By Jasbeer Singh
No country in the world has ever said that it is building its military machine to threaten, invade, intimidate or attack another country. The publicly stated reasons are always along the lines, to restore power balance in the area, to neutralize the effect of a neighboring country’s acquisition of something similar to upgrade the aging and hard to maintain fleet of older equipment or development of technology for peaceful purposes.
In the wake of hostilities with China, India increased the size of its armed forces by about 300,000 personnel in the early sixties. The western powers, more preoccupied with the Communist threat, not only accepted the claims that it was needed for India’s defense along its Northern borders, United States and other Western powers eagerly participated in India’s military buildup. It was a rude awakening for the United States when, barely three years later, the guns were turned towards Pakistan, America’s traditional ally in the subcontinent.
Not content with the limited military conquest on its Western borders, India engineered unrest in the Eastern Wing of Pakistan and finally invaded the territorial integrity of Pakistan in 1971 and dismembered a small neighboring country and a member of the British Commonwealth.
A few years later, India was flexed its nuclear muscle and exploded a powerful bomb adjacent to its Western borders with Pakistan. Of course, there is always eternal peace after use of such a device!
India has never signed the international treaty for nuclear nonproliferation.
Sikkim did not even have a chance to protest its being swallowed up by the Imperialist power in its South. Over 200,000 Indian troops were already in occupation of this small Himalayan Kingdom for the preceding 13 years.
India’s quest for military power has only grown with time. Each conquest has made it more eager to bully the next untamed neighbor and to add more bite to its monstrous military machine. In 1987 the regular troops of the Indian army moved in to join the insurgents it had trained and sent to destabilize the small island nation of Sri Lanka. The terms of the treaty, which the Sri Lankan President was forced to sign were no less than an instrument of surrender.
The Indian government, through its armed troops continued to be in unlawful occupation of large parts of Sri Lanka.
“There are obviously aren’t any external threats or justifications for maintaining and increasing the size are armed forces. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the situation within. However, the internal situation is of the government’s own making.”
Even the U.S. overseas radio programs, rebroadcast from Sri Lanka, became subject to India’s approval.
When Soviet built Indian Air Force planes zoomed over the tiny island Republic of Maldives, in November 1988, it was the latest of India’s military adventures. Some responsible national leaders even suggest that the alleged coup in Maldives was all engineered by the Indian government, to send a powerful message to Maldives and neighboring island nations.
It is astonishing that the President of the United States “congratulated” New Delhi for a valuable contribution to regional stability.” (TIME April 3, 1989 pp, 32)
In the north, Nepal is the latest victim of India’s bullying tactics. Being a landlocked country, Nepal depends almost entirely on Indian port in Calcutta and access to it across Indian territory. The government of India has blocked off Nepal’s access to the outside world for trade and commerce and seems intent on pressuring Nepal to accept Indian control over its economy.
India is spending nearly $11 billion (US.) on its military budget, this year alone, ‘The military budget has doubled in real terms, during the 80’sand has outstripped the nation’s ability to support it.
India’s Prime Minister has recently mended fences with China, In any case, apart from maintaining its close ties with Pakistan, Beijing has taken no military or diplomatic action since the 1970’s that could be construed as threatening by New Delhi. Bangladesh is in a tragic situation coping with the devastation caused by floods, tornadoes and disease. Their armed forces are negligible, in any case. Sri Lanka is also under India’s military occupation. Maldives and other islands (Mauritius, Seychelles etc..) have no military capability and have just been warned to behave themselves. Pakistan is just attempting to get its house in order after decades of military dictatorships. Nepal is at the mercy of Indian kings for its very survival.
In view of such enviable situation how does India justify starving its people and adding 80,000 troops and nuclear missiles to an already staggering military machine with 1,362,000 armed personnel?
There are obviously aren’t any external| threats or justifications for maintaining and increasing the size of its armed forces. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the situation within. However, the internal situation is of the government’s own making.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 7, 1989
