New India needs old paradigm

Time of India

22-05-2025

Only jingoistic Pakistanis and some Westerners are unwilling to acknowledge the resounding success of Operation Sindoor. The Narendra Modi government has scored a perfect 10 in the military operations. Government functionaries and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have proved that their claim, 'this is new India,' is true: the rhetoric has become a reality. They should also realize that new India needs another kind of politics and public life.
But let's discuss good things first. The planning of Operation Sindoor was flawless and the execution meticulous. This, however, did not happen on its own; the Modi government invested a great deal of resources, energy, and time to strengthen the country militarily. Operation Sindoor's success was predicated upon important policy decisions that the government took in the last 11 years.
In the 10 years before that (2004-14), when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in office, defence procurements were severely hit under the then defence minister A.K. Antony.
From all accounts, Antony was an honest politician. But as a leader holding the defence portfolio for eight years (2006-14), he did very little to bolster defence preparedness. Perhaps, he feared kickbacks in the purchase of arms and armaments, so, instead of cleaning up the process or attempting to do that, he simply did nothing. This hurt defence preparedness.
It is to the credit of the Modi regime that the military's requirements were answered in earnest. Policy-driven military modernization strengthened the air defence ecosystem, combining imported systems like the S-400 and Barak-8 with indigenous platforms such as Akash missiles and anti-drone technologies from DRDO. Today, this ecosystem is seamlessly integrated.
India's retaliation too, which resulted in badly damaging Pakistani air defence assets, was also a culmination of years of strategic preparation. Loitering munitions and suicide drones, ordered in 2021 and built domestically, hit Pakistani defences with precision. Israeli-origin Harop drones, now manufactured in India, were deployed effectively alongside Rafale jets armed with SCALP and HAMMER missiles, delivering surgical deep strikes.
Key developments in India's air defence build-up include the Rs 35,000 crore deal for five S-400 Triumph systems, three of which are already operational, and a $2.5 billion pact with Israel for the Barak-8 MR-SAMs, now guarding frontline bases. Indigenous Akash missile batteries and DRDO's Man-Portable Counter-Drone Systems (MPCDS), deployed in 2024, form a layered shield against aerial threats.
This readiness is not limited to, as it was earlier, public-sector advances. Companies like Tata Advanced Systems (TAS), Alpha Design Technologies, Paras Defence, and ideaForge no longer play just supportive roles to public sector entities and foreign equipment; they are now critical to India's defence.
Drones have become the most visible symbol of India's defence transformation. From operating Israeli UAVs in the 1990s, India now boasts a growing fleet of indigenously developed drones. Solar Industries' Nagastra-1 and NewSpace Research's swarm drones were game-changers during the operation. Upcoming platforms include Garuda Aerospace's Jatayu and SkyPod for high-altitude logistics, and AI-driven systems from startups like 114AI.
Looking ahead, space will be pivotal. Firms like Digantara, Pixxel, and Dhruva Space are driving satellite and space situational awareness capabilities. In 2025, three private firms were chosen to co-develop 31 satellites under the SBS-3 programme, marking a strategic shift in space-based surveillance.
Operation Sindoor demonstrated that the proper fusion of political vision, military prowess, and private innovation can be extremely effective.
So far, so good. But, in this euphoric moment, we should not forget our dirty underbelly—the toxicity that has polluted both public debate and public discourse. Quite apart from the ugliness of a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader making deplorable remarks about Col Sofiya Qureshi's religion and a Samajwadi Party leader talking about Wing Commander Vyomika Singh's caste, there is the issue of rising sentimentalism and sanctimoniousness in India. This chokes vibrancy in debates and discussions, reducing them to a cacophony of clichés, cant, and rant. Politics becomes a polarising, divisive force.
The government has done well to include important political leaders in its massive diplomatic outreach; Shashi Tharoor is even heading the delegation to the US. This is a good step that may bring some sense, sensibility, and purpose to politics.
This is also in the best traditions of India's efforts to guard national interests. In 1994, the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao sent Leader of Opposition Atal Bihari Vajpayee as head of the delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva to counter Pakistan. In the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, PM Manmohan Singh also ensured that leaders from all parties were part of the delegations to different continents with evidence of Pakistan's links to the terror strike.
The Modi government and the BJP must ensure that the best traditions of Indian politics are resurrected. The way politics is conducted in our country is untenable; it needs a transformation. New India needs an old paradigm.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.