Low intensity conflicts to become GLOBAL MilITARY challenge: Pranab

Low intensity conflicts and conflicts mounted by non-state actors is going to be the global military challenge in the coming years, and the security of all nations "that are perceived as adversaries" by these outfits should be a matter of concern, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.

He added that these wars would be short but ferocious, "thereby nullifying any advantage arising from their limited duration". The defence community must evaluate and quantify this threat and factor it in defence finance and economics, in addition to the threat of conventional war.

Even as Indian and Pakistani Foreign Secretaries were deliberating in Delhi on a Joint Common Mechanism against Terrorism, Mukherjee made this observation at a seminar on Defence Finance and Economics, suggesting he considered that the states in India's neighbourhood faced this threat as well.

Mukherjee said global expenditure on defence was rising and there was little debate that this diverted money from the social sector.

But defence outlays always fell short of the expectations of defence planners in individual countries. He said that diplomacy could and did reduce the danger of war but no nation could afford to be complacent about threats of an unwanted conflagration.

Mukherjee said that the new security challenge required rethinking all round including the nature and size of force levels needed, defence logistics and the cost and quality of training

He asked economists to consider the costs and benefits of a security plan against the nature of the challenge, including the threats from chemical and nuclear weapons.

As typically defence technology needs large outlays, he said an appropriate technology shopping list needed to be devised.

Instruments like offsets, he said could not only create the right technological responses to military challenges but could make defence expenditure more sustainable, apart from creating a growth spiral in the economy.

Mukherjee said interdependence in defence was the sign of the times to come. This must be fostered and encouraged in the face of global security threats.

"Perhaps many of you might not be aware that Defence Finance is one of the oldest organisations established more than 200 years ago. As I jokingly say, history of this country would perhaps have taken a different turn had an accountant of Defence Finance refused to pay the advance of one lakh of Arcot Rupees that was paid to Col Clive for the payment of the Madras troops", he said by way of an aside..