A Second Vision

Khwaab yoon udte hai jyu ik manchala shahbaaz
Jo dekhta hai aasmaanon se mustaqbil ke raaz
Is jehaan mein hoga kaayam ik naya nizaam 
Nayi taaqat ki yalgaar hai aatish-e-parvaaz

Dreams soar like a fitful falcon, 
Who sees the secrets of the future from the skies, 
A new world order will prevail,
The rumblings of an emerging power, the fire-aflight 

-A Rubai by Atish Bagrodia 

Welcome to the third anniversary issue of the Bharat Rakshak Monitor. The Monitor started three years ago as a platform for longer articles appearing on the Forum. Along the way, we added sections on regimental and battle  histories, news, reviews and technical. We have striven to provide original thought on the core subject of India's national interests. We hope to work harder to provide you more of the same in future.

We note with great satisfaction the relatively smooth election of Sri A. P. J. Abdul Kalam as the twelfth President of India. We congratulate him on his ascent and hope his election will provide impetus to his vision of an India resplendent in knowledge and technology. Our best wishes go to Sri. Kalam's search for a `Second Vision' for India. 

Incidentally this issue marks the third anniversary of Kargil and again India is poised in a near confrontation with Pakistan over the issue of terrorism. Earlier the Shimla Agreement among other things, established the Line of Control (LOC). Kargil established that it has the same sanctity as the international border and violations by regular troops are untenable. The current crisis should establish that the same holds for irregular troops euphemistically called as jihadis or freedom fighters.

As stated in our earlier editorial, the NDA government has miles to go to break the chains that constrain India's growth. The Cabinet reshuffle has clarified the order of precedence and the succession questions for the Prime Minister. The swap of the Finance and External Affairs Ministers should spur the respective ministries to forge new paths. The MEA should jump-start the regional integration process and discard old formulations to bring this this about. A step to be considered is to treat the Sri Lankan currency with same status as the Nepali rupee. 

Ensuring the sanctity of the electoral process in J&K is very important. The participation of all segments would make the process more representative and diminish the Pakistani role. A new coordinator has been appointed to discuss all aspects and grievances of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Regarding regional autonomy, it might be the right time to consider state rights for all of India and link this to the security situation. For instance, more secure the state, then it gets more autonomy and the linkages to external actors have to be taken into account.

Post 9-11 has seen a new dimension emerge in Indo-US ties. Anupam Srivatsava examines the ties and prospects for improvement and disappointments. The US has shown that it needs a stable Pakistan for its own interests. However, such a Pakistan cannot be allowed to promote terrorism in India. Internationally we note that the ABM treaty is no longer in effect and the US is no longer restrained in Missile Defenses. This will have impact globally and regionally on India. On one hand India could have to contend with a larger Chinese arsenal, it also now can pursue regional missile defenses against its more immediate challengers.

In the rest of this issue, Capt. Bharat Verma discusses the need for a broader strategic vision to deal with Pakistan. The bizarre nature of recent statements emerging from General Musharraf's government in Pakistan are the subject of a speculative essay by K. Narayanan. Wing Commander Suresh addresses issues raised in the recent barrage of bad press on the Mig-21.  Pranav Shah examines complicated nature of the deterrence relationship between the US and the USSR in the Cold War. We also welcome two new writers Arvin Bahl, who writes about the need to respect the Indian view on Kashmir and Manoj Raj, who writes a technical piece on Airborne Electronic Countermeasures. The issue ends with  L. N. Subramanian's piece on the senior most regiment of the Indian Army, the Rajputana Rifles.