Poor Civil-Military Relations-Root Cause Of Malaise?

POOR CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS-ROOT CAUSE OF MALAISE TODAY

Most democracies have struggled to find a balance in their civil - military relations. Unlike India, more seasoned democracies of the West have learnt to handle frequent disharmony between the two, owing to decades and centuries of deployment of their Armed Forces in Great Wars and more importantly at distant locations away from their home land. Refinements in processes of Command and Control were thrust upon them due to extraordinary circumstances including the post World War 2 occupation of Germany and Japan. This was managed and run by Military Officers who were suitably empowered and authorized by Heads of elected Governments of their respective countries. There were also occasions such as the Truman-Mac Arthur dispute, during the Korean War, which was seen as one of the most illustrative tools of the civil-military friction in the history of USA.

The Indian scene was quite the contrary. Along with independence came a series of Coup de'tat, in many of the Countries in our region. India alone  stood as a shining example of a copy book democracy, with the Armed Forces remaining apolitical all the way. This is no mean achievement, especially given the fragility of so many of our neighbours who had to be subjected to Military intervention in their internal politics. But this 'harmonious' civil-military equation in India, came at a price. The civilian leadership right from Independence began to neglect the dire needs of both the serving and the retired Soldiers. (The term Soldier is used to encompass all three services and their men)  Modernization of weapons and sensors, service conditions and health care of serving soldiers and the care that ought to be extended to retired soldiers through reemployment opportunity and compassion towards widows of war veterans etc continued to be accorded less priority.

 The politician  was never very comfortable with the strict traditions and dress codes that gave the military a distinct identity and character.  Consequently, 

the sanctity of civil -military relations were from time to time tested.  Some of the notable events of conflict were, Nehru-Gen Thimmaya, Krishna Menon- Gen Thapar and later Indira-Gen Manekshaw. The military, however, conducted itself with dignity and discipline. Since the media was not intrusive and confidentiality of sensitive information was respected, matters of dispute remained in-house and appeared in print only when someone wrote a book, years after the event. Leakage of information outside the confines of the Defence Ministry was considered to be blasphemous acts.

 Civilian control over the military went through periods of tension without violating the basic tenets of Command and control. Errant and less informed Defence Ministers with personal agenda  did try to intervene in routine matters of administration,promotion and land acquisition/ disposal.In most cases direct access of the Chiefs to  the Prime Minister,  acted as a relief valve. Equilibrium was soon restored when needed.

The discomfort of the Politician continued to grow even as the quality of Politics and politicians deteriorated after mid 1970s'.In order to sequester  the politician  from assertive soldiers, the bureaucracy was increasingly given the responsibility to decide on most matters military. This was aggravated when some Prime Ministers also held the Defence portfolio  in addition to many other Ministries. On such occasions,  RRM's chosen to fire- fight on day to day activities, were quite incompetent and relied heavily on the bureaucracy. Consequently,the service Chiefs  had to stand in queue to meet the Prime Minister. Earlier, they had the liberty to walk in and out of the PM's office  when necessary.

After the Rajiv Gandhi era which enjoyed better civil-military relations, the country was subjected to a grave economic crisis which resulted in shelving of all major modernisation programmes for nearly a decade. Matters Military were relegated in priority till combat efficiency began to erode.

Another major factor that has had deleterious effects on civil-military relations is that Armed forces deployed to restore law and order in poorly administered and terrorism infested states of India including Kashmir, found themselves permanently deployed with no solution on the horizon. Troops so deployed are exposed to politicization owing to the nature of  the environment and firsthand knowledge of political exploitation and machinations.

 A series of events thereafter led to reduction of the status of the soldier in society: until Kargil restored some aspects of neglect, when the electronic media brought the war to the drawing rooms of our citizens.

The first serious review to study what led to Kargil was entrusted to late K Subrahmaniam, the well known expert on strategic affairs. The team formed under him consisted of experts drawn from the retired community as well as people of considerable experience in their respective domain. The then Government, ensured that the study was carefully vetted by a competent group of Ministers, who in turn formed Task forces to address the issues that would lead to successful implementation of the broad recommendations submitted by the Subrahmaniam Committee.

By a twist of fate, Tehelka expose exploded in the face of the ruling party. George Fernandes was forced to step down. The second 'coincidence' occurred at this point in time. The External Affairs Minister was given temporary charge of Defence. In a short stint, he proved that perhaps he was the most perceptive and far sighted Raksha Mantri that independent India had seen. He was an acknowledged scholar with a Military background and an author of one of the best written books on Defence of India. He had already appointed Arun Singh, former RRM in the Rajiv Gandhi Government as an advisor to EAM.

Arun Singh, was perhaps one of the few corporate honchos brought into Government, by Rajiv Gandhi, based purely on his passion for matters Military and unparalleled knowledge of how the Military and bureaucracy ought to function. The far sighted RM now holding fort for his colleague who had stepped down, promptly selected Arun Singh to head the Task Force on Higher Defence Management. Arun Singh had substantial knowledge on how the Ministry of Defence functioned and he had a rare insight into knowledge of the Military including its modernisation. Arguably, independent India had perhaps not seen a Civilian with this capability. He was also the leader of the team which  produced a document titled The Committee on Defence Expenditure(CDE), for the VP Singh Govt. The only occasion when he came out of a self imposed ban, after his abrupt departure from Rajiv's cabinet.

Having been made the leader of the Task Force on Higher Defence Management, Arun Singh left no stone unturned to bring to light a whole range of changes and reforms that would have made India a very potent and effective force to reckon with.

Based on facts and drawing from experiences gained by developed nations of the West, this report contained far reaching reforms that made the bureaucracy and some uniformed officer, both serving and retired, very nervous. As long as Arun Singh continued as an Advisor in the South Block and the EAM was holding temporary  charge of Defence, they worked as a well oiled team. Implementation of all the recommendations moved flawlessly and rather speedily. Red tape and delaying tactics at all levels were dealt with firmly and decisively. It appeared to be the turning point in Indian Military history. It was not to be.

The next episode is quite inexplicable. Prime Minister Vajpayee for reasons best known to him stopped the most important reform of all. Integrating the Armed forces under a single Chief, was stalled by him. All the progress made until then came to a dead halt.

Enter George Fernandes after he was cleared of all charges and Arun Singh quit his post as abruptly as he did, when he left Rajiv. Another coincidence? One will never know until one of the main actors writes about it one day.   

The greatest opportunity to cleanse the system of all its malaise was thus lost. Needless to say no further reforms were carried out by the new Govt. The bogey of the CDS becoming an all powerful entity reappeared. Equations and pay and allowances of Soldiers were distorted. Post Vietnam- like scenes were witnessed on the streets of Delhi. Soldiers returning medals, the age row of a Chief and now the spectacle on Television on the VK Singh episode, which makes India look like a banana republic, are all symptoms of a disease caused by Poor Civil- Military relations.

The sad part is that, all of it was caused by uninformed Ministers, a leaderless bureaucracy which is equally uninformed on matters Military and conniving Soldiers who were too parochial and petty minded to waste a golden opportunity for reforms.

No reforms of the armed forces have been successfully planned and executed by the Soldiers themselves. They have been thrust upon them, ala, Maggie Thatcher, the Iron Lady and the Gold Water Nichols act in USA.

As Arun Singh often said, "Those who have vision have no power and those in power lack vision on matters Military".

(Suresh Bangara, former C-IN-C of Southern Naval Command and presently Vice President Nav Bharat Democratic Party.)

'We are like that only'?-What is common between politics and sports

Some one once commented, "Politics is not bad but politicians are"  Surely not all of them. You must admit that there are many good ones who despite being sidelined, continue to do their duty by their conscience.But then they do not make news. The screaming TV anchors cannot hold you spell bound with their vituperative and acerbic comments and rehearsed stunned /hurt looks, if the subject of their talk- show, is an honest and well meaning politician.

So when the recent confabulation and ready consensus emerged among all political parties on why they need to be out of the ambit of RTI or how charge sheeted  politicians should continue to function in Parliament, it was unbelievably amusing. As amusing as a comedy show on stage . Well scripted,choreographed and enacted with panache.

Soon another bunch of comedians joined the play. These were senior functionaries of the Indian Olympic Association,(IOA) who having been shown the door by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for failing to cleanse the system accused of corruption, continued to face the camera with non nonchalance and completely oblivious of  the humiliation and shame that they have brought upon the Nation. Distinguished sportsmen who have brought laurels to the Country, even appealed to them to professionalize the administration ,to  stop treating  sports  bodies as perennial source of perks without accountability and to read the writing on the wall which said " Go home" In return they received a standard response on why should they break way from the law applicable to politicians. Charge sheets are not the benchmark but conviction is. Hence one can continue to discharge all  duties as long as they are not convicted of the offence. Dejavu!

Not surprisingly most members of sports bodies and their heads are politicians of all shades.There is thus a bond between the two,i.e. Politics and Sports. The shamelessness stems from utter contempt for processes and institutions.  Why should a country which is blessed with so much talent  be governed by those accused of corruption, skulduggery,parochialism and sheer greed.? The same applies to sports bodies. Where are the good men and women who can professionalize and run complex institutions?

'Cleanse politics first and the rest will follow'. Nav Bharat believes in this motto. Candidates are being carefully selected based on merit. Institutions and party structures are being built brick by brick so that Good Governance results from it. Our candidates are the bed rock of  the party and not viceversa. Join us in our endeavour to build a new India as fast as we can. Exercise your right to vote and ensure that a good.committed and capable candidate is not rejected due to money and muscle power.

Why Nav Bharat

The Story of a Retired Sailor and Nav Bharat

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Four decades in the Navy was enough to give me an insight into a whole range of  subjects that  go into governance of  a country. Surprised? Here is how it worked.

My first memory of meeting the political hero of India, Jawaharlal Nehru was at the Republic day parade at Delhi in 1962, when I was all of 16 years. I led  the Junior Division NCC Air wing cadets of India on a cold,hazy and freezing morning. There were no winter uniforms. Cotton full sleeve shirts, shorts and stockings and off we went marching down Raj Path. Thousands had lined up on either sides and the sheer sight of the President taking our salute and the feeling of pride kept us warm.

  Later at a special occasion Pandit Ji  presented me with a trophy which in effect was the start point of my Military career. My picture with him has been on my desk for the past  52 years.

My College days came and went, but not without giving me an opportunity to meet the then Raksha Mantri YB Chavan. Yes, the RM had the time to meet a lowly NCC cadet who was selected to represent India, at the Malaysian Air Training Corp Camp, in Singapore, in 1964. These were some impressionable events with Politicians, albeit of my teenage life. They appeared to be in service of the Nation-not Masters of the people who put them there.

The Indian Navy became my home from 1966. In 1970, I was sent to the Soviet Union. A remote island in Vladivostok was to be our training base for the next year. Frozen seas and temperature of -32 degrees did not deter us from venturing to challenge their way of life. Communism/socialism with all its ramifications and nuances were on display in day to day Governance of the Country and their Armed forces. Young as I was, it was still a lesson on a political systems of governance.

The 1971 war gave me firsthand knowledge of what Military action meant to people in uniform. The attack on enemy ships off Karachi and the port itself, gave me insights into human emotions and passion . Death and destruction  which is an inextricable part of war, demanded  a high quality of Military and Political leadership.  We were fortunate to have had  a lady PM, who showed courage, decisiveness  and  single minded purpose to carry the whole nation with her. Here was leadership on display as never seen thereafter. The soldier needs just that to die for his country. After all he fights for "the ashes of his father and the temple of his god"

Events leading to the declaration of emergency in 1976 however, by the very same leader, taught us the oft repeated lesson on how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

A stint with the British Navy at the then Royal Naval college at  Greenwich, coincided with the arrival of the iron lady-Maggie Thatcher, at the helm of British politics. I was given an opportunity to study a leader who single handedly lifted the  sagging morale of the British people as a whole.  Another lesson in politics.

Barely five years later in 1985, I was appointed as the Indian Naval Adviser at our High Commission  in Islamabad. For the next three years I had numerous occasions to study the political system run by a Military leader, in a non- democratic system of governance. Zia Ul Haq was able to provide a false sense of economic prosperity and political stability for very nearly nine years. His reign ended only with his untimely death in 1988, due to assassination through sabotage of his aircraft. Here was another dimension of governance and many political lessons  to learn.

Not many would remember the stellar role performed by our Armed forces consequent to a coup attempted at Maldives by 300 armed militants, in 1989. My ship was positioned to stabilize and oversee the withdrawal of our forces after the successful handing over of control to the legitimate Government of Maldives. Extensive interaction with the senior Ministers and President of the Maldives, gave me insights into restoring confidence in a shattered people, albeit of a small island nation.

Finally, owing to  a series of postings at the Integrated Headquarters at Delhi at senior ranks bestowed on me, I was closely involved in briefing and working with senior bureaucrats, Diplomats and politicians  tasked to govern India, including the PM. This is where the real lessons of governance or the lack of it was on display.

That my friends is, just one example of how the Military is exposed to Politics.

 There are numerous others who have not cared to pen down their experience. Yet whilst in uniform we remain completely apolitical,  forbidden  from interacting with media, foreigners,  political parties et al. That is not to say that as individuals we do not have political views based on which we are expected to  exercise our franchise at every election. The fact of the matter is most of us, except a small minority, could not exercise our right to vote, as the postal ballot paper never once reached us due to various reasons. We were thus denied the right to vote due to the callousness of all those involved with the electoral process.  It was left to the Supreme Court to rule in 1971, that every soldier should be permitted to vote at his station of duty. What about a large percentage who are in remote corners of India guarding our inaccessible borders and sailors who are at sea?

Two Sailors of Italy who were under trial in India were flown back to Italy to cast their votes -just less than a year ago. That is the seriousness and importance of voting in a democratic set up.

So, it was not surprising that on shedding my uniform I opted for a role in political activism to contribute my little experience and to start a movement to cleanse the system. Four years in Professionals Party of India(ppi) and now Nav Bharat Democratic Party are the logical courses of action for one, who refuses to fade away without a fight.

I hope you agree with my reason to fight and that you will join Nav Bharat to help us restore order in this chaotic democracy of ours. Distance without destination and mileage without mile stones is not what  the youth- our future asset of this country, deserve. Join us to put the right people into Parliament.

     
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
                                                                                     Edmond Burke                                    

JAI HIND

The Tragedy of Indian Politics-A Strong Desire to Self Destruct.

The media is full of pot holes-not the ones created by the rather good monsoon this year but by the emerging political scenario in India. Yes, we are just six and a half decades old with much to learn from other mature democracies. They too had their paths riddled with bad politics, poverty, internal and external mine fields to negotiate. They did it over many decades and in some cases,  centuries of trial and error. We do not have the luxury to traverse the same path due to the globalized environment and instant flow of information in a wireless era, compounded by accessibility with hand held devices.  So we have a well informed population but not necessarily with wisdom to supplement the knowledge base.

Instant solutions to complex problems is the demand of the youth increasingly equipped to process information but, without the time to assimilate and analyse. Compressing time required for decision making  may be advantageous in business matters, but perhaps not in complex socio-economic and governance related issues, that demand deliberation among knowledgeable and wise members of the society.

Our current democratic processes have failed to keep up with the rapid reforms required to implement lessons repeatedly learnt by successive Election Commissions.No political party has shown any resolve to implement electoral reforms,administrative reforms,Police reforms or Judicial reforms. A strong desire to cling to power and the added incentive to dramatically increase the financial status of incumbent politicians, as revealed by recent surveys, have resulted in a strange convergence of interests among otherwise squabbling political parties. Politicians all over the world irrespective of their ideologies display preference to overlook national interests over political expediency.This may be morally despicable to many not in power, but, it is not alien to human behavior. It is said that as long as the human race exists there will always be greed and conflict.

In our context, politicians display unanimity when doling out allowances to themselves,making RTI inapplicable to political parties, sacking honest bureaucrats,accepting criminals in parties and looting our natural resources or selling away spectrum. Vulgar display of VIPISM and armed commandos surrounding leaders of little value-forget about threat to themselves that they conveniently reinvent from time to time -do not appear as waste of public money.   Who in his right sense will regret the demise of one of those heavily protected Netas, should he be despatched to face God. Even the terrorists do not consider them to be good enough targets for publicity. Perhaps they expect celebrations and not grief among the people who are deprived of  the presence of such Netas among us.

 If this is the attitude of those in power and coalitions Governments are condemned to be the order of the day,  what are our options. There are a few worthy of consideration.

More participation in politics and not less is the first mantra. Politics is not dirty but the ones you elect or those elected by default, are. So why not participate in voting with a purpose and convincing your neighbours to do so too.

Second, why not convince those who have achieved financial stability and are known for their competence and character to stand up and be counted. Often the fear is of rejection and loss. There are ways and means to overcome such fear provided the' mohallas 'supports such candidates. Buying voters is fast losing its charm as people who are rising from poverty to reasonable lower middle class status are thinking of the future of their children. They are also displaying more courage of conviction to change the face of politics than the affluent and the rich who are not effected by the results of election,or,on  who is selected to legislate our future.Like the squabbling politicians who find common cause to unite, perhaps, the rich and the not so rich should find common cause to elect the right candidate.

Third, if coalition politics is a reality that cannot be wished away, why not start a debate on direct election of PM along with separation of the executive from the legislators. If you are weighed down by the need for constitutional changes, do not fret, we have amended our constitution 98 times in six decades.    Surely this is a good cause to unite us all. Act well before 2014-it is just round the corner. A New India or NAV BHARAT is what we need.   .     

Crisis Management In India

I had been an active participant in the Government of India's crisis/disaster management organisation in my capacity as head of operations of the navy for three years and thence as head of joint services operation in the newly formed Integrated Defence Headquarter in 2002.
On one of the TV debates yesterday-a more respectable one, where the anchor was not screaming or hogging time on the limited debate-a supreme court lawyer who appeared to be well informed, articulated some home truth. He referred to many disasters that he  was associated with for mitigation measures, including the last tsunami; lamented the total absence of capability and capacity of senior bureaucrats to handle them and pleaded that the entire operation be handed over to the Military. He was right on every count,but let us park the issue of the Military for the time being.

No Govt organisation in India including the police have a culture to create facilities to monitor and control situations such as natural calamities, emergencies including hi-jacks of Aircraft. Those that have graduated from the rudimentary to a time expired model have little or no capability to sustain operations. The Govt still has the process that works on written orders issued and forgotten, no drills to refine processes in 'peace time' and little emphasis on updating records of personnel expected to react.That, on many occasions, the   entire list of members of the crisis response team, which is drawn from multiple sources of the Govt,was out of date and their emergency contacts unavailable, cannot be disputed. Since there is no culture of manning operations Rooms 24/7 and  365 days in almost all civilian organisations,just rounding up the right people around a table, was a herculean task. This is equally disastrous in Hi jack situations as also  with natural calamities such as earth quake, which has no warning mechanism as yet. Consequent delays in action have caused considerable embarrassment and damage to life - a fact that would never be discussed in public, as there is no system of debriefing and lessons learnt in organisations chaired by the senior most bureaucrat of the Govt.



The Military, on the other hand, mans an ops room at every level of operations and the data exchange is almost real time. The rapidity of data flow including live pictures makes it eminently suited for emergencies. Secure communication,data transfer and built in redundancy make the Military in India most suited to handle all emergencies.

The only area of inadequacy in the current  situation, is  financial and other powers for mobilization of resources vested in the civilian bureaucracy and political leadership. The true potential of the Military thus remains unexplored in this country.

Ironically in every such emergency it is the Military or para military force which delivers   in the disaster effected zone.

Even when new structures are created such as National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA)  the Military, as in all other decision making structures,  is sidelined to a peripheral role. It may be true that the first NDMA was indeed led by a former Chief but that is more a proforma appointment to acknowledge the services rendered by an individual rather than recognize the potential of the force as a whole.

So what can we do to make our emergency /crisis management more effective and institutionally strong. Allow the the entire operation to be coordinated and conducted by CDS(when in place) or CISC. For this necessary ordinance/legislation need to be passed to empower the Armed forces for the limited duration of operations.

Frequent drills are necessary to fine tune and refine procedures. Participation of the entire machinery of civilian  and political leadership should be made  mandatory without which the whole exercise would be futile.

Finally, debrief and lessons learnt have to be acted upon by Central and State authorities with clear accountability at the appropriate level of the Govt.

While accepting that such a model does not exist currently and that such integrated systems fail more due to civil-military tensions and ignorance of capabilities, I make an appeal to try it at least in disaster/crisis situations which are war like conditions.  This needs empowerment of the Military and independence of execution as in war conditions.  No harm trying; but not half heartedly.

SMART PHONES AND AUTOMATION-ARE THEY DILUTING OFFICE PROCEDURES?

For those of us who grew up with the white hall system of managing office records, it was unthinkable to shift to a paperless office with partial or full automation. The old office assistant who was just a clerk was a walking-talking encyclopedia on all the files listed from A to Z. No references were required-only a mention of the subject or the initiator of the communication. He would produce all the relevant correspondence duly flagged so that at any given time,you had a full background of the case. It was also necessary that after each correspondence was in- warded with a number on  it,(which tallied with the register of incoming/outgoing mail) a collation cover(CC) was attached, in which the entire case was analysed by the coordinating officer. After obtaining the views of all those connected within the department, this file would go the boss with a clear recommendation of  the next step to be taken. The CC was not accessible to any one outside the department. The filtered output of the decision would then make its way to other departments in a file titled Branch Memo(BM) on which concerned  branches collated their respective views,.

Admittedly, the process was long and tedious but it  was so thorough that decisions taken   were perhaps the most well considered ones given that all the relevant information was available at all times. Was the system fool proof? To the extent that those handling it complied with all procedures.

Now that the paperless routine has been invented I find that communications are instant, hierarchies have been flattened and decisions are expedited. But inability to process all facts related to the case along with comments and suggestions offered by lateral and collateral  organisations remains a major area of concern. Generally, e mails accessed on cell phones just do not give you a historic perspective of the case,thus resulting in less than optimum decisions.  

While the private sector has been able to automate office work to suit their unique requirements which includes cyber safety devices and e signatures etc hacking and phishing continue to be areas of concern. Back up of correspondence,ability to store and retrieve data and most importantly limiting accessibility to authorized users, continue to challenge administrators.

Governments including the Central Govt find themselves caught between the devil of expediting decisions and the deep sea of automating office work such that the guiding  principles of the white hall system are not violated. Hence e mail which is the most preferred communication medium in the industry and private sector continue to be a secondary form of communication in the Government. At best progressive state and central govt organs have put in place a file tracking system which brings in accountability with respect to time.

The greatest of all concerns is that the good old systems of filing have been long forgotten, as the recruitment of clerks have been suspended along with the training that enabled them. The present lot of personnel neither know the manual system and its virtues nor the automation along with all its vices.

Are you surprised that so many scams are being perpetuated within the system-a system which can neither differentiate nor correct itself during the crucial phase of transition  from the manual office system to the fully automated one.  Administrative reforms need to address this by using personnel of yester- years and the  whiz kids of today.

Negotiations-A View From Down Under

Readers are undoubtedly aware of the importance of professionalizing the art of negotiations both in  Public and Private sectors. While the private sector is wholly focused on cutting costs to enhance profits,the public sector is oblivious of targets to be met within reasonable time frames. Consequently, opportunity costs incurred by the Government due to inordinate delays in concluding contracts is indeed mind boggling. The advanced jet trainer(AJT) for instance, took two decades to negotiate. The cost per aircraft continued to rise,modifications and modernization was a parallel process which also contributed to the spiraling costs. More than anything, we lost precious lives of trainee pilots since we did not have a suitable trainer to prepare them to man front line combat squadrons. 

My earlier blog in Oct 2011 covered the deficiencies in hostage negotiations. During my recent visit to Australia a report from their Defence Material Organization(DMO) caught my attention.Let me quote,"Defence Force mandarins are calling for private sector help after admitting the organisation lacks the skills and 'general business acumen' to prudently negotiate billion-dollar contracts with America's military-industrial complex".

The Australians who have had dealings with the USA for decades have at least accepted the need to have professionally competent negotiators to bring value to their own acquisition programmes. 

Since independence India has had to face strategic and tactical negotiation for settling cross border disputes,acquiring nuclear power plants,oil, military equipment and platforms costing billions of dollars and much more.
Yet there is no records of these proceedings for analysis or for teaching the art of negotiations. This is equally true of the private sector where record keeping for posterity is conspicuous by its absence. Personalities are trusted to negotiate, very often with least preparations and with minimum skills for it. When a deal is struck with a more proficient supplier, much is made of a win-win formula, the value of which  is never substantiated over time.

The answer lies in introducing negotiations in all business school curricula,  sending serving bureaucrats,men in uniform and private sector managers for courses in reputed institutions overseas or in India. We need to create a cadre of well trained negotiators in selected areas where continuity is of significance. SALT treaties between the erstwhile Soviet Union and USA were negotiated by the same group of people who met for decades.More importantly, given that equipment worth over a 100 Billion $ are on the cards for acquisition in the Ministry of defence alone, it is imperative that we form joint teams from public and private sectors to provide level playing fields to counter the very experienced commercial negotiators who are bound to descend  on us.

A word of caution, some of our well known academic institutions which claim to teach this subject have none or only a few with hands on experience of live negotiations,leave alone case studies of value.

This is a good time to clean up.