It is the most unhappy task. It is a very painful duty but it is a duty ultimately. Certainly, you can have agitation by all means, it is your fundamental right; nobody can object to it, but let us observe the rules of the game, the game of running a democracy in this country. That is all I can say.
One or two other suggestions that were made were that we should not have any sort of complex as to from where we get the aid and, that we should always have alternatives. As far as the aid is concerned, both in the economic field and in the military field, we are looking to all sides. We are not suffering from any complex in this matter. From wherever we can get from friendly countries, we are always willing to do that. We are not misguided and we have no complex in this particular matter.
I have referred to the question of R & D budget which was raised by my hon. friend Shri. Indrajit Gupta. The question that was raised was about Navy. It is quite true that we have not been able to do as much as the hon. Members of this House wanted us to do. But I can tell them the general formula, the general timetable for building up the army, the navy and the air force. You can perhaps build an army within two years if you get the necessary equipment for it. You can build an air force within five years. In order to build your navy, you will have to think in terms of decades. It is a very slow growth in the case of navy. I can tell the hon. House that we have certainly taken definite essential steps in this matter of acquiring more ships, of acquiring submarines and of building ships. But this is just the beginning. This is only the first step towards the second step and to a further step and further progress will take some time. The expenditure of this year does not reflect all the efforts that are made because that expenditure is spread over a longer period. So, the hon. Members may not be guided merely by this fact that the expenditure on navy has gone from Rs. 20 crores to Rs. 30 crores and therefore, we are not doing anything. That is the easiest conclusion to reach and that will be misleading. I quite agree as I have myself said in this House that our navy consists of a large number of older ships and they need to be replaced. But here again we went on begging from different countries and we did not get what we wanted. It is not a question of unwillingness on our part. It is a question of making a systematic effort for a long time and that sustained effort is going to help to build the navy.
I must make a mention here that I am not trying to reply to every point that is made by the hon. Members here. I am only touching important points and some of the good suggestion that have been made. About other points that were made by individual hon. Members, as my usual practice is, I will try to communicate with them and tell them what steps we are taking and I will ask them also to further communicate with me. Now, I am only trying to meet some of the important points which affect the fundamental policy of Defence.
I heard with interest the speech of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. I am glad that he is present in this House. I am not trying to reply in the spirit of replying only. I try to be some what frank about it.
He is one of the farsighted minds of this hon. House, not only of this House but of the country, I have got all respect for him. I have looked to him as our leader in the 1942 days.
