Admiral Joshi’s resignation a disturbing pointer

Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi's resignation as Chief of Naval Staff is in keeping with the highest traditions of persons holding high positions taking moral responsibility on the chin. Admiral Joshi quit in the wake of a spate of mishaps that naval vessels have been involved in over the last few months. In none of these cases could Admiral Joshi be held personally accountable, and indeed, in every one of these incidents the accountability had been fixed following inquiries. The same cannot be said of persons operating in the civilian area — and certainly not in politics. In fact, people had all but forgotten what it is for persons holding high public office to take responsibility for lapses and make way for others. The last such high-profile resignation was that of lal Bahadur Shastri, who as Union Minister for Railways had put in his papers after a rail accident in the mid sixties. Admiral Joshi was clearly under pressure to explain the flurry of accidents — nearly a dozen in the last six months — that involved vessels including submarines, the latest being the fire that broke out aboard INS Sindhuratna, which claimed the lives of at least two sailors. Over and over again he had been summoned to the Defence Ministry to explain the mishaps and reportedly subjected to lectures on how the Indian Navy was losing the plot as far as safety standards were concerned. Perhaps Admiral Joshi had come to the point when enough was enough. Nevertheless, it would have been better if Union Minister for Defence AK Antony had either successfully persuaded the distraught naval chief to reconsider his step or simply rejected the resignation. Mr Antony has claimed that Admiral Joshi was very “disturbed” and insisted on the acceptance of the resignation. That may be so, but it does appear from the swift manner in which the resignation was accepted, that the Government was not too keen to retain him.

The Government's failure to convince Admiral Joshi is part of the deterioration that civilian-military relations have seen in the UPA2 regime. Earlier, the Government had crossed swords with then Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh on the silly dispute over the  authentic date of birth of the General. The insensitivity which the Government displayed, prodded by bureaucrats in the Defence Ministry and elsewhere — who were in turn encouraged by the meekness of the Defence Minister and the characteristic silence of the Prime Minister — and the manner in which it sought to humiliate General Singh, continues to rankle. The distrust that exists between the Armed Forces and the mandarins in the Defence Ministry in particular and the Government in general is an open secret. It didn't begin with General Singh and it will not end with Admiral Joshi's departure.

Although Admiral Joshi has assumed accountability, he is not the only one that should be doing so. It must be remembered that the submarines aboard which a series of accidents has taken place, are old and well past their shelf life. The Defence Minister, who has been at the helm for close to seven years now, has from all accounts failed to push through the replacement and modernisation drive of these vessels. The story is not limited to the Navy — both the Army and the Air Force have been crying, until now in vain, for speedy modernisation. The Rafale fighter aircraft deal for the Air Force is in a limbo while the Army has not had a single major acquisition of state-of-the-art artillery for years. Although some of these issues have spilled over from earlier Governments, nothing should have prevented the present regime to fast-track them. One can only hope that the unfortunate resignation of Admiral Joshi will change things on the ground. At the very least, the development is a wake-up call for the new Government that will take over in a few months from now.