We have to find out how we can remedy these matters. I must say I do not want to give any wrong ideas to this hon. House about the state of our military preparedness. I shall try to be rather more realistic about it. Somebody asked me just now whether our production is commensurate with our requirements. Let me tell you very frankly that it is not. If you expect, merely the Minister to have the production required for war consumption, ready within a few months, it is not possible. Your defence preparedness cannot he separated from your economic base, from your economic capacity, your economic capabilities, your technological capabilities, your scientific development and other connected matters. You cannot isolate those things and just say : get yourself prepared. You were given nine months, ten months, one year, two years. Do all these things. We have to prepare for all these continuously. What we have done is that we have tried to look at ourselves critically. From this experience of the Army, from the sudden experience, from the sad experience that they went through, we want to learn lessons. This enquiry was made for that. That is why I said military appraisal. It was not for something else. It was a military appraisal_ That is much more essential. If you sit in judgement and say, ‘ A’ is bad, hang him, your work is not going to be over. We have to see how we prepare our own defence forces. We have to see that they not only do not repeat the old mistakes they had made before but they will also have to meet the problems of defence better and maintain the integrity of this country. That is much more essential.
As we have said, those who control the Himalayas will control the plains of India. We have to defend our country in the Himalayan ranges and for that we will have to prepare and prepare for a long time to come. This is my general approach to looking at this whole enquiry. I would request every Member, first of all, to look at it from this point of view.
It is not enough. I would like to make two or three corrections in the statement or the impressions that it has created. One impression I want to correct is this : while I have been making a reference, particularly to the Jawans, I was generally saying that their performance was fair. Having studied the Report again I think that their performance was rather very good. Then again, I must say one thing. Even about the higher Generals I have said whatever I have said. But there I must make an exception and I must make one point very clear that these remarks do not apply to the higher Command in the western sector in Ladakh, where really speaking they did a very good job. Otherwise, it would have been unfair to these Generals, who functioned very, fairly there. I must make that clarification before I proceed. Thirdly I must say about military intelligence. I have very clearly stated what I wanted to say about it. There I must make one clarification which clarification the Prime Minister made in the other House. It is not the responsibility of military’ intelligence to get intelligence outside the borders of this country. That responsibility is somebody else’s I must make this point also clear.
