MILITARY OF INDIA
Based on active military personnel, the armed forced of India are the second largest in the world after China but ahead of the United States. According to Statista, China has 2 million active military personnel compared to 1.45 million for India and 1.39 million for the U.S.
India thus has a strong of national defense program, with four national services — the army, navy, air force, and coast guard — since 1978. The armed forces are entirely volunteer and consist of a Strategic Forces Command, the regular army, navy, and air force, a territorial (reserve) army, a number of paramilitary forces and 16 different fulltime or reserve special purpose paramilitary units for border, transportation, and internal defense. Five wars with Pakistan and one with China since independence have on-th-ground provided training for several generations of soldiers. [Sources: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007; Paul Hockings, Countries and Their Cultures, Gale Group Inc., 2001]
The large, experienced, professional, and well-equipped Indian military is structured to perform a variety of missions. It is primarily focused on China and Pakistan and territorial defense. Secondary missions include regional power projection, UN peacekeeping deployments, humanitarian operations, and support to internal security forces. It has engaged in counterinsurgency operations as well significant conflicts since 1947 and regularly conducts large-scale exercises. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
India and its perennial rival, Pakistan, have developed nuclear weapons, ostensibly to deter foreign hostility, yet periodic fighting in Kashmir — such as the 1999 Kargil War — suggests that the theoretical logic of deterrence has not yet taken hold.[Source: Library of Congress, 2005]
Defense Spending in India
India spent $76.6 billion on its military in 2021, the highest in the world after the United States and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). However, India spent less on defense as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product) than it used to — around 2 percent of GDP in 2023 (58th in the world) compared to around 2.5 percent of GDP in 2011 (31st in the world). The decrease is probably more a result of increases in India’s GDP due to strong economic growth than decreases in military spending. The years when spending is high may be due to purchases of big ticket items like fighter jets and submarines. The army has been the dominant service in terms of both percentage of budget allotted to the armed forces and percentage of persons serving in the armed forces.
Military expenditures
2 percent of GDP (2023 est.),
2.1 percent of GDP (2022 est.)
2.2 percent of GDP (2021 est.)
2.5 percent of GDP (2020 est.)
2.4 percent of GDP (2019 est.)
[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Military expenditures:
2.43 percent of GDP (2012)
country comparison to the world: 31
2.58 percent of GDP (2011)
2.43 percent of GDP (2010)
Defense Spending History in India
In 2005, the defense budget totaled $22 billion. At that time defense spending was around 2.5 percent of GDP (compared to 25.5 percent in North Korea, 5.3 percent in the United States and 0.6 percent in Ghana). India had a $12.4 billion military budget (about 19 percent of the total national budget) in the late 1990s. While defense spending decreased worldwide by 14.5 percent between 1987 and 1997, it increased by 43 percent in South Asia.
In the 1990s, India spent twice as much on defense as health and education combined. At that time India spent $10 per capita on defense and $14 per student on education. Pakistan spent $26 per capita on defence and $10 per person on education. Many people say that the money India spends on building up its military could better spent of health and education. Money that the Indian government spent on 20 advanced MIG-29 fighters, for example could have provided basic education for 15 million girls.
Until 1962 defense spending was deliberately limited. In the wake of the war with China, defense spending rose from 2.1 percent of the gross national product in fiscal year (FY) 1962 to 4.5 percent in FY 1964. In FY 1994, defense spending was slightly less than 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In terms of dollars, FY 1994 total defense services expenditures were projected at US$7.2 billion (but are likely to have been close to US$7.8 billion). Proportionately, based on figures provided by the government, 48.4 percent of expenditures were for the army, 15.7 percent for the air force, 5.9 percent for the navy, and 30 percent for capital outlays for defense services and defense ordnance factories. The latter provide matériel to the armed forces through some thirty-nine ordnance factories and eight public-sector enterprises that build ships, aircraft, and major defense items. The defense budget for FY 1994 was 6.5 percent higher than the revised estimate for FY 1993. The allocation increased to 14.9 percent of the total central government budget, up from 13 percent in the previous two fiscal years. Nuclear energy and space research are not fully accounted for in the defense budget, but most paramilitary forces fall within the purview of the Ministry of Defence. “In 2005, the defense budget totaled $22 billion. India in that same year, supplied personnel to six UN peacekeeping operations. [Source: Library of Congress, 1995]
In the mid 2010s, India was engaged in a $100-billion defense upgrade program. In 2014, the Indian government cleared long-delayed projects worth $13.1 billion to modernise the nation’s ageing Soviet-era military hardware and boost its domestic defense industry. AFP reported: The move underscores the desire of the government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to update the country’s military as it looks to defend itself, especially after recent border clashes with Pakistan and a tense stand-off with the Chinese troops. [Source: AFP, October 25, 2014]
Slow procurement over decades and the collapse of a string of defense deals during the previous centre-left Congress party government’s rule has left the military short of key equipment. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been pushing for greater indigenisation of the military industry as India imports around 70 percent of its defense hardware. Modi has urged India to build up its military might to the point that no other country “dare cast an evil eye” on it. He also said that India had to stop relying heavily on defense imports and focus instead on local research, design and manufacture. “The country has also been seeking to shore up its defense capabilities to counter a military build-up by an increasingly assertive China.
Military Personnel in India
Information varies on the military and security service personnel strengths of India. There are approximately 1.5 million active personnel — made up of about 1.25 million in the Army; 65,000 in the Navy; 140,000 in the Air Force; and 12,000 in the Coast Guard) (2023). Population in military: about one percent (compared to 4.6 percent in North Korea and .19 percent in Argentina). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
In 2004 there were approximately 1,325,000 active-duty personnel, with 1,100,000 in the army, 55,000 in the navy (5,000 in naval aviation and 1,200 marines), and 170,000 in the air force. In 1996, these branches had 1,145,000 personnel. Reserve forces personnel totaled 535,000, and there were fourteen paramilitary forces (including the coast guard) under the control of various ministries in the military bureaucracy with a total strength of 1,089,700 in 2004. [Source: Library of Congress]
In the mid 2000s, the army was organized into 6 regional commands, a training command, and 11 corps headquarters, which included 3 armored divisions, 25 mechanized infantry battalions, 4 RAPID, 18 infantry divisions, 10 mountain divisions, 8 independent armored brigades, 8 independent infantry brigades, 2 artillery divisions, 4 air defense brigades, and 3 engineer brigades. [Source: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007 ^^]
India's paramilitary forces had 1,293,229 active personnel, which included a 208,422 person Border Security Force (BSF), a Central Industrial Security Force of 94,347, and a Central Reserve Police Force of 229,699, which were under the Ministry of Home Affairs. There was also a State Armed Police force of 450,000. ^^
Members of the Indian Military
Military service age and obligation: ages vary by service, but generally 16.5 – 27 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription. As of 2023, women made up less than 1 percent of the Army, about 1 percent of the Air Force, and about 6 percent of the Navy
In 2022, the Indian Government announced that it would begin recruiting 46,000 men aged 17.5-21 annually to serve on 4-year contracts under a process called the Agnipath scheme; at the end of their tenure, 25 percent would be retained for longer terms of service, while the remainder would be forced to leave the military, although some of those leaving would be eligible to serve in the Coast Guard, the Merchant Navy, civilian positions in the Ministry of Defense, and in the paramilitary forces of the Ministry of Home Affairs, such as the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles
The Indian military accepts citizens of Nepal and Bhutan; descendants of refugees from Tibet who arrived before 1962 and have resided permanently in India; peoples of Indian origin from nations such as Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India; eligible candidates from “friendly foreign nations” may apply to the Armed Forces Medical Services
Military Leadership in India
There has traditionally been deep-seated rivalries between the army, navy and air force, and no unified command like the U.S.’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. There have been some proposals to reform the military by introducing the post of defense staff that would oversee acquisition, logistics and strategy for the military. The tri-service Strategic Forces Command manages all of India’s strategic missile forces.
The prime minister and Council of Ministers formulate national security policy. Below this level is the civilian bureaucracy, which exercises important influence, primarily through the Defence Minister’s Committee of the cabinet. The third tier of defense policy making is the Chiefs of Staffs Committee. These three levels are supported by intelligence organizations, scientific and technical advisory committees, defense production, and research and development groups. [Source: Library of Congress, 2005]
According to the constitution of India, the supreme command of the Indian armed forces is vested in the President of India. Policies concerning India's defense, and the armed forces as a whole, are formulated and confirmed by the Cabinet. In practice the prime minister makes most decisions regarding military and defense matters but in cases of the budget and spending decisions generally have to approved by parliament. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale, 2008]
The military may act internally under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) of 1958, an act of the Indian Parliament that granted special powers to put down separatist movements in "disturbed areas", The AFSPA, 1958 and a virtually identical law, the Armed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990, have been in force since 1958 in parts of northeast India, and since 1990 in Jammu & Kashmir.[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023; [Source: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007]]
Civil-Military Relations in India
The pattern of civil-military relations prevailing in India was created by the staff of Lord Mountbatten as a three-tier system extending from the prime minister to the three service chiefs. At the apex of this structure is the Political Affairs Committee of the Cabinet. The second level is the Defence Minister's Committee of the Cabinet, and the third level is the Chiefs of Staff Committee. Other committees, such as the Joint Intelligence Committee, the Defence Science Advisory Committee, and the Joint Planning Committee, assist the higher committees. There were proposals in the mid-1990s to establish a joint defense staff for better integration of interservice resources, programs, policies, and operations. [Source: Library of Congress, 1995 *]
In the Chiefs of Staff Committee, formal equality prevails among the three service chiefs despite the fact that the army remains the largest of the three branches of the armed services. This formal equality among the three services came about with independence.*
To facilitate defense planning, the government established two organizations: the Defence Coordination and Implementation Committee and the Defence Planning Staff. The Defense Coordination and Implementation Committee is chaired by the defence secretary and meets on an ad hoc basis. Its membership includes the three service chiefs, representatives from civilian and military intelligence organizations, and the secretary of defence production. The Defence Planning Staff, a permanent body, was established in 1986. Composed of officers drawn from all three services, it is responsible for developing overall national security strategy. It is also charged with briefing the Chiefs of Staff Committee on long-term threats to national security.*
Reforms of the Indian Military
The India military has undergone tremendous change since the early 1990s, and the government and military have seriously appraised the military’s capabilities and organization. India’s great-power aspirations have been continually hindered by its capabilities, but the situation has changed with India’s emergence as a nuclear power after successful nuclear tests in May 1998 (India has since pledged a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing). The armed services’ goals of force modernization (particularly the navy and air force) through new arms acquisitions and a “Revolution in Military Affairs” via information technology are constrained by budgetary, bureaucratic, personnel, and technological obstacles. [Source: Library of Congress, 2005]
Although the military has long desired to rely on domestically produced military goods, much matériel is imported. Indeed, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the arm of the Department of Defence responsible for providing military hardware, has been criticized by both parliament and the military for failing to provide even basic equipment, and several DRDO projects have been behind schedule. The 1984 merger of the Department of Defence Production and the Department of Defence Supplies has not yet led to reliance on domestic production of military hardware.
Service chiefs and military officers continually suggest that the military should have greater input into defense policymaking and national security, and generally such a role is not viewed as a threat to civilian control of the military. Since 2001, the government has established the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC, which now controls the DRDO), and the National Security Council (NSC), which suggests that India has rethought its defense policymaking structure. The government has also proposed creating a Chief of Defence Staff. However, these changes have yet to make a major impact. Indeed, the NSC issued the draft nuclear doctrine but has not otherwise played an important role in defense policymaking and is criticized as an ad hoc organization.
India’s Military Units
The main units of the Indian Armed Forces are the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard; and Defense Security Corps, [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
The Army is organized into 14 operational corps, The basic field formations under the corps are approximately 40 armored, artillery, infantry, mechanized, or mountain infantry divisions. There there are also a number of independent airborne, armored, and artillery brigades, as well as special operations forces. In 2023, the Army announced that it was reorganizing its operational corps and divisions into division-sized “integrated battle groups,” which the Army assessed would be more agile and flexible.
The Navy is a blue water force that operates in seas stretching from the western Mediterranean to the Strait of Malacca and the western Pacific. It routinely conducts months-long deployments, exercises with other navies, and conducts a variety of missions such as counter-piracy, humanitarian, and naval diplomacy. It its principal ships include two aircraft carriers, more than 50 destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and large patrol vessels, 16 attack submarines, and two nuclear-powered ballistic missile capable submarines. The Navy also has several combat aircraft and anti-submarine warfare helicopter squadrons, as well as a marine amphibious brigade and a marine commando force.
The Air Force is one of the World’s largest with more than 600 British-, French-, Russian/Soviet-, and domestically produced combat aircraft, plus nearly 500 combat helicopters.
Indian military units under the Ministry of Home Affairs include the Central Armed Police Forces (includes Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guards, Sashastra Seema Bal). The Assam Rifles are under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, while operational control falls under the Ministry of Defense (specifically the Indian Army). The Border Security Force (BSF) is responsible for the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders; the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB or Armed Border Force) guards the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) includes a Rapid Reaction Force (RAF) for riot control and the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) for counter-insurgency operations
The Defense Security Corps provides security for Ministry of Defense sites. the Territorial Army (TA) is a military reserve force composed of part-time volunteers who provide support services to the Indian Army; it is a part of Regular Army with the role of relieving the Regular Army from static duties and assisting civil authorities with natural calamities and maintaining essential services in emergencies, as well as providing units for the Regular Army as required
Weapons of the Indian Military
The military equipment inventories of the Indian armed forces consists mostly of Russian- and Soviet-origin equipment along with a smaller mix of Western and domestically produced arms; Russia continues to be the leading provider of arms to India, although in recent years India has increased acquisitions from other suppliers, including France, Israel, and ; India's defense industry is capable of producing a range of air, land, missile, and naval weapons systems for both domestic use and export; it also produces weapons systems under license. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
India has 3,500 tanks, 1,750 armored vehicles, 750 combat aircraft, 450 helicopters, 42 warships and 16 subs. In comparison China has 8,000 tanks, 4,970 combat aircraft, 54 warships, 63 subs and Pakistan has 2,300 tanks, 1,000 armored vehicles, 400 combat aircraft, 200 helicopters and 20 warships. In the 2000s, India had 4 million stored mines, compared to 11 million in the United States.
The army relies on aging Soviet equipment. Some Indian soldiers are still outfit with antique bolt-action World War I vintage Enfield rifles. India’s efforts to produce its own weaponry has not born much fruit. In 1996, Jane's Arms and Artillery said sources indicated the India-made Arjun tank "still failed to meet the requirements of the Indian Army in key areas of reliability, availability, maintainability and durability."
India’s Defense Industry
For decades, the Indian military has aspired to domestic production of most items, but it relies heavily on imports of both simple items, such as clothing, and complex weapons systems. Observers contend that India has not done well with the production of tanks, helicopters, and submarines, but has fared better with missiles, small arms, and naval craft. Moreover, India’s substantial spending on defense has stirred some debate about how much the defense industry should be privatized in order to avoid a collapse similar to that suffered by the Soviet Union. However, it is believed that the Ministry of Defence’s civilian bureaucracy opposes privatization in order to protect employment in an overstaffed state bureaucracy. There has been some consideration of exporting arms to make up for budget shortfalls, but exports — and concrete efforts to increase them — remain minimal. [Source: Library of Congress, 2005]
The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the arm of the Department of Defence responsible for providing military hardware, has been criticized by both parliament and the military for failing to provide even basic equipment, and several DRDO projects have been behind schedule. The 1984 merger of the Department of Defence Production and the Department of Defence Supplies has not yet led to reliance on domestic production of military hardware.
DRDO is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence, and its director general is the chief scientific adviser to the minister of defence. DRDO, which was established in 1958, has forty-five research laboratories and institutes serving the research and development needs of the armed forces. Its significant achievements include the development of light combat aircraft, aircraft engines, light field artillery, ballistic bomb fuses, smoke and incendiary devices, combat vehicles, satellite communications terminals, encryption devices, sonar systems, torpedo propulsion devices, high-performance inertial guidance systems, target acquisition and ground electronics, and various rocket and missile systems. [Source: Library of Congress, 1995 *]
Military Justice in India
The Manual of Military Law and Regulations spells out rules and procedures for the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of military offenses and crimes in the armed forces. Basic authority rests in the constitution, the Army Act of 1954, the Air Force Act of 1950, and the Navy Act of 1957. [Source: Library of Congress, 1995 *]
The army and air force have three kinds of courts. They are, in descending order of power, the General Court, which conducts general courts-martial; the District Court; and the Summary General Court. Additionally, the army has a fourth kind of court, the Summary Court. Local commanding officers conduct this court with powers similar to nonjudicial punishment in the United States armed forces. The navy uses general courts-martial in addition to the nonjudicial powers established for commanders in the Navy Act.*
Courts-martial can be convened by the prime minister, minister of defence, chief of staff of the service concerned, or other officers so designated by the ministry or the chief of staff. There are channels of appeal and stages of judicial review, although procedures differ among the three services.*
Members of the armed forces remain subject concurrently to both civilian and military law, and criminal courts with appropriate jurisdictions assume priority over military courts in specific cases. With the approval of the government, a person convicted or acquitted by a court-martial can undergo retrial by a criminal court for the same offense and on the same evidence. Once tried by a civilian court, however, one cannot be tried by a military court for the same offense.*
Each of the three services has its own judge advocate general's department, relatively free and independent of the other branches in the discharge of its judicial functions. The various departments have officers among the adjutant general's staff at army headquarters, in the chief of personnel's staff at navy headquarters, and in the administration staff of the air force headquarters.*
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Library of Congress, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Encyclopedia.com, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Wall Street Journal, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated December 2023