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 Books A corrective analysis of regional defence and security concerns from an Indian point of view. By Manoj Joshi Asian Strategic Review 1996-97
The Asian Strategic Review (ASR) published by the government-supported Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) provides a corrective of sorts. It may not be as slick and self-assured as its western counterparts, but it does enable Indians to see regional defence and security issues from an Indian point of view, and also informs the world what this view is. The ASR's sixth number since it began publication in 1991 tells us that notwithstanding unresolved problems, defence expenditure in India and Pakistan is showing a downward drift. The news, however, is not good on other fronts. China's military modernisation is accelerating with the continuing high rates of its economic growth and access to technology from western and Russian sources. The overview chapter on "Trends in Defence Expenditures" has, over the years, established itself as a definitive redress to the view put across by western media and think-tanks that India is a reckless military spender. The focus on Asia reveals that where Russia and Japan account for roughly one-fifth each of the total military spending and China for 13 per cent, India's figure is 3.49 per cent. Such comparisons are perhaps better explained in terms of defence expenditure as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (gdp). Heading the list of 37 Asian countries is North Korea which spent roughly a quarter of its gdp on defence in 1996. Pakistan, though in serious economic trouble, spent 5.64 per cent last year (the figure will be marginally lower this year) and was ranked 11th. India, ranked 27th in 1996, has on the other hand spent less than 3 per cent of its gdp on defence since 1990, with the figure plummeting to 2.25 per cent this year. Chinese figures are a problem since their budgeting procedures are opaque, though, according to the ASR, China spent $30.27 billion last year accounting for 3.82 per cent of its gdp. As the publication's title promises, it sets the Indian security perspective in the Asian context, focusing on problem areas like Afghanistan and areas of positive opportunities such as the Central Asian and Indian Ocean regions. Of the positive regions, the most interesting appears to be Japan which has had a somewhat tentative though important strategic dialogue with India. Most of the work in the volume, as of those in the past numbers, has been put in by dedicated and young research scholars. But perhaps it is time for the Institute to move away from the narrative style of most of the essays, which depend largely on media and secondary sources. While these should not be gainsaid, the IDSA should also develop and use quantitative data bases of its own. There are other new analytical tools that can also be used. Scholars of Indian origin like Bhupendra Jassani and Vipin Gupta have shown, for example, the use of unclassified satellite imagery to analyse security situations. With our own IRS satellites providing the best imagery, there is no reason why the IDSA cannot have the best non-military photo-analysis section in its annual publication.
Legendary Hero A timely account of the life of Mutiny warrior Kuer Singh. By Suhash Chakravarty Veer Kuer Singh: The Great Warrior of 1857 Sinha is a retired army general of proven abilities and an administrator of repute. In this book of purely historical writing, he has successfully summoned his military and strategic expertise to bear on the theme. The result is extraordinary. Against the background of the fiery days of the uprising of 1857, Kuer Singh, the legendary hero of Jagdishpur emerges as a man of great courage, grit and fortitude. Almost reckless in financial matters, Kuer Singh was kind towards his subjects and surprisingly enough even towards the Englishmen and women who had been left behind. In 1857, Bihar constituted the most important area between Calcutta and the rest of India where crucial operations had been taking place. Patna and the settlement of Danapur commanded the principal focal points of that long line of communication. To the west of Patna was the district of Shahabad which was under Kuer Singh's de facto command. Throughout the summer of 1857 stories of the uprising continued to spread to Patna and Shahabad and caused great tension. The sepoys were animated by expectations of great changes which seemed almost inevitable. Kuer Singh was not among those who initiated the uprising. He belonged to the wounded aristocracy which could no longer sustain itself. He inflicted severe defeats on the trained military machine of the East India Company, and carried a prolonged campaign at the age of 80. It is amazing that this shrewd leader could at that age annihilate the forces of Captain Dunbar and Captain Le Grand, liberate Azamgarh and participate with Tantia Tope in the battle of Kanpur. A military history of the uprising is still to be written objectively. Sinha's account is a timely intervention and its importance lies in rescuing the life of legends like Kuer Singh from the dimly lit parabola of history. |
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Hegemony, as Antonio Gramsci defined
it, meant not only an acceptance of the power of a dominant class or nation, but of its
way of seeing things. The dominance of the Anglo-American world has meant that our
perceptions of world trends in economics, politics and security get coloured, even while
we cannot easily discern the tint. India's world view, in other words, gets shaped by the
journals and specialist publications of Washington and London. 
