India ponders defence reform

Fears that fresh arms purchases may be delayed

The Indian Government is considering a series of measures to streamline its procedure for buying military hardware.

The move comes amid a political storm over an arms bribery scandal, which led to the resignation of Defence Minister George Fernandes earlier this month.

The scandal has led to opposition protests

The scandal was exposed by an Indian website, which released video footage showing top officials apparently taking bribes from journalists posing as arms dealers.

It led to a showdown between the government and the opposition, which wants Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to step down.

Defence revamp

Last week, a parliamentary committee on defence recommended that arms purchases be simplified and made more transparent.

The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) now says it is putting together a comprehensive plan to revamp the procedure.

A defence official says the proposals are due to come up for the cabinet's approval later this week.

The new measures include:

• delegating greater financial power to the military
• the establishment of a defence procurement board
• the possible creation of a chief of defence staff

At the moment, defence ministry bureaucrats control the purchase and procurement of arms.

The move to appoint a chief of defence staff comes from Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, who took over the defence ministry after Mr Fernandes's exit.

The post would go to a five-star general who would be the government's top military adviser on all security issues, including the country's plan to build a nuclear force.

Delay worry

Defence analyst Bharat Verma says the move to integrate the military into the civilian defence ministry would improve decision making.

Less power for MoD bureaucrats

"Like everything else in India they [the military and the bureaucrats] have worked in separate compartments with the result that decision-making is rare," he said.

Military observers in India have expressed concern of possible delays in defence purchases because of the recent scandal.

India has signed several high-profile military deals recently, including the purchase of advanced Sukhoi-30 fighter jets from Russia.

Delhi is also hoping to buy more than 60 Hawk trainer jets from British Aerospace.

But there are fears the deal could be delayed or scrapped.