Arming without Aiming: India's Military Modernization

by Stephen Philip Cohen, Sunil Dasgupta

" India's growing affluence has led experts to predict a major rearmament effort. The second-most populous nation in the world is beginning to wield the economic power expected of such a behemoth. Its border with Pakistan is a tinderbox, the subcontinent remains vulnerable to religious extremism, and a military rivalry between India and China could erupt in the future. India has long had the motivation for modernizing its military—it now has the resources as well. What should we expect to see in the future, and what will be the likely ramifications? In Arming without Aiming , Stephen Cohen and Sunil Dasgupta answer those crucial questions. India's armed forces want new weapons worth more than $100 billion. But most of these weapons must come from foreign suppliers due to the failures of India's indigenous research and development. Weapons suppliers from other nations are queuing up in New Delhi. A long relationship between India and Russian manufacturers goes back to the cold war. More recently, India and Israel have developed strong military trade ties. Now, a new military relationship with the United States has generated the greatest hope for military transformation in India. Against this backdrop of new affluence and newfound access to foreign military technology, Cohen and Dasgupta investigate India's military modernization to find haphazard military change that lacks political direction, suffers from balkanization of military organization and doctrine, remains limited by narrow prospective planning, and is driven by the pursuit of technology free from military-strategic objectives. The character of military change in India, especially the dysfunction in the political-military establishment with regard to procurement, is ultimately the result of a historical doctrine of strategic restraint in place since Nehru. In that context, its approach of arming without strategic purpose remains viable as India seeks great-power accommodation of its"

Genres: Military Fiction, India, Nonfiction

223 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2010

About the author

Stephen Philip Cohen is an American political scientist. He is a prominent expert on Pakistan, India, and South Asian security. He is a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and an emeritus professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has authored, co-authored or edited at least 12 books, has been named as one of America's 500 most influential people in foreign affairs, and is a fixture on radio and television talk shows. [wikipedia]

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

India, in spite of all the money it's made lately, is having a hard time equipping its armed forces. The primary reason for that is a lack of interest in strategic issues on the part of the top political and administrative echelons, according to the authors. But a sclerotic bureaucracy, inter-service rivalries and an unrealistic insistence on "indiginization" of defense equipment manufacture, plus a hearty dose of corruption, don't make things easier. This fun to read volume covers the history of procurement (or lack of same) in India and tries to guide American policy makers on how to deal with their new-found friend in South Asia.

[Abhishek Dev · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the beginning of this book I was bombarded with huge credentials of the authors but I am surprised how the entire book fails to justify that.

The author's infers that India suffers from some sort of strategic restraint and India should free itself from it and the sooner it is the better. It is idiotic to say so because India's strategy is and is going to serve India's interests alone. Whether it benefits the USA or not it is not India's problem. That's why the two governments are working on "common ground" in military interests.

[Jenn Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I realize many people who are not within the defense/security community may find this book too specific for their interests, I thought it was a fantastic read. Cohen explores the bureaucratic inadequacies and inertia that have caused huge problems for military modernization within India. It is a must-read for Indian watchers.

[Mayank Bawari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent overview on the state of the Indian armed forces, and its modernisation exercise since independence on the eve of Obama’s First term. The book points to the imbalance in manpower, technology, budget, and future plans with regard to each, Military, Air Force and Navy, along with the role of each division, and power projection. The Indian navy clearly stands heads and shoulders above its peer services, with indigenous capabilities, and bilateral ties, whereas the Air Force is unclear whether to face China or Pakistan, as its primary focus. The book, also deals with the kafkaesque world of defence procurement of “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” kind, with a spectre of embezzlement, and public scrutiny on each and every transaction with a foreign nation, while DRDO laughs in the background, flaunting its incompetence. The government follows a simple rule of allocating only 10% of what is asked, because of the lack of any specialist knowledge, and entrenched politics. India seeks an adult to adult relationship vis a vis USA, and sees no reason to comply with the fourth power in its own backyard, while seeking cooperation with China against a future Chinese threat.

A decent read on the topic, but needs to be paired with some Bharat Karnad, and Anit Mukherjee for a better understanding.

[Arup Mittra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was in my library for many years but read it in 2023. It was published in 2010 and when I am reading it in 2023, I can say that some of the issues discussed wrt the India Military modernisation in this book in 2010 has been rightly addressed and achieved by 2023. There is definitely positive changes happening in Indian defence.

[Anshul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weapon procurement, while suffering from its own long-pending deficiencies, distracts from the larger & deeper malaise of the security system in India.

This book is a very useful, objective read on India's strategic context especially security.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of interesting tidbits about Indian defense and security matters. Argues for a U.S.-India security relationship based on the principle of "reinsurance," recognizing that neither country can pursue full engagements with both Islamic extremism and China simultaneously.

[Neeraj Kholiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read to understand issues with indian army ...