In Response to : IE Editorial


The article "Over The Top" talked about opening up the defence sector
to the FDI which is unanimously accepted as imperative for the growth
of indigenous Research and development. However it would not be very
wise to rush into opening of the sector without putting in place
appropriate safeguards. It should be ensured that mechanisms
advocating adequate secrecy requirements are put in place to prevent
leakage of critical information which is very crucial in defence and
not so in Cars (an example that the author takes). A leakage of
Arihant, Pokharan-I and II would have never allowed the projects to
consummate (the developed world would have ensured that). The issues
of Intellectual property rights , a necessary clause of domestic
procurement are other issues that need to be resolved before the
sector is exposed to the market. Furthur it should be made sure that
market forces do not over power the national interest, had it been so
we would have never had Tejas or Arjun. Hence I firmly beleive that
the issue of opening the defence sector needs to be explored much more
meticulously before anything is decided upon.