Monday, May 8 2006 10:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: To the general public, the recent candidness of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Indian Army chief Gen. J.J. Singh on defence matters might have come as an eye opener.

More than the remarks, their wide dissemination in the media is a pointer to the new openness in the armed forces in an age of televised wars and bodes well for the future.

It's not that individuals like Mukherjee and Singh have not spoken their minds at events that are closed to the media.

The fact that the armed forces are now willing to share information with the media albeit in a restricted manner sends out a powerful message that India's defence establishment is no more wary of debates on its functioning.

Mukherjee, while inaugurating a three-day conference of Indian Navy commanders here May 2, expressed grave concern over the number of accidents taking place at sea involving naval vessels and called for strategies to prevent them.

"I am deeply concerned at the sinking of INS Prahar (last month). Appropriate measures should be undertaken forthwith to ensure that the stipulated standard operating procedures are followed by the personnel involved in the operation of ships.

"Deviations shall be treated seriously and appropriate punishment should be awarded to the erring personnel," he said.

INS Prahar, a fast patrol vessel, sank in the Arabian Sea off Goa after colliding with a tanker of the Shipping Corporation of India.

Having done with that, Mukherjee turned to the leakage of classified information from the Naval War Room.

"The leaked information has the potential to put national security in peril. Serious efforts should be undertaken so that such incidents are not repeated in future," Mukherjee said.

He called for devising a 'zero-defect system' to ensure secrecy and security of sensitive defence information.

"Related to this is the need for counter espionage measures and sensitisation campaigns among the lower formations," he maintained.

According to Mukherjee, naval commanders should 'sensitise' the personnel under their command 'to plug all possible loopholes in this regard'.

This was the second time in three weeks that Mukherjee had referred to the espionage case, having also done so while inaugurating the Indian Army commanders' conference April 17.

As for army chief Singh, it was quite clear from his interaction with the media April 20 at the conclusion of the army commanders' conference that he was clear in his mind about what was best for the force and that he had no hesitation in speaking his mind on this.

Thus, whether it was Siachen, the kills-for-medals scam or the nexus between officers (serving and retired) with arms dealers, Singh took the issues head on even at the risk of being at variance with the powers that be.

Then, consider the wide publicity facilitated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to the phasing out of its fleet of MiG-25 Foxbat spy planes. For the quarter century they had been in service, the IAF had been extremely reticent to admit their presence but chose to let them go in glory.

"We could easily have de-inducted them as quietly as we had inducted them. But that would have created its own set of problems as it could have set in motion all sorts of rumours," said an IAF officer at the Bareilly airbase in Uttar Pradesh where the planes were based.

Time was when the armed forces' publicity cells would churn out bland and brief press releases on events like a commanders' conference. The emphasis would be more on a role call of attendees, a line about the defence minister or a service chief "exhorting the forces to strive to achieve even greater heights" and a rundown on the topics to be discussed during the deliberations.

There was an emphasis on visual coverage of ceremonial events like service chiefs handing or taking over, as also of welfare and sporting events.

Today all that has changed thanks to the burgeoning print publications and the proliferation of TV news channels.

"This has created a hunger for news that cannot be managed in the manner it was right up to the early 1990s," said an officer who had for long been involved in the publicity effort of the armed forces.

"What you also have to remember is that the problems of today did not exist to the same extent in the past. So when you have a problem, it is best to handle it in a transparent manner rather than pretend that it does not exist," the officer said.

Even so, the armed forces maintain utmost secrecy over issues like force deployments, strategic planning and the performance of arms, ammunition and other equipment.

But, here too, the defence establishment is losing out to the Internet with sites like Google Earth providing high-resolution pictures of sensitive military establishments. Then, there are any number of websites that offer detailed information on the force strength of the three services and their deployment.

"We will continue to jealously guard what we consider is secret. The challenge today is to ensure that what is secret actually remains secret," a defence officer said.

Which perhaps explains the new philosophy in the armed forces: be honest about what will in any case become public while focusing on keeping secret what is secret.