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Agneepath: Transforming Defense Recruitment.

The defense ministry of the Government of India, on 14th June 2022 announced the change in the Indian military recruitment model and hence announced the ‘Agneepath Scheme’ for stations below the rank of commissioned officers in all three wings of the military. This will be the only recruitment route for the military and all recruits will be hired for a fixed period of four years under a new military rank named ‘Agniveer’.

Central to the scheme, Indian youth is set to play a crucial role in realizing the dream of building an AatmaNirbhar, Sashakt Bharat. And Agnipath scheme will take them a step closer as claimed by the Indian government.

Many countries practice compulsory military conscription methodology to fuel the need of youth in their military resource pool. South Korea, for instance, establishes in its constitution the mandatory conscription of the male population between the ages of 18-35 for a period of 18 months of military service from where they may apply for permanent commission. The Agnipath Scheme although not identical but is similar to such conscription methodology, allows for both male and female aspirants of age group 17.5 to 23 years of age to apply for the military services for a fixed duration and have a prospect of permanent commission after the tenure granted that not more than 25 percent of the total strength of the retiring batch will be selected for the permanent cadre.

Amidst all the skepticism raised regarding the after-effects of this change, Major General Ashok Kumar was of the view that every change raises apprehensions in the beginning. “This scheme is transformational and will benefit both the armed forces and the country in an asymmetrical manner. It will bring down the current age profile of the frontline units from 32 years at present to 26 years in four-six years’ time.  Since the retention will be only 25 percent of the intake there will be a qualitative upgrade of the unit’s profile,” he said.

Army Veteran, Lieutenant General Raj Shukla was also supportive of the Agnipath scheme believing that this scheme was a part of a major National Security makeover. Numerous measures are being taken in procurement, innovation, OFB reforms, DRDO. The Agnipath scheme is a comprehensive reform that has 3 modules – Recruitment, Training, and re-enrollment. This is not just about the armed forces but it is a comprehensive scheme. The present recruitment system has gone obsolete as it is 70 years old where the emphasis is only on physical and medical. It is a modified and greatly improved system. The Agnipath scheme is linked further to ITIs and Skill India so that we get better recruits. And when we get better recruits, and as per the retention policy, we will retain the best of the best. All the candidates will go through focused and Scientific training modules in accordance with the global standards.

Further, Internationally Russia has followed a hybrid model of conscription and contract to recruit soldiers into their Armed Forces. Conscripts have a term of one year and are then put into reserve. As of 2021, all male citizens aged 18–27 are subject to conscription for one year of active duty military service in the Armed Forces. New conscripts undergo up to eight months of training before being sent to designated units. Conscription seasons run twice a year in Russia – from 1 April until 15 July (spring) and between 1 October and 31 December (autumn). During these periods, men aged between 18 and 27, with no health issues or outstanding convictions could be called on to serve. The youth of France join the Armed Forces, called the Forces armées françaises, on a voluntary and contractual basis. The volunteer can sign a one-year contract, which can be extended to five years. Soldiers are given training for three months and those who serve for over 19 years are eligible for the state pension.

Conclusion

There are various contractual conscription processes for military services in many countries around the world but most of these countries have mandatory conscription of the young by law. The Agneepath scheme ensures the voluntary enlistment nature of the Indian military but at the same time provides the benefit of retaining the polished recruits among the many who enter the Agniveer program. Thus, ensuring the quality of the cadets entering the main forces.

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 Future of National Strength: Blockchain Technology.

It is a structure that stores transactional records, also known as the block, of the public in several databases, known as the ‘chain,’ in a network connected through peer-to-peer nodes. Typically, this storage is referred to as a ‘digital ledger.

Key Concepts:-

  • It works on a decentralized Database, meaning the information flow and regulation are not controlled by any organization but a method of consensus reflecting all stakeholders.
  • These data entries or Blocks are described by the data it stores the Hash of the block and the hash of the previous block that builds a chain. Hence block Chain.
  • New data can be added, but deletion is difficult if not impossible due to time complexity and the need for consensus by other developers, hence gaining a majority for the edited block to be included in the chain.

Blockchain was developed in 2008 and was first used for creating Bitcoin, but it has proven to be so versatile and secure that it is being used by enterprises in various industries even the defense sector shows potential for its use.

Intellectual property and privacy security are the major challenges in today’s digitized world, hence there is a need for strong cybersecurity frameworks. There are various applications for them being in use:

  1. Cisco plans to use Blockchain to secure IoT devices as ledger technology eliminates single point of failure and encryption helps secure data.
  2. The Australian government has plans to develop a cybersecurity network based on DLT. The government has also partnered with IBM to secure the storage of government documents with the creation of a Blockchain ecosystem.
  3. China’s government and the military are attempting to secure vital government and military information, and intelligence information using Blockchain cybersecurity.

By 2023, global spending on Blockchain solutions will increase from 1.5 billion in 2018 to 15.9 billion. Also, the value of Blockchain technology in the commercial world will exceed $3 trillion by 2030, according to Gartner.

56% of Indian businesses are moving towards Blockchain technology, making it a part of their core business. The National Informatics Centre has established a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Blockchain Technology, which operates as a coordinated, interoperable Blockchain ecosystem around the nation.

The development of Blockchain-based applications such as smart contracts, dApps, and cryptocurrency has given rise to its demand and, in turn, increased its overall value.

Although concepts like the Metaverse and NFT market are still far-fetched from the perspective of the general public, it has become a reason for technological enthusiasm among the youth of the country. The development of Polygon(which has garnered support from various Ethereum-based projects worldwide) by three Indian developers has curbed the biggest con of the Ethereum Blockchain of processing timing by making scalability easier using Polygon EVM.

Crypto Currencies 

Cryptocurrency provides a decentralized way of transaction and finance, which is in contradiction to the most well known financial systems in the country and a big blow to the global Economic hold by Influential countries like America.

One such border political conflict had arisen lately pertaining to the Russia-Ukraine War. Though there is a global backlash on the side of Russia being the aggressor. Russia’s central bank assets have been frozen, to stop it from using its $630bn (£470bn) of foreign currency reserves.

This caused the rouble to fall 22% in value, pushing up the price of imported goods and leading to a 14% rise in Russia’s inflation rate. The rouble has since recovered, but mainly due to measures by Moscow to prop it up.

Moreover, fintech has removed access to Russian financial services, the biggest example being Swift which is a powerful International Financial system thus delaying transactions to Russia for energy exports. Again, cryptocurrencies being decentralised in nature are almost immune to the political sanctions and such has been seen in this case also, many major cryptocurrency exchanges put forth defiant statements this week when Ukraine asked them to freeze any accounts belonging to Russians, with some exchanges calling upon crypto’s history of libertarian ideals to back up their decisions.

Hence, It is not far-fetched that the International powers will be entering the cryptocurrency Blockchains to become part of the consensus ecosystem that can in turn show the effect of the country’s influence on cryptocurrency. This garners a modicum of economic security at the International Level.

Cryptocurrencies in India are a hot topic, which is still unresolved and unprecedented after more than a decade of their introduction. India recently decided to tax digital assets like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFT) with a 30-per cent tax on the transfer of such assets as well as a 1-per cent tax deduction at source (TDS) on every transaction, but that still doesn’t make its position clear on cryptocurrencies rather experts believe that India has vetoed its decision to see what the world response will be about cryptocurrencies.

Conclusion

Blockchain technology is a rapidly growing area with many unexplored prospects waiting for grabs. The digital revolution has brought forth the need of a more independent and highly connected form of technology which the technology promises to provide. This is the era of transition for the world into a new technology sphere which will not only provide a number of avenues for research and development of new projects. But at the same time it will also play a vital role in the future war fares with utilization of Blockchain technology.

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India’s strategic relations with Australia.

Australia’s developing strategic connections with India are defined by defense alliances, people-to-people links, and prospective trade pacts that are being expedited. After five decades of tense or distant strategic relations, India and Australia began to build a more cooperative defense and security collaboration in the early 2000s. Similar worries about China’s ascent, behaviour, and aggressiveness, as well as shared perspectives on the regional strategic situation, were the key causes. Following the mainstreaming of India’s nuclear program, the easing of Australia’s uranium prohibition, and the India–Australia civilian nuclear accord, India’s nuclear status is now a non-issue. Large numbers of Indian visitors, students, and immigrants contribute to Australia’s economy and society, and people-to-people relations have grown.

History:

Prior to Indian independence, the two nations established diplomatic relations during WWII, with the first high commissioners arriving in New Delhi and Canberra in 1944 and 1945, respectively. Despite becoming a republic in 1950, Australia initially backed India’s ambition to remain a member of the Commonwealth. After years of disagreements against the backdrop of the early Cold War, the two countries joined the United States and the United Kingdom in air force exercises, ‘shiksha’ in 1963, and senior officials from both countries met in 1967 for talks, coinciding with the beginning of Australia’s re-engagement with Asia. While there was no complete lack of security cooperation between the two nations throughout the Cold War – an Australian was among the first class of military commanders to be taught at India’s Defense Services Staff College in 1950. Military education for professionals remained a point of engagement. Australia’s Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, who graduated from the National Defense College in New Delhi in 1994, was one of the recipients. Nonetheless, until 2000, the elements that normally identify a beneficial relationship between capable military forces — strategic talks, information sharing, military exercises, training and education, and defense trade and technical cooperation — were conspicuously absent.

The current conditions in which Australia and India now find themselves are inextricably linked to the four historical stumbling blocks. The new geopolitics is the first of these scenarios. While there is no clear consensus on the nature of the post-Cold War international order, there are a few distinct tendencies to be seen. The influence of China’s ascent and behaviour, which has had deep repercussions for both Australia and India, is the most significant. Both India and Australia have raised worries about China’s centralised decision-making, state-led economic policies, territorial revisionism, and erosion of standards, as well as its overall security posture in the Indo–Pacific. As a result, India and Australia have started working on their own and with like-minded allies to compete with China in regions and subjects that are important to their national security interests.

Cooperation between the two countries:

In 2006, strategic relations between Australia and India reached a new high point, coinciding with India’s increased engagement with the US and Japan. Growing fears about China’s ascent, as well as political orientation in the two nations’ leaderships, looked to be driving this. During John Howard’s visit to India in March 2006, an India–Australia defence framework deal — a Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation — was signed, along with a slew of other accords relating to the economy, commerce, and technology. Terrorism, defence cooperation, information exchange, and extradition were all highlighted. As a result, bilateral defence interaction accelerated dramatically during the following two years. Australia’s Minister for Defence Brendan Nelson visited India in July 2007, sandwiched between visits by Australia’s Chief of the Defence Force and Chief of Navy, during which he signed an agreement on the protection of classified information.  While, Australia also took part in the Malabar naval exercise (Malabar 07–02), in which the US, Japanese, and Singaporean navies had also participated in the Bay of Bengal, as well as the first Quad meeting involving the foreign ministries of India, Australia, the United States, and Japan in Manila, became linked in the public consciousness. Malabar 07–02 was a large-scale operation involving around 25 ships, 150 aircraft, and 20,000 people, including three carrier strike groups from the US and India.

The first trilateral senior official meetings between Australia, India, and Japan took place in New Delhi in June 2015. During the MBC chief’s visit to India in August 2015, a high-level Indian Coastguard meeting including Australia’s Maritime Border Command (MBC) took place. In September 2015, the Bay of Bengal hosted the first significant bilateral naval exercise AUSINDEX. All of these developments were followed by the now-standard conversations between the defence and foreign ministries, a senior official dialogue led by the foreign ministry, two-way military leadership visits, and a port call by two Indian navy warships in Fremantle.

Nuclear non-proliferation problems, which had long been a sore point in ties, also took a dramatic turn between 2014 and 2017. During Tony Abbott’s September 2014 visit to India, a civil nuclear energy cooperation deal was reached after three rounds of discussions in mid-2014. In November, more talks took place over the implementation of a uranium selling agreement with India, and the civil nuclear agreement was signed in November 2015. In the two years that followed, Australia supported India’s application to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)[31], and bilateral discussions on non-proliferation and disarmament were held in 2016. One of the primary irritants in the strategic partnership has been resolved as a result of these developments.

During the G20 Summit in Osaka following, Scott Morrison’s and Narendra Modi’s re-elections in 2019, big changes had transpired. A virtual summit was conducted in June 2020 after multiple postponements owing to the worldwide coronavirus epidemic, during which they declared a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries. They reached an agreement on a framework for marine cooperation as well as cyber technology collaboration. At the level of foreign secretaries, an India-France-Australia discussion was also launched in September 2020, including three capable resident marine governments in the Indian Ocean. India and Australia also participate in a number of regional and global forums together, with some cooperation. IORA, the G20, and ASEAN-led organisations such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM–Plus), and the East Asia Summit are among them (EAS). In 2020, there will be new issue-based groups linking India and Australia, such as 5G telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and supply chain resilience. The governments of India and Australia, as well as Japan, have taken the lead on this subject.

While, a rising number of common platforms, as well as improved chances for collaborative training and interoperability, have benefited the Indian and Australian forces. C-17 strategic transport planes, C-130 tactical planes, P-8 maritime surveillance planes, and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters are among them. The Indian military has also received confidential briefings on prospective future platforms, including airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, from the Australian armed forces.

Conclusion:

The deepening of variable aspects of connections might enhance strategic relationships to some extent. This will naturally extend to interpersonal relationships, especially given Australia’s growing number of Indian immigrants. As a result, there will be more instructional interactions in both directions. Deepening and widening commercial and economic ties in both nations would contribute to the bilateral relationship’s trust, stability, and interest. Although trade does not necessarily follow the flag, in an era of strategic decoupling, any two nations’ commercial and security relationships will become increasingly crucial.

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Evolution of Defense- Advancing Artificial Intelligence

What do we understand from Artificial Intelligence? Artificial intelligence, in its most basic form, is a subject that combines computer science with large datasets to solve problems. It also includes the sub-fields of machine learning and deep learning, both of which are usually referenced when discussing artificial intelligence. AI algorithms are used in these industries to develop expert systems that make predictions or classifications based on input data. Governments have been making progress in adopting AI as an important element of their defence systems in order to gain a military advantage over their competitors and to satisfy the proverbial unquenchable need for power. 

The strength of a country’s army is one of the factors that defines its power. In some of the most developed countries, investment in this area is the highest when compared to other sectors. A large chunk of this money will go into rigorous research and development in contemporary technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) in military applications. Large volumes of data can be efficiently handled by AI-enabled tactical equipment. Furthermore, such technologies have increased self-regulation, self-control, and self-actuation as a result of their greater computing and decision-making abilities. Advances in artificial intelligence have opened up new possibilities in defence technology. In addition to increasing the effectiveness of armed personnel, the potential for conducting a war may be boosted by incorporating Artificial Intelligence into military operations. Several countries throughout the world are using AI to improve the performance of their defence forces. 

Applications:

  • Surveillance:

AI is used with geospatial analysis to help extract relevant data from connected devices like as radars and automated tactical systems. The information might be used to investigate and uncover any illegal or questionable activity. Military drones have become increasingly popular in recent years. Drone technology has come a long way since its origins. These remote-controlled vehicles can be used for a range of purposes, such as terrain mapping and unmanned aerial vehicle flight.                                                               

  • Cyber-Security:

With so many military sites becoming digitised, it’s more important than ever to keep the information contained on these web portals safe. A maliciously hacked network might put the entire region’s security at jeopardy. Defence organisations are employing machine learning to predict and guard against illegal breaches. Intrusion detection is often achieved by classifying the network as either normal or intrusive. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based approaches can improve the accuracy of such categorisation and provide protection alternatives in response to malware, phishing, and brute force assaults on data centres and government websites.

  • Logistics:

One of the most important factors in determining whether or not a military operation succeeds is logistics. Military logistic systems are combined with machine learning and geospatial analysis to save labour, costs, and inaccuracy.

  • Weaponry:

AI in defence is being used to build targeted missiles, sophisticated armaments, and high-performance fighter jets. Advanced missiles, for example, can estimate and assess target levels for kill zones without the involvement of humans. These applications, which need extensive study, have the potential to change the face of defence in the not-too-distant future.

In addition to its various applications and benefits, the employment of AI in defence poses an ethical quandary as well. Unintentionally, experts and organisations all around the globe have elevated such technologies, creating tensions between countries. One concern is that if an AI system fails to function as intended, it might have disastrous consequences. Several human and civil rights organisations have called for an outright prohibition on autonomous devices in defence, particularly armament.

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Countries increasing their defense expenditure, stalwarting their dominance in the geopolitical scenario.

All revenue and capital expenditure on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces of defence ministries and other government agencies engaged in defence projects, and paramilitary forces when judged to be trained, equipped, and ready for military operations, is referred to as defence expenditure. It typically reflects a country’s perception of the possibility of threats against it, as well as the level of aggressiveness it desires to use. It also provides an estimate of how much funding should be allocated for the future year. A budget’s size also reflects an organization’s capacity to support military actions. The size of that entity’s economy, other financial pressures on that entity, and the government’s or people’s willingness to pay such military activities are among the factors.

  • Capital expenditure refers to the money spent by the government on the development of machinery, equipment, buildings, health facilities, education, and other similar projects. It also includes the price of acquiring long-term assets like land and defence equipment, as well as government investments that will generate future revenues or dividends. These expenses result in the creation of assets, which allow the economy to produce income by expanding and improving production facilities and improving operational efficiency. It also improves labour participation, examines the economy, and boosts the economy’s future ability to create more.
  • Revenue expenditure refers to the portion of government spending that does not result in the creation of assets; such expenditures are spent to fulfil the government’s running needs. Salaries, salaries, pensions, subsidies, and interest are all examples of revenue expenditures. 

According to new figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, total worldwide military expenditure grew to $1981 billion in 2020, up 2.6 per cent in real terms from 2019. (SIPRI). The United States, China, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom were the top five spenders in 2020, accounting for 62 per cent of worldwide military spending. 

India’s budget allocation has continually increased over time. Between 2011-12 and 2020-21, defense spending climbed by 127 per cent. The distribution of this allocation between revenue and capital spending, on the other hand, is skewed, with revenue expenditure expanding faster than capital expenditure. The key driver of greater revenue expenditure growth is increased spending on defense pensions. To achieve India’s new set aim, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,’ the country’s drive toward an enduring indigenous defense manufacturing industry, as well as to build a strong upholding for the new system, more revenue spending will be required. India is also one of the world’s largest importers of military equipment. The nation has aimed to bolster the expenditure by increasing private sector involvement in defense production and research and development. Manufacturing still is moving slowly, but research and development is gaining traction. India’s total defense budget has increased at a rate of 9% per year over the last 10 years. 

Between 2011-12 and 2018-19, defence revenue spending increased by 140 per cent, while capital expenditure increased by 101 per cent. During the same time period, the percentage of the total defence budget spent on pensions increased from 18 per cent to 26 per cent.

Furthermore, China’s, regional expenditure growth slowed in 2020 as countries like Thailand, South Korea, and Indonesia lowered their defence budgets in order to finance emergency relief efforts in the aftermath of the outbreak. The majority of the time, expected growth was slashed rather than actual cutbacks to the previous year’s budget. Asia’s defence expenditure growth slowed to 4.3 per cent in 2020, down from 4.6 per cent in 2019, as a result of the slowdown in China and the rest of the region. Despite this, the region’s share of global defence spending is expected to rise to 25.0 per cent in 2020, from 17.8 per cent in 2010 and 23.2 per cent in 2015. Despite increased investment in Europe, this is expected to remain relatively flat in 2021. 

While in real terms, total European defence spending had increased by 2.0 per cent in 2020. This was a relatively smaller increase than the 4.1 per cent increase witnessed in 2019, and Europe’s proportion of global defence spending declined somewhat in 2020, from 17.8% to 17.5 per cent. However, over the previous years, average spending across European NATO members has gradually climbed as a percentage of GDP, rising from 1.25 per cent in 2014 to 1.52 per cent in 2019 and rising further to 1.64 per cent in 2020. This is still well below the NATO recommendation that its members aim to spend 2% of GDP on defence, despite the significant 7.0% average economic contraction expected in 2020. When it comes to spending on defence equipment, NATO’s European members maintained the higher investment share of defence spending that they achieved in 2019, allocating 23% on average in 2020, beyond the NATO-recommended level of 20%.

The defence expenditures in the Middle East and North Africa have declined, falling to US$150 billion (excluding security expenditure), while the percentage of global defence spending fell to 8.9%, down from 10.5 per cent in 2017. Despite dedicating by far the highest share of economic production to defence, at 5.2 per cent of GDP, compared to the world average of 2.08 per cent, the area continues to struggle. Other oil-dependent economies began to feel the pinch as well. Following a significant 3.8 per cent real rise in the core ‘national defence’ budget in 2020, Russia was only able to execute a minuscule 1.4 per cent increase in 2021, resulting in a 3.6 per cent real reduction. Total Russian military spending (which includes pensions, military housing, and health and social assistance) is expected to drop from over 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2020 to under 3.8 percent in 2023.

Conclusion:

Peace is important to maintain fruitful trade relations in a given region. However, this peace can only be achieved if military spending is done. Military spending builds military might. This power acts as a deterrent for aggressors. In the absence of military spending, opponents may view the nation as a soft target. Hence, even though local defense spending may be more expensive, it creates more value in the form of more robust national security and fewer disruptions to trade and commerce. If the defense system of a country is fully integrated, there are economic benefits to it. Defense expenditure is, without a doubt, an unambiguous demonstration of power, as current patterns of growing defense spending shows.

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