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By S. Amer Latif
S. Amer Latif is a visiting fellow with the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The views in this piece are his own and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
India has a long way to go before it becomes the security provider that Washington and the rest of Asia hope India will become. As most knowledgeable analysts and observers are aware, it takes much more than a large defense acquisition budget and occasional military presence to develop a credible and capable defense force. In the case of India, there are key lacunas in its defense modernization which point to a defense establishment that has a long way to go before it becomes a world class military force that can become, in the words of the U.S. Defense Department's strategic guidance, "a provider of security."
India's recent push for defense modernization has received a considerable amount of attention for the magnitude of its defense spending on a variety of weapons systems. These weapons procurements, combined with episodic displays of Indian military presence through counter-piracy patrols, disaster response, high profile naval exercises, and port visits, have led many observers to opine that India will play a pivotal role in promoting security and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
India's defense modernization challenges can be best captured through four dimensions that either define the Indian defense environment or point to areas that require significant reform or change. Taken together, these four areas can be collectively called the Four P's of Indian defense modernization.
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