Comparative Analysis of Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro and HCL -- Annual Performance FY16

Whilst all of us await eagerly with bated breaths for the results of the Top 5 IT Services firms for Q1, FY17, I thought it would be a good idea to walk you thru’ the annual performance of the Top 5 Indian IT Service firms for the last 12 months ending 31’st March, 2016 (FY16) so that we have a nice foundation and a well set benchmark for evaluating the performance of the top Indian IT firms in Q1, FY17.

The idea of this analysis is to present an ‘apples to apples’ comparison view to the readers unlike the view that comes from the media which is sometimes not an accurate representation of the reality on  the ground as they mix up numbers in INR with that of USD and that of GAAP with IFRS. My analysis is  based on the USD numbers as per IFRS norms based on the balance sheets released by the Top 5 Indian IT firms.  Besides the financial years of some of the firms such as Cognizant and HCL differ from the traditional Indian Financial year that we are used to which makes the annual results all the more difficult to compare. I have therefore used the duration of the last 12 months ending March 31, 2016 as the baseline financial year and have used the term FY16 while referring to this financial year. This enables us to look at the performance of all the firms for the same time period which further enhances the ‘apples to apples’ comparison that I was referring to.

FY16 has been a good year for all the firms in the Indian IT Services industry which have witnessed decent growth in this Financial Year. While the NASSCOM projections for FY16 were in the range of 12-14%, I would say that the top firms have been doing a decent job in terms of being able to accelerate the behemoths at growth rates ranging from 4-18%.

Cognizant continued its stellar march forward with an astounding growth rate of 18.2% in FY16 which given its whopping size of ~13 B USD is not a mean achievement. The operating profits growth of Cognizant, YoY in absolute terms during FY16 is also pretty impressive compared to other firms in its class. It has maintained its traditional operating margins as a % of its overall revenues figure at 17-18% which is the Cognizant’s NORMAL. Also what  is impressive is the acceleration in its sales/marketing related investments which are a whopping 20% of its overall revenues.

Infosys  has indeed had a rebound this year and FY16 is the year which will be remembered in the annals of history as the year where the sign of the derivative for Infosys changed and its growth trajectory reversed its direction. While the overall growth rate for FY16 was a modest 9.1%, it however needs to be noted that Infosys ranks second in the overall YoY growth during FY16 with all other top IT firms except Cognizant lagging behind Infosys. The good news is that Infosys will be joining the 10 B USD CLUB during FY17 which will be a milestone in the history of Indian IT industry with 3 of the Top 5 firms above the 10 B mark. The best part is that Infosys has managed to bounce back without compromising on its  GOLD STANDARD operating margins as a % of total revenues which continue to remain healthy above the 25% mark.

TCS has visibly slowed down this year and its YoY growth in FY16 is around 7% which though impressive for its behemoth size of 17 B USD but at the same time lacks the mojo which it had mustered in the previous years. It is too early to say if TCS has hit process, systems and structure related bottle necks which are tough to be maintained at the same levels of agility and responsiveness in  a company of its size. It might have to REIMAGINE its own structural, systemic and process related inner-workings the way it is reimagining the customers’ digital businesses. However its operating profits as a % of revenues is the highest in the industry at 26.5% which is a very healthy sign.

Wipro is lugging on with its rather lack-luster performance over the past few years with its annual growth stuck at 3.7% during FY16 which is indeed not a great sign for a 7 B USD firm. What is much more disappointing is that the operating profits in absolute terms have declined by 5% during FY16 which signifies increasing costs and stagnating revenues. The year FY17 will be an interesting year for Wipro as it will perhaps be a make or break year for this veteran Indian IT firm.

HCL  has been one of the few IT firms which was historically very predictive in terms of its performance and with its rather  steady and reliable growth. It has however taken a beating in FY16 with its overall rate of growth tanking at 7%. While the rate of growth is same as that of TCS, the moot point is that TCS is a 17 B USD firm whereas HCL is a 6 B USD firm which ought to grow with much more aggression. It looks like it has exhausted all the weapons in its arsenal and whatever gains it was showing in terms of non-linear revenues in the previous years especially in the Infrastructure Management space have now dried up. It is also worth highlighting that HCL has suffered a decline in its absolute operating profits YoY during FY16 by a tune of a whopping 8% indicating a heavy increase in its cost structure and drying up of non-linear revenues. FY17 will be a very interesting year for HCL which will probably be a sign changer in terms of its growth trajectory.

FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR TWELVE MONTHS ENDING MARCH 31, 2016:

The summary of the FY16 annual comparative analysis for Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro and HCL is as follows:

1.       Cognizant  leads in YoY Revenue growth at 18.2% with Infosys following at 9.1%, TCS & HCL both at 7.1% and Wipro trailing at 3.7%

2.       TCS leads in terms of YoY Operating Profits growth at 17.7% with Cognizant following at 14.1%, Infosys at 5.2%,  Wipro at -4.2% and HCL trailing at -7.7%

3.       TCS leads in terms of Operating Profits as a % of revenues at 26.5% with Infosys closely following at 25.0%, Wipro at 20.5%,  HCL at 20.1%  and Cognizant trailing at 17.3%

4.       Cognizant leads in terms of SG&A expenses as a % of revenues at 20.0% with TCS following at 17.4%, HCL at 12.8% and Infosys trailing at 12.4%

Following is a chart showing the comparative analysis of these top firms on various financial parameters:

FY16
Parameter	Infosys	TCS	Wipro	HCL	CTS
FY16 Revenues(M USD)	9501	16545	7346	6235	12707
YoY Growth	9.1%	7.1%	3.7%	7.1%	18.2%
FY16 Operating Profits(M USD)	2375	4385	1506	1251	2196
YoY Growth	5.2%	17.7%	-4.2%	-7.7%	14.1%
As % of Revenues	25.0%	26.5%	20.5%	20.1%	17.3%
FY16 Net Profits(M USD)	2052	3688	NA*	1118	1682
YoY Growth	1.9%	14.8%	NA*	-6.1%	14.3%
As % of Revenues	21.6%	22.3%	NA*	17.9%	13.2%
FY16 SG&A Expenses	1176	2886	NA*	796	2544
As % of Revenues	12.4%	17.4%	NA*	12.8%	20.0%

*Wipro does not give P&L for Global IT services separately. There is a single P&L for Wipro Limited

I will be back with more updates once the Q1, FY17 results are out in July so that we can have quick glimpses of the precursors and witness the unravelling  of the direction in which FY17 is likely to proceed. 

Please do feel free to send in your feedback on my views or revert to me in case you have any questions or need any clarifications…

Thanks and Best Regards,
Deepak

Note: The views expressed in the article above are purely the personal views of the author and have nothing to do with the company he works for

2016 -- GAZING AT THE CRYSTAL BALL...

As the very first day of the new year 2016 begins to unfold its mysteries and presents its surprises in front of us, I am gazing at the crystal ball and taking a shot at unravelling the packed bundle of  panoramic views, hues and phews that possibly  lie ahead of us during this year....

I will attempt to look at certain key aspects that influence and impact today's GLOBAL CITIZEN spanning across areas such as World Affairs, International Economy & Business, Global Balance of Power, Science & Technology et al and their intertwining there of that shapes the daily lives of people across the globe…

1. DECLINE OF THE U.S: The year 2015 has been very significant in the fields of International Affairs and the associated “Power Equilibrium” in the modern world’s political arena in the sense that it is most definitively an INFLECTION POINT. 2015 undoubtedly signalled the “BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE” of the United States from its enviable position as the numero uno nation in the world. It's prestige has taken a toll not only by its extremely poor handling of the middle eastern crises post the Jasmine Revolution and the Arab Spring awakening, ineffective handling of the lurking dangers such as Syria, North Korea and of course the ISIS, weak showing on the Iranian Nuclear Agreement and its subsequent follow up and execution etc but also by allowing enough leeway for other nations to fill the vacuum created as a result of its inability to show leadership and statesmanship, absence of firmness in words and deeds, missing the exuberance and confidence that it had always exuded in its hey days. In my opinion this situation will only deteriorate further during the year 2016 with other power hungry countries eagerly waiting to take advantage of the situation and gain dominance on the global stage. And this has been only been further exacerbated by the rather average performance of the U.S on the business & economy, education, inequality gap,  health, science and technology fronts.

2. WHO WILL BE THE NEXT “SUPER POWER”?:  While the eyes of the entire world are on China with the heads of governments across the globe jostling to form friendships and alliances with this nation, I do not believe that China has the wherewithal or even the innate DNA of competencies or skills needed for attaining leadership on the global arena. Becoming a top economy on the globe is one thing and becoming a ‘SUPER POWER’ is yet another. The Chinese simply do not have it in them as to what it would take to become a “Global Statesman” and their narrowly focused approach on global policies accentuated by their being shrouded in secrecy and inability to bridge the trust deficit formed over years will simply not cut the ice. Amidst all this chaos and confusion there is a very good chance that Russia will go all out to fill in the vacuum in its desperate attempt to re-gain its historic high ground what was once a very pre-eminent one as the world’s super power. Russians have a thorough understanding of the world politics and also tons of experience in "DEAL MAKING" across myriad areas encompassing competencies as varied as diplomatic know-how, alliance and counter alliance formations, military supremacy, counter intelligence corps, strategically analysing and assessing information in real time, patience and perseverance  to take short term hits to gain in the long term etc. After all they have “BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT" in the Cold War era. The direction and trends along these lines might become much more clear as the year 2016 unfolds in front of us…

3. THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: Unfortunately there might not be any major reprieve for the global economy even in the year 2016. The “WHIRLWIND” of “ECONOMIC RECESSION” which started in the U.S in the year 2007 later moved on to European shores in 2012 culminating in the Euro Zone crisis and causing unprecedented damage to the world economy in the last few years. If the seers of economics are to be believed then the “EYE OF THE STORM”  will further move eastwards during 2016 causing a rout in the emerging economies dependent largely on exports and having under developed domestic markets such as China et al… In today's world characterised by an internecine network of complex webs and intricate inter-dependencies, irrespective of the location of the “EYE OF THE STORM”, the entire world will invariably be hit by the "STORM" though I do believe that the extent of damage would albeit vary from locale to locale…

4. ALGORITHM DRIVEN ECONOMY:  Economics be it at the level of the wold or a nation or even at the level of an industry is about and only about SUPPLY and DEMAND. The whole field of macro as well as micro economics and the tomes of research done in this discipline finally boils down to just these 2 factors. What we are essentially saying is that the fluctuations in the economy at say a national levels is directly influenced by the fluctuations in the demand and supply for the myriad range of products and services that constitute the nations GDP.  As a corollary if we can minimise the mismatches in the demand and supply to an absolute minima then the fluctuations in the macroeconomy will also be limited to a narrow range and the cyclical nature of the economy will be busted. This will involve a humongous amount of meticulous  long term planning at a national level and collection or gathering of data at various stages of the product or service life cycle, the entire supply chain as well as a careful monitoring of consumption trends in the societal and national markets. However the pervasiveness or ubiquitousness of technologies such as SMAC, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Robotics has the potential of making this a reality. We might see the initial adoption of these long term algorithm driven economic planning techniques by technology savvy nations during the year 2016.

5. ENERGY DRIVEN TECTONIC SHIFT IN GLOBAL POWER EQUILIBRIUM:  2016 will see an increased adoption of the electric automobile technology across the world. Consumers will start buying these vehicles in larger numbers as the eco-system needed for servicing, maintenance and re-charging of such vehicles gradually gets built up. This together with a substantial advancement in the battery power storage technologies will start to sound a death knell to the century old Internal Combustion engine industry. Put in the cheap and larger quantity of electric power available across the world as a result of the technological advancements in solar cells, solar panels and allied areas as well as the proliferation of nuclear power plants, the signal is all clear and the path is laid out for the success of electric car industry. Let's add SHALE OIL to the equation and lo and behold we see the bargaining power of the Oil and Petroleum exporting countries melt down instantaneously. One might have millions of gallons of Gasoline to export but there would simply be no buyers for it at any price. This will trigger tectonic shifts to the entire geo-political scene and economic as well as power equilibrium across the comity of world’s nations will be thoroughly rattled. This would have huge repercussions on military alliances, trade and commerce equations, swings in national GDPs  and changing political and strategic alliances or partnerships amongst the leading nations. The year 2016 might as well make this tectonic shift apparent to the public at large...

6.  THE SPACE RACE:  The space scientists across the world have been celebrating the success of the recent SPACEX mission which is indeed a technological break through in the field of rocket science and engineering. The late 50s and the early 60s witnessed a space race of an unprecedented nature between the U.S and the Soviet Union with the balance tilted somewhat in favour of the Soviet Union. It took a man of great stature, none other than JFK himself to finally tilt the balance in favour of the U.S and laying the ground for the Apollo 11 Moon mission which catapulted the United States in to a high orbit with the competition simply left far behind. However in the recent times, the U.S has substantially lost its capabilities in this arena by voluntarily shutting down all the future projects of NASA and by and large getting its space strategy to a “sustain and maintain” mode with not much further research being done. Today Russia is the only nation in the world that has the capability of sending a man into space. And it is the U.S which is on the contrary  funding the R&D efforts of Russia in this arena with the intent that we must keep the tacit knowledge and operational facilities for such a launch intact somewhere in the world, keeping global human interest in view. This picture sounds too altruistic to me and I believe that U.S should hedge its bets in the space research business by partnering and channelling the R&D monies to an ally like India which has remarkable capabilities in the space research field. With the first move being made by the signing of contract for launching of American satellites into space in 2016 by Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ), I am sure we will see deepening of ties between India and U.S in this sphere of cutting edge technology. Keeping in view the fact that the rocket science technology is a dual use technology and can be used for developing very long distance  Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and Earth-Space-Earth re-entrant missiles fitted with nuclear war heads, U.S should tread carefully while choosing who its partners in this arena are. All things being said, it always makes great sense to trust and rely on the world's largest democracy.

7.  THE TECHNOLOGY ADVANTAGE: The launch of the book titled ‘The Second Machine Age’ by Andrew McAfee of MIT Media Labs in early 2014 triggered off a series of debates, heated arguments and expression of opinions on a range of topics such as ‘Robots ruling over human beings’, ‘Computers replacing humans in their jobs’, ‘Ethical, Philosophical and Moral implications of various possibilities opened up by Artificial Intelligence’ and so on. The year 2015 has indeed witnessed what could be termed as a “CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION” in the field of Artificial Intelligence. The spate of progress in this field during this one year alone has astonished many AI experts and engineers as progress of this magnitude was simply unexpected. The incredible euphoria surrounding the pace of advancements in this field will continue in the year 2016 as well and we will witness computer systems and Robots doing things that were confined to science fiction till last year.  Like all other technological revolutions that preceded it, the Digital revolution will certainly cause disruptions to the business models and the industry structures. Technologies like Big Data Analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) will cause huge shifts in the way the businesses are conducted in future. Similarly Artificial Intelligence will reduce the need to employ workers in the low-skill or low-education category as well as reduce the workforce in the middle management layer.
The interesting point to note however according to me is  that Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and IoT are being made possible today primarily because of the cheaper and miniature versions of the electronic circuits available today thanks to the fact that more and more silicon transistors are packed tightly in one micron of space whose growth rate is defined popularly by what is known as Moore’s Law. Relying on incremental increase in computing speeds and lowering of computing costs in a predictable manner  every year for  the last several decades is not something that can be called as "DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION"  or path breaking in the truest sense of the word. If one really looks at the computing world not much has really changed in terms of basic  technology per-se from the time, Alan Turing cracked Enigma code during World War 2 using the computer based on Von Neumann architecture in 1940s to the IBM Mainframe with DB2 in the 1960s to the Big Data systems of today where the data base is only far more larger and fairly old and established statistical tools and techniques are applied on processed data. The IoT is in its most essential form is a miniaturisation of an A/D and D/A convertor Integrated Circuits that have been available for decades now. And yes the most talked about subject of Artificial Intelligence has not changed in a disruptive fashion from the days when Alan Turing presented his paper on ‘Turing Machine’ in the 1950s to the ‘Multi Level Perceptrons’ of the 1960s based on theoretical Mathematical techniques such as Sigmoid Activation Functions, Convolution Operations and Feed Forward Neural Networks et al which had good implementations of working Algorithms in place as early as in mid 1980s.

In a nut shell the lack of a fundamental disruption on the technological front will never be able to create a fundamental disruption to the business systems or macro-economies in the long run.

"This is an ephemeral phase in the history of technological innovation and like all those that preceded it, this too shall pass by..."

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author purely in his personal capacity and have nothing to do with the company he works for...

OUR NATION NEEDS A FOREIGN "STRATEGY" NOT 'POLICY'......

Image Credits: Google Images under "Creative Commons License"

I actually put down the following view points of mine together in writing a few weeks back but did not feel like posting it on my blog as I did not want to sound like a hard core Narendra Modi fan who writes positive things about him irrespective of what he does. Over the last 2 weeks, I asked myself a question if that was indeed true and whether I really was a hard core Modi fan? After much mulling the answer was a loud and clear “NO”. I have always been fascinated by strong, visionary and hands-on leaders all my life who are far sighted and have the courage to do what they feel is right for their nation or corporate or any endeavour they lead. What usually added to my fascination was their conviction to stand up for their beliefs and go ahead with what they thought was good for their nation or corporate despite heavy opposition. And in some cases, I also believe that their vision truly makes sense from a strategic stand point and that the actions taken by them are perfectly aligned to their vision. Initially the actions look like the pieces of a Jigsaw puzzle and I really cannot make out anything. But when I happen to get the first glimpse of the potential big picture or even start to believe the various small  pieces are beginning to fit together, that is the moment when I start getting a sense of conviction and belief in the leader. This has been true for even the leaders in the corporate field like Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner, John Chambers, Elon Musk, Padmasree Warrior,  Sheryl Sandberg, Nandan Nilekani, Francisco D’Souza or management gurus like Peter Drucker, Michael Porter, C K Prahalad. I take time to build trust, respect and conviction in any leader and usually do it on the basis of available facts and  data points….

Let me take the example of India’s foreign policy as example and illustrate as to  why I think our Prime Minister has the right vision and is also taking the steps in that direction… 

Foreign Policy is a very critical aspect that determines a Nation’s progress on every front and also plays a vital role in our ability to defend the sovereignty of our nation as well as gain more respect in the comity of nations over the long term. I think the right word to use is “Foreign Strategy” as that is what it exactly is. Let’s look at China as a case in point. Over the years China has been discreetly doing the following things which may not make sense in isolation but probably make a lot of sense when looked at holistically. They have invested a lot of money and expertise  in Africa starting as long as 7-8 years ago and today they are the largest investor in that market and the Chinese have a large number of manufacturing plants spread across various countries in Africa, producing a variety of goods for exports from Africa, create huge number of jobs in the local markets, improve standard of living of the people in Africa as a by-product of job creation, increase the GDP of those countries, create new domestic markets in Africa which will drive domestic production and the demands for the Chinese products and so on… What do the Chinese get in return for all this? They get access to cheap raw materials from the resource rich Africa, access to cheap labour which is becoming a scarcity in China, access to new markets in Africa which will be very huge in future with the first mover advantage and most of all the loyalty and gratitude from the leaders of the African nations which have immensely been benefitted in terms of economic growth as a result of Chinese investments. The Chinese will get incredible economic benefits in future from the huge African market of 1 Billion people which has been growing very rapidly and also at the same time ensure that the fate of African economy is inextricably linked to China so that they have no option but to support China on diplomatic front as well as continue to give China the “Most Favoured Nation” status when it comes to trade and industry or terms of investments in future….This is “Strategy” of a nation in action…Africa has become a sophisticated and modern day version of a “colony” to China just as India had become to the British in 1600s thru’ the East India Company  “trade route”….Sounds very familiar…Isn’t it? 

And we have also seen a similar pattern albeit not to that extent, in the manner China has shifted its investments to Europe and started preferring it as their destination over the U.S. This started at the time when the Euro crisis was at its peak and when very few global investors (perhaps NO other global investors at all)  were willing to invest in Europe as its economy was in turmoil. That's when the Chinese made an entry into Europe with best deals and the Europeans lapped it up with gratitude as China was their only saviour during their darkest times. China was also able to get the best possible deals like land, raw materials, resources and tax breaks  etc from the grateful European nations at throw away prices as they desperately needed the Chinese investments which would create local jobs and give a boost to the local economies. Today it is showing up in the way the trade patterns of China or investments by China in Europe increased significantly over the last 5-6 years and simultaneously reduced the dependence on the Chinese  trade with the U.S. significantly. It is also showing up in the way a few of the European nations are unwilling to talk in favour of the U.S. when it comes to topics related to China. Many European nations have also started to realise that their economic fates are getting linked to that of China and also the sad reality that there is probably no way out….And then we hear recently about China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour on the military front in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean area where  they are gradually increasing their naval presence and also building ‘Artificial Islands’ in the middle of the sea with Airstrips and military bases….

One would be extremely naïve to believe that the 3 events mentioned above and have been slowly happening over the years with out a long term vision, a top notch strategy to accomplish that vision, a detailed action plan covering  operational details and timelines – all these artefacts clearly outlined and signed off by the leadership of China many years ago… And no one really knows what China’s vision is or what is it they are actually looking to achieve? 

Amidst all this, I am really surprised when even educated people in our country complain about the frequent foreign trips made by our Prime Minister. It is very sad to see our compatriots not realising the significance of Foreign Affairs and Strategic alliances with foreign nations in the over all scheme of our nation's growth and development on all fronts. 

Let me explain this with a parallel. When a CEO of an MNC travels 20 days a month to meet the top executives of key clients or establish relationships with prospective clients or for negotiating critical multi million dollar deals personally, the entire corporate world believes that it is the mark of a true leader who is indeed playing the most strategic role in the company and is admirably hands on as well. Such a CEO becomes a role model for being able to forge deals and for making the otherwise impossible things happen by sheer strength of his personal connects and charisma. 

Foreign Affairs is a very critical and arguably the most strategic and complex task for a nation. A lot of people in our country do not realize as to why the 'Secretary of State' is the most coveted and strategic role in the U.S. after the President. This very simple fact illustrates at one stroke as to how important foreign relations is for a nation even if it is the most powerful country in the world. It is extremely difficult to carry out tectonic shifts and realignment of direction or even convince the foreign nations to shift or re-align their existing policies, strategic partnerships, tie-ups and alliances etc in favor of our nation. These strategic alliances and relationships would have been formed over several decades and impressing upon the foreign nations to move over to our side is an extremely uphill task.

 Imagine trying to win over a client who has been working with a well entrenched competitor and impressing the client to partner with us by giving them rationale and showing convincing differentiators or strengths that will make them overlook the decades of partnership with our competitor who has been performing well and shifting their business to us. And let's remember that for such strategic change in alignments to happen, the CEO of the firm has to be physically present at the client location and drive negotiations himself and also be able to take certain critical decisions on the spot. And in the context of a nation, it is best if the Prime Minister or External Affairs Minister drives such conversations from the front and sitting in the office of the head of the foreign nation with whom we want to establish strategic partnership with. A CEO of an MNC drives some of the most critical deals or most strategic tie ups from the front and perhaps with full time involvement  for those few days because he knows that the goal will not be reached unless he leads from the front. I believe this is what our Prime Minister is exactly doing. Any executive playing a  leadership role in a corporate will very well understand that frequent international trips for short durations even if it means traveling in the First Class cabin of an Aircraft or staying in a top end luxury hotels is a very BIG PAIN indeed and is something they would love to avoid given an option. One needs to come out of the typical Indian mindset that traveling abroad is essentially for entertainment or relaxation or for enjoying luxurious foreign hospitality and delicious food. Ask any corporate executive who covers 3 different countries across the world within a week for serious business meetings and he would explain how it feels…..

One striking aspect in all the visits made by our Prime Minister is in the choice of the gift he chooses to give the leader of the nation that is hosting him. Every gift is very carefully chosen keeping in mind the mindset and interests  of that particular leader. A lot of research is done by the PMO to arrive at the custom gift each of the leaders. If one looks at the gifts given in the last few months to the leaders of the nations that he visited and the rationale for the same, one would instantly realise that to  the eyes of the recipient the gift would appear as very thoughtful and the gesture would be seen as that of showing great concern, genuineness and warmth. These are gifts that are not expensive at all but indeed very dear to these leaders’ hearts from an emotional and personal interest stand point and these gifts pertain to  aspects  that are very personal, most touching and extremely valued in their hearts. This is indeed a time tested gifting practice that some of the most successful CEOs and top sales leaders adopt and often these trigger the beginning of a long term and highly strategic  relationships between the 2 firms. 

As a nation we have NOT done a great job over the last few decades primarily because we hesitated in taking sides and always attempted to please every one all the time. This approach will never yield best results for any nation and we need to clearly decide and choose as to our long term and strategic partners are and who our short term or tactical partners are and make strategic partnership plans accordingly. This is what any Fortune 100 company would ideally do.  Isn’t it?

We also need to understand and appreciate that the outcomes and results of the diplomatic efforts by our leaders will not be visible immediately and it will take its own gestation period. Also in most cases the nature of diplomatic wins or the extent of strategic agreements or decisions made cannot be made public and will probably be never known to the general public. Perhaps the only way to see tectonic shifts happening is by noticing subtle signs or indirectly inferring based on certain behaviors exhibited on other seemingly unrelated fronts.

I will quickly mention some events on the foreign affairs front over the last 6-9 months and would like you to draw your own inferences on the possible outcomes:

1. The Indian PM visits the U.S. on the invitation of the President of the U.S. and makes a huge impression among the U.S. politicians with his epochal Madison Square Garden meeting with Indian diaspora. Many expected announcements are made on the political and economic affairs side by both nations including large investments etc. After a few days there is a low key announcement that U.S. has lifted the decades old sanctions on India being able to procure supplies needed  for civilian nuclear use

2. The President of SRI LANKA visits India as his maiden foreign visit after being elected as the new President. CIA mentioned in a side note about RAW playing a key and decisive role in that election which was denied by India and Sri Lanka

3. In a seemingly unconnected incident Sri Lanka chooses India as its strategic partner for a large nation building project and this was perhaps a last moment change from its initial decision that was in favor of a partnership with China

4. Our PM visits Australia, negotiates personally with their leaders and manages to close an agreement with them to become long term suppliers of nuclear fuel to India. This is  in addition to good progress made on investments front

5. The Canadian PM went out of his way to receive our PM breaking the usual protocols. The Canadian First Lady was dressed in a traditional Indian Saree while welcoming our PM which was probably an exceptionally  friendly gesture atleast one that I never heard of before in any country. In the whirlwind tour across Canada by both the PMs together, the Canadian PM for the first time in history traveled along with the Indian PM in Air India One instead of the usual Royal Canadian Air force Jet. Based on the earlier  U.S. decision to lift sanctions in the nuclear arena, the Canadians happily agree to supply Uranium to India on a long term basis

6. Our PM talks to King Salman of Saudi Arabia personally over phone and gets his buy in for the dare devil evacuation operation launched by India for its citizens in Yemen. Countries like the U.S. and UK post a note at their embassies in Yemen that their nationals should contact Indian Embassy in Yemen for evacuation or rescue related matters. 

7. Our PM was received warmly by the French President as a state guest. He personally negotiated the price of Rafael Jets and other Defence equipment to be procured by the Indian Airforce and also laid the foundations for the French Defence companies to make investments in India under ‘Make in India’ drive

8. Similar stories of success and several sales pitches on the India growth story made in countries like Germany, UK, Japan and others which were quite well received 

9. In an unprecedented and probably most unexpected manner, our PM makes it a point to visit the leaders of countries like Vietnam, Mongolia, South Korea and a few other Indian Ocean nations in addition to Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal where he received a standing ovation from the local leadership in response to the his views on development of nations and how we can work together with those nations. As I write this he is visiting the former Russian republics and trying to personally establish ties with them...

10. Our PM visits China to expand relations although it is known that it is our biggest adversary and that it will not be so easy to build relations. In a bid to attract Chinese investors in India and knowing that the Chinese media is controlled by the government, our PM did a very innovative thing by opening an account on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter that has incredibly huge user base in China and started communicating with the Chinese citizens directly,  starting this endeavor as early as one week before his scheduled  trip to China and all thru’ the duration of his  stay in China.

Let me now mention a few notable strategic fall outs from these endeavors:

1. The relationship between India and U.S. is at its peak now and both nations fully realize their strategic interdependence in the wake of potential threat from China and are closely working together on multiple fronts. For the Time 100 most influential people in the world list which also has 8-9 of the leading world national leaders,  Indian PM is the only person  for whom Obama has written a personal citation

2. India has used  a ‘necklace of pearls’ strategy and established good relationships in the ASEAN region with countries like Australia, Vietnam, South Korea, Mongolia, Japan and other Indian Ocean Island nations who now show a very clear albeit subtly visible inclination towards India vis. a vis. China. India has boldly decided to go ahead with the oil exploration in South China Sea in collaboration with Vietnam, without  paying heed to unwarranted threats from China to stay away. This decision was pending for the last few years due to lack of firmness or clarity on our side

3. In the geographical  neighborhood or SAARC nations, India has succeeded in building strong relationships  with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan which clearly places  it in  a dominant position with a lot of  respect and influence in the region. Position of leadership on the regional stage is the first step to that on the global stage.

4. Over the years India had become too dependent on Russia for supplies of nuclear fuel and all varieties of Defence equipment and perhaps reached a stage where we are at the mercy of Russia for these supplies and this was getting evident. Reducing the bargaining power of supplier and  reducing  dependence on a single source by signing up with new suppliers of the above materials and equipment such as Israel, France, Canada,  South Korea, Australia and of course the U.S.  is indeed a breakthrough of strategic nature. 

5. A notable aspect of the visits made by our Prime Minister to foreign nations is his great ability to engage the Indian diaspora and connect with them at a personal level. No other world leader would have received such a rousing reception from the people of his nation settled abroad, which is so evident and also on such a large scale. This infact  made the local political leaders in the foreign nations aware of the popularity and support for the PM in India thereby boosting their confidence immensely on India’s stable government and its decisiveness.

6. And last but not the least. If might be a  surprise to us that our PM is visiting small or what are perceived as non strategic nations like Mongolia, Uzbekistan and perhaps atleast a dozen others which are not even in the radar of any of the developed countries which typically ignore them and do not even bother about them. And to further add to the mystery, he is also giving them financial grants and offering technological or infrastructure support. The way I see it:, to be seen a leader in the comity of world, one must have loyal follower base… And what other better strategy can one think of other than what is being adopted by our Prime Minister… Imagine the way the leaders of these small and often ignored nations will feel when the Prime Minister of the World’s largest democracy which is also an emerging technology leader personally takes the pain of travelling over to their country and extending the hand of friendship and cooperation…. They will be totally swept off their feet and will back India unconditionally in global forums…

In a nutshell foreign affairs policies and strength of relationships/partnerships with other nations is a key for driving foreign investments to India. It is impossible to take up the activities on fronts such as education, health and nutrition, infrastructure development, generating adequate employment, food security, increasing standard of living etc which would help boost per capita income and GDP growth rate of our economy, independently in our own. It is imperative that we are able to attract significant amount of foreign investment to our country to be able to boost the growth in sectors like Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Retail, Defence etc which will create adequate jobs for our youth.

The most logical way of making it happen is to make the world aware of India’s potential, support available from Indian government in terms of policies and resources, give a strategic and  long term vision and  view of India’s plans for economic growth and development and finally talk about why should they choose India over other countries in the world to make their investments. This is best done by the nation’s leadership led by the PM himself visiting the nations which have potential to invest and meeting the nation’s leaders, top executives of MNCs, organise seminars and marketing campaigns, industry or trade  associations etc and enlisting their support by convincing or assuring them about the India Story. Also we need to keep in mind that support of the foreign governments go a long way in ensuring that investments happen. That is another task which our PM performed very effectively by forging strategic partnerships at a nation to nation level on defence,  foreign affairs, economy and other fronts.

In my opinion this is the role that a Prime Minister of a nation should be playing that includes strategic policy formulation on vital matters of national importance, keeping a tab on nation's finances and economy, monitoring the execution and implementation periodically, personally being involved in matters of strategic importance such as defence and foreign affairs, creating an FDI funnel by creating confidence both in the foreign national leaders and investors etc. the tactical decisions and operational issues and implementation will any way be handled by the Union Ministers with the support of the top bureaucrats and in conjunction with the state governments. It is enough if the PM reviews the progress on a periodic basis. 

The government over the last decade has been in a state of policy paralysis and indecision which is also reflected in the bureaucratic tendency to keep decisions pending under the fear of being targeted by agencies like CAG or CBI for the judgmental errors in  decisions they make on a daily basis. Our PM has streamlined the execution engine by handpicking  the bureaucrats based purely on merit and setting up a centralised clearance and approval mechanism under the purview of the PMO which helps guidance  or support to  the bureaucrats across ministries to enable a  faster decision making process. Besides the working style of our PM wherein he reaches out to bureaucrats directly on some matters creates a direct connection with them that helps him keep a tab on their performance and make quick changes in cases of non performance. The empowerment and autonomy given to Top bureaucrats and Defence Top guns within the overall policy framework defined by him also goes a long way in boosting their morale and self esteem. And knowing that they have a leader to back them up in times of difficulty gives them immense confidence to execute at their best levels of performance which is indeed a sea change from the earlier years. 

THE RIGHT LEADER in the RIGHT ROLE at the RIGHT TIME....

Indian Army in action during an 'Ambush'
Source: Google Images

There are TWO very simple sets of traits that I have always truly admired in a LEADER: the first set of traits covers the personal aspect and is about genuine humility, being truly down to earth and having absolutely no airs; the second set covers the professional aspect and is about providing a clear and firm direction to the team amidst a dynamic environment, meticulously monitoring progress and tracking key actions to closure, ability to make quick and firm decisions with complete conviction, provide unequivocal support to the team and earn their unwavering trust. SUCCESS is all about doing COMMON things UNCOMMONLY well and there is no secret sauce to it. And true leaders simply adhere to this adage. While there are many successful leaders, I have a special and deep sense of respect and admiration for leaders who are a rare blend of the traits that I mentioned above.

The first image that usually comes to my mind when I think of ‘leadership’ is that of the corporate world and CEOs who made a huge impact to the world of business in terms of either their innovative strategies and visionary thinking; audacious or unique leadership styles; transforming or radically realigning a firm’s core business; complete turnaround of a sick firm and so on. Some of my top favorites over the years include the likes of Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, John Chambers, Dhirubhai Ambani, Ratan Tata and N R Narayana Murthy. It is not necessary that all these leaders exactly fit the mold of the leadership style or have all the traits that I mentioned at the beginning. These are the leaders who inspired me for different reasons and left an indelible mark in my mind. While I was certainly cognizant that many great leaders also existed outside the corporate world in myriad fields such as government, politics, military, education, economics, fundamental research, medicine etc.; those leaders would not usually create a significant impression on  my mind perhaps owing to the way it has been conditioned over the years.

After exploring for leadership role models outside the corporate world for more than 2 years, Manohar Parrikar was one man whom I finally zeroed in on. I believe that he personifies most of the traits that I mentioned above and is indeed an embodiment of authentic leadership. For starters, Manohar Parrikar is the Union Minister for Defence Affairs, Government of India which means that he is at the helm of the Indian Armed Forces and has the bottom-line for both: formulating strategic, tactical and operational plans or policies on all defence related matters and ensuring their effective execution by providing leadership, essential wherewithal and support in form of legislative measures or budgets needed for the success of the same.

Around 2 years ago when I started my search for role models of strong leaders outside the corporate world, an  IIT graduate had just become the Chief Minister of an Indian state, in the aftermath of an anti-corruption movement that rocked the country following which, a new political party founded by him won the elections in that state. This was an epochal event in Indian history which marked the dawning of a new political era reflecting the changed mind sets and expectations of the Indian people. It was also widely celebrated by people across the country as well as the Indian diaspora in various countries. India did not have a great history of well-educated men and women joining politics and winning elections and hence this event attained a lot of significance. I was very impressed with this profile of leadership and believed that this has indeed sown the seeds for the future generation of Indian political leaders.

The fact that an IIT graduate became the Chief Minister of an Indian state created waves among the educated elite in India and encouraged many of them to join politics. Another striking thing about him which was widely being discussed in the media and citizens across the country was his humility and austerity. The new Chief Minister insisted on using his own vehicle and stayed at a modest government accommodation not befitting a Chief Minister of an Indian state. This style of functioning was unheard of in India, where the post of a Chief Minister brought with it all the accompaniments of a life style filled with grandeur and royalty. No wonder the Indian press went gaga about the Chief Minister with an IIT background who was also an embodiment of austerity and humility. The press indeed spared no efforts to ensure the person who had changed the history of Indian politics was given maximum possible coverage in across all types of media spanning across the length and breadth of the country. I was by now completely hooked on to this new leadership style. The only thing that worried me was the lack of administrative experience or even subject matter expertise in the fields related to executive governance, policy making and legislative affairs. For even the greatest strategy or plan to succeed, it needs to be supported up by an aggressive execution engine that is well oiled with experience. 

"This was a clear weak point that I felt could one day become the Achilles heel".

At that point of time, I happened to read an article in a remote corner of a news magazine with a contrarian perspective vis. a vis. the view in the national media. The article expressed a view that probably national media was placing an undue and even unwarranted emphasis on the new Chief Minister, his educational background and for that matter even austerity. And then it went on to talk about a person called Manohar Parrikar. I had never heard Parrikar’s name before, wondered what he had to do with the new Chief Minister and thus continued reading the article. I discovered that Manohar Parrikar was the Chief Minister of a western Indian state and was in that post for the last 7 years. He was a very simple and down to earth person who maintained a very simple and private life style, preferred to stay in a middle class house that he owned, never wanted media attention and enjoyed his privacy. He was loved and respected by the people of his state as he was not only extremely honest and sincere but also ensured that he got things done. A lot of development on many fronts had happened in that state which did not receive much coverage in the media as the leader of that state genuinely wanted to maintain a simple and low profile. Manohar Parrikar believed that his job was only to ensure the people of his state actually benefited from the welfare and development schemes and did not bother much about publicity.

As I went further down, I also learnt that Manohar Parrikar was an engineering graduate from an institute in a neighboring state called IIT, Bombay and that another gentleman by the name Nandan Nilekani was his classmate at that prestigious institute. Once I finished reading that article I felt very happy to hear about a truly humble, genuinely down to earth and a very well educated leader who also ensured that the goods were indeed delivered. I decided to keep a close watch on this gentleman named Manohar Parrikar.

The 2014 General Elections in India resulted in Modi Administration being swept to power with a huge majority.  That was a time when the eyes of the entire world were on India and how it would move ahead under the new administration. The new Administration triggered a few tectonic shifts in the overall direction as well as priorities of the nation. Foreign Policy and Defence Policy were two areas that were long due for an overhaul and these were actually very pivotal as these would play a key role albeit indirectly in: securing the economic future of the nation, maintaining an equilibrium and stability in South Asia, furthering ties with like-minded nations, increasing our bargaining power in the comity of nations, enhance our visibility and gaining respect in the international fora, encouraging foreign investment and technology transfer in critical areas etc.

When the new administration took over in May, 2014, the Indian Armed forces  were battling on many fronts against all odds despite challenges such as outdated equipment, inadequate financial resources and most importantly absence of a clear direction, definitive strategy and supporting policies from a government afflicted by severe policy paralysis and extremely slow decision making.  The new administration wanted to make a significant impact and changes in this area and this needed a very strong leader, with rich leadership experience in government together with an established and proven track record in delivering results, at the helm of the Indian Defence Ministry. Manohar Parrikar was appointed as the new Union Minister for Defence Affairs.

Manohar Parrikar knew that as the first step, morale of the troops on the ground had to be improved; their self-respect and honour increased multi fold. He took quick decisions pertaining to the financial resources and budgetary allocations needed for their welfare. Some of the initial gestures, such as asking the officers in uniform not to clap in response to his address as it would undermine their honour or asking the local armed forces officers not to receive him at the Airport, had a cascading effect down the chain. These gestures might appear symbolic but did have a significant impact on the honour and self-esteem of the Indian armed forces. Parrikar also took a very firm and decisive stand on the way the troops on the border out posts should react to foreign incursions and unprovoked firing which had been a common feature for several decades along the International Border and Line of Control. He made it very clear that India cannot afford to lose even a single soldier on the war front due to poor policies or weak response or slow decision making and steps were immediately taken to shift the locus of decision making closest to the battle field. He also assured the troops that he was completely behind them and he would assume complete responsibility and support them in the decisions taken by them in the interest of the nation. This goes a long way to improve the morale of the troops on the ground whose sacrifices over the years have kept our nation intact. I do not recollect any leader at the helm of the Indian Defence Ministry who clearly and firmly voiced his opinions on issues that really mattered in the battle field, in the real line of fire and also followed them up with concrete actions.

From what I understand, the troops on the border have had to exercise a lot of restraint when provoked by the enemy even till today. The Border Outposts and even the Regional Army Commanders many a time had to consult and seek the opinion of the decision makers at the Defence Ministry in New Delhi to decide on the extent of retaliation they could resort to even if it meant that precious lives were lost during the time taken by the decision making process. This placed our troops at an uneven footing as they had to abide by a very restrictive set of rigid rules and processes whereas the enemy did not have to abide by any rules or processes whatsoever. It was refreshing for the nation to see a lot of tweets in the last few weeks from the Border Security Force and Indian Army officers that the unequivocal support and quick decision making by the new administration has greatly boosted the morale of the troops manning the border and that this was never seen or experienced in the earlier years.

Traditionally ever since the Nehruvian days, India has maintained a “gentlemanly” attitude towards our aggressors. India has always been very soft with its aggressors and let them off scot-free without significant punitive actions. All through its history, India has never attacked a foreign nation. And when attacked by foreign nations, we defended our country very well and were successful in driving away the foreign troops. However we never leveraged our position of dominance vis. a vis. our enemy, which was usually the case towards the last stages of the war, to teach them a lesson so that they will never repeat their misadventures. It was our standard approach to seek UN intervention which usually led to diplomatic discussions and negotiations to resolve the issue on EQUAL terms and at times it even meant compromises from our side.  

 “We never took advantage of our dominant position in the war to negotiate from a position of superiority and benefit from that. We stuck to the tenets of the international law when the enemies were openly disregarding them even if it meant that it demoralized our troops and placed them at an uneven footing”.

In some of the earlier wars involving our neighbors, Indian Armed forces occupied vast swathes of enemy territory during the war which made the enemy to ultimately surrender and raise the 'white flag' fearing imminent defeat. Such occasions could have been utilized for driving a hard bargain on contentious and long pending issues with neighbors and resolving them permanently and for good. But the “gentlemen” that we were, we usually preferred to follow all the applicable protocols laid out by the International Law down to the last comma or semi-colon and always sought to negotiate on equal terms.

 “I am not at all trying to even remotely suggest that war mongering is good for the country or that we should adopt a hawkish attitude towards others”. I would never suggest that!! The point I am trying to make here is that "we are actually at the other extreme end and we need to swing the pendulum atleast to the middle". 

Let's look at a case in point. In the 1971 war, the Indian army was in a very dominant position of strength and the enemy was completely obliterated. India was clearly and certainly on a high ground both morally and militarily. It was a victory like never before and no one could even dare to question Indian superiority even for the sake of argument. The liberation of the territories of what was then called as East Pakistan and subsequent birth of Bangladesh was completely and unquestionably attributable to India’s might. And India naturally wielded a lot of power and influence over the liberated territory not only due to its role in the war but also because of the physical presence of its armed forces on that territory. It was a known fact that India had boundary related issues with East Pakistan in those days and the least we could have done is to have resolved them using our position of superiority and strength, closing them once and for all. We never chose to go along that path in 1971. And it was only last month that these issues got resolved after negotiations on equal terms, a good 44 years after the war for liberation of Bangladesh ended.

While we do not need to be a bully, we also need not be humble, soft and well-mannered gentlemen who always try to please others. Unfortunately the world only recognizes power and might, either economic or military or both. And if we have to be respected by the outside word, we as a nation should  strongly assert our self and let the world know by our actions in clear and no uncertain terms that we mean business and that we will not tolerate any attempt to attack our sovereignty, individuality or self-esteem. 

 “There are inextricable linkages between fear, respect and deterrence. Fear often leads to respect or deterrence or both”.  

The world should know in unequivocal terms that India is not a nation that anyone can take for granted or mess with either politically or economically or even militarily. And for this to happen we need to demonstrate by real deeds and actions on all fronts. It does not help to merely repeat what we have been saying for years. As a nation we need to adopt a “strategic” approach to our Defence and External Affairs. We have been stuck in a “reactive”, “wait and watch” or even “sitting on the fence” mode over the last several decades. This approach is at best tactical and usually operational in nature. Unless we carry out a complete makeover embracing the “strategic” mode in the critical areas such as Defence and External Affairs, the future of our nation will remain uncertain on all fronts. 

Our leaders should treat our country the way a CEO treats his firm in the corporate world and should clearly delineate the nation's strategy covering the following aspects at the minimum=>

TOP LEVEL STRATEGY

1.    What is the ‘vision’ for our nation on Defence and External Affairs front?

2.    What is the core philosophy or ideology that drives this vision and the policies that fall out from this vision?

3.    What role and influence do we envisage for our nation on the world and regional stages?

4.    Where do we aspire to see our nation going forward on these fronts in 5 years, 10 years and 20 years?

5.    What are the strategic defence plans to address the existing threats or potential threats that could occur to us in future? How do we prevent or neutralize their occurrence?

6.    What are the various permutations and combinations that could happen in the international defence alliance formations in response to a threat being realized and how do we brace up for the different scenarios or possibilities? What is our best bet and response for each possibility?

7.    How do we want the rest of the world to perceive our nation? What should our national brand or identity reflect to the outside world?

8.    Where do we want our nation to stand from an economic, diplomatic and military stand point vis. a vis. the comity of nations on the world stage and regional stage?

DRILL DOWN STRATEGY

1.    What is our stand regarding the formation of strategic partnerships and deep relationships with nations whose support we direly need to achieve our vision?

2.    Do we completely align with one or two leading powers fully and unambiguously on all fronts or do we have a tiered relationship or partnership model comprising of a basket of closely knit relationships whose nature is based on the strategic importance of each specific nation? 

3.    What is the nature of support that we will get from our partners on various fronts in the face of an external threat? How reliable is the partner and what is his level of commitment to us?

4.    Do we vocally and unambiguously stand by our top strategic partners at the time of need and stop worrying about how the other friendly nations would react? To what extent do we support our partners in the event of threat?

5.    Which nations should we partner with for defence related technology in the areas such as Fighter Jets, Aircraft Carriers, Long range Missile technology, Advanced Software Simulators and Weapon Control Systems etc.?

6.    How do we simultaneously develop the advanced technology know-how and manufacturing capabilities within our nation in the long term?

7.    How do we ensure we do not get overly dependent on one nation in any area and how do we ensure we always have a  few alternate options?

Today the world is increasingly becoming more and more interdependent and no one nation is completely self-reliant. Our national strategy should be crafted keeping in view as to how we could leverage our strengths and offer help and support in the form of services or goods to our partner nations. At the same time based on the above and looking at the gaps or shortcomings that we have in our defence arsenal, we should negotiate and obtain the goods and services from our partners to plug these gaps. No country can survive on its own in the world of today and a 'complex web of alliances' is the only thing that can act as a 'strong sail to help navigate the rough high seas full of unexpected threats and unknown dangers'.

Our political leadership should take a clear and unequivocal stand on these areas after carrying out a well thought out assessment of ramifications in a thread bare manner and finally arrive at a detailed and elaborate short term and long term strategic plans for our nation. They need to be bold and keep the long term benefits to our nation in mind while taking critical decisions on some of the areas that I mentioned above especially those involving a tectonic shift from our traditional or historical stance. Forging strong ties with foreign nations on various fronts would need our leaders to personally be involved in negotiations and discussions with their counter parts in foreign nations. It is not very easy to forge ties and partnerships with a nation even if we badly want to if there is a negative historical connotation to that relationship. To be able to effect tectonic shifts in our relationships with other nations and undo the negativity or mistrust caused by historical events, our leaders must personally negotiate and convince them of our genuineness of intent and change in nation’s direction or philosophy instead of leaving the task to bureaucrats. Such discussions will many a time need critical policy decisions to be taken or options to be chosen on the spot. 

We will also have to view the relationships with nations especially the ones we depend on for critical defence equipment and technology transfer from a purely long term and strategic view point and not be carried away by the Finance and Accounting principles based evaluation criteria. The intangible benefits that accrue to our nation in the long run from some of the partnerships could be very substantial and perhaps invaluable when looked at from a strategic perspective instead of just looking at the deal price of a specific transaction in isolation which might be on the higher side.

Manohar Parrikar has the right blend of skills needed for: negotiating with foreign equipment suppliers or defence ministers and take quick decisions, providing political leadership and support needed by the armed forces, thinking strategically keeping long term in view and forge the right partnerships, enact the legislations needed for successful defence operations, arriving at a clear vision as to the direction in which we need to move as a nation on the defence front and complement it by provisioning of the requisite enabling machinery be it people, equipment, finances or strategic alliances, coordinating with  the various  other ministries and state  governments etc. And being a Metallurgical Engineer from IIT Bombay is certainly an huge value add for a person who deals with  purchase, evaluation and quality assessment of defense related equipment, arms and ammunition.

However there is one critical point that we all need to remember. Areas such as Defence and External Affairs are very strategic and usually deal with extremely sensitive information. The strategic plans or operational plans would be treated as classified/top secret and highly confidential and only a limited few are privy only to these. Our leaders might not be able to share most of the details with common people like us. It may appear many a time based on our narrow and very limited view into the overall strategy that our leaders are taking a wrong decision/action or working against the interest of the citizens. However the action or decision taken by them in that context could have been the best possible one based on their complete insights and access to 100% information available. It is therefore important that we repose complete trust and confidence in our leaders especially in the areas like Defence and External Affairs and provide them unwavering support needed to carry out these crucial and strategic tasks in the best interest of our nation. I am very optimistic that we will start seeing the outcomes or fruits of all the hard-work being done in some form or other either directly or indirectly in the coming years.

.

JAI HIND!

Disclaimer: "The views and opinions expressed in the article are purely the personal views of the author in his personal capacity and have nothing to do with the firm he works for".