This refers to Ajai Shukla's column "Filling in Mr Parrikar's silence" (Broadsword, June 23). The matter of defence procurement cannot be an easy task to master, and one ventures to think that an IIT or IIM degree is not really of much help here.
The previous defence minister did a good job of masking his unwillingness to decide by making the procurement process trip up all purchases. The current incumbent is going for quick results if just to prove that he can do in five years what the other side couldn't do in 10 or 15. He has to deal with a deluge of contradictory advice and the Prime Minister's inclination to be intuitively decisive to the point of forgetting to keep his defence minister in the loop at least. Above all, there is the armed forces' desire to have the latest and the best, something that the ever-nascent local defence industry can never hope to match. Hence, even if one discounts the pull of kickbacks for the decision-makers, it will be a long march before "Make in India" becomes real in the case of defence equipment.
P Datta Kolkata
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