A homage to Indian Army

The Indian Army observes January 15 as Army Day every year to commemorate that day in 1949 when Lt. Gen. (later Field Marshal) K.M. Cariappa assumed office as the first Indian Commander in Chief (C-in-C) of the Army of Independent India, succeeding Gen. Sir Roy Bucher, the last British officer to hold that position. The designation of the Chief of Army Staff was not in vogue at the time — it would come later, on April 1, 1955, after passage of the Commanders-in-Chiefs (Change in Designation) Act, 1955, by the Parliament of India.

The Indian Army had just been carved up between India and Pakistan, which was rapidly proving to be a hostile neighbour. Old loyalties, national and regimental, had to be transformed overnight, and capital assets and finances divided as equitably as possible between yesterday’s friends who had become today’s implacable foes. Any other Army in the world would have broken under the strain. However, the Indian Army shouldered its burden and soldiered stoically on.

It saw the country safely through the First Kashmir War that suddenly burst upon it in September 1947, while almost simultaneously dealing with fairly sizeable military operations to ensure Hyderabad and Junagarh remain within the geographical dimensions of the country’s borders. A “hot peace” Line of Control had sprung up after the hostilities in Jammu and Kashmir (including the Ladakh region bordering Tibet) that had to be garrisoned and guarded permanently. The Sino-India war of 1962 added a third factor to an already tense equation. The Indian Army tackled this as well, but in a manner less than satisfactory, which did not lend creditably to the highest political and military leadership of the time, leaving the entire nation agonising over the outcome.

Army Day 2015 comes amidst high tensions all around, with gunrunners and explosive traffickers in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Gujarat, frequent high intensity shootouts with heavy calibre weapons between Pakistan Rangers and India’s Border Security Force along the Jammu-West Pakistan border, infiltration in the high altitude regions of Tithwal and terrorist attacks in Bengaluru.  The border conflict with China in 1962 set the stage for the strategic realignment of the Army. It would have to be present on two fronts facing outwards — a high-altitude Himalayan front against China, and a desert and plains front against Pakistan. Together with this, it has developed an additional “half front” of internal security and counterinsurgency, primarily in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast, which has also solidified into a permanent commitment for the Army. It can be safely assumed that this “two and a half front” deployment will continue as a permanent commitment for the Indian Army into the foreseeable future as well.

Army Day 2015 is, thus, an occasion for the Indian Army and its political leadership to reflect on the shape of things to come. The 21st century has brought new challenges for the Indian Army even as the old ones continue. New forms of warfare have appeared, ranging from the ever-present threat of nuclear adventurism by Pakistan to electronised information warfare, ultra high-technology cyber warfare to sponsored insurgency and terrorism. There is a crisis of human resources as well. Women officers are now entering the Army in increasing numbers in the officer ranks and their management requires attitudinal adjustments in an organisation traditionally visualised as male dominated. Budget resources have been a perennial problem and will continue to be so. Defence equipment are always high-cost acquisitions so “Make in India” in defence equipment is an option that will have to be exercised and enforced soon.

It would be trite to say that the Army has been carrying the nation on its shoulders ever since Independence, but that indeed is a simple statement of fact. The Army has much to be thankful for in its soldiers and officers, a God-given asset the nation and the Army are blessed with.