitude, insensitivity, and disrespect. As true a reflection of Indian attitudes to fallen soldiers as there can be.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka honours Indian soldiers and sailors just as well as they honour their own.