Govt procedures that masquerade as safety nets for minimising financial loss can only stifle innovation. Modi govt's well-intentioned iDEX scheme seems headed that way.
Modi govt's capital budget allocation for 2021-22 is lower than the amount armed forces had sought in 2014-15. But spending more is not the answer, spending right is.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence can bring much needed clarity on India's national security that Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget didn’t answer.
PM Modi targets $5 billion in defence exports in next 5 years. If 'Make in India’ reaches its full potential, $10-15 billion is achievable in a decade.
Politicians must be made to understand that defence expenditure is like an insurance premium on national security, so defence budget needs to be boosted.
Pakistan must reduce non-productive expenditures like defence. The country's political economy has been overdetermined by the imperative of 'national security'.
Aim is to ensure not just disengagement of troops, but overall de-escalation. Govt in favour of solving tensions through talks as it wants peace with all neighbours including China.
Like the car, nothing the party has done to reinvent itself has worked. Only way forward is to offer something looking towards the future, not in image of glorious past.