Political Risk:
Moderate
Score:
53/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
67/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Parliament has the right to employ formal mechanisms to conduct scrutiny over defence policy. India has a Committee System; and two Committees scrutinise defence…
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Parliament debates or reviews defence policy and attempts to influence policy through formal mechanisms. The Standing Committee on Defence puts forth recommendations, however there…
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Ministers are not permitted to be part of any Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) [1]. As the recommendations from the Standing Committee on Defence…
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Q2
88/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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As described in Q.1, there is a Standing Committee on Defence (SCoD). The Committee has the power to scrutinise any aspect of performance of…
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The Standing Committee on Defence consists of elected members from both Houses, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The Chairman of the Committee…
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The Committee analyses budget allocations, policy documents, annual MoD reports; and examines bills referred to the Committee [1]. The Standing Committee on Defence is…
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The Committee issues recommendations on a regular basis and requires the government to respond within a suitable timeframe [1]. The Minister concerned makes a…
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The Committee looks at areas such as procurement on a rolling-basis thus providing long-term oversight. It can appoint sub-committees and study groups to make…
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In the March, 2018 report by the Standing Committee on Defence, 34 observations/recommendations were given [1][2]. The government accepted 20 of these. Scrutiny of…
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Q3
38/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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India has displayed a preference for strategic restraint since Independence in 1947. The country adopted a policy of Non-Alignment during Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure as…
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As there is no well-defined defence policy or strategy, the scope of informal public debate centers on major threats, defence procurement and defence spending…
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India has no formal consultation process involving the general public. The MoD has engaged in consultations with the Indian defence industry regarding procurement and…
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As there is no well-defined defence policy or strategy, there is not a lot of information outlining these areas. This does not seem to…
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Q4
33/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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Today, India has more than 3 million Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) [1]. The current government has taken to the digital sphere and created a…
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India has a vibrant civil society and CSOs are allowed to operate without interference from the government. There has been criticism lately that the…
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There is no evidence suggesting CSOs’ requests to work with the government have been denied. There seems to be no specific formal government policy…
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Q5
88/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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India is a signatory to United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and ratified it in May 2011 [1][2][3]. India has been actively participating in…
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In July 2018, the government passed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, which amended and brought significant changes to the Prevention of Corruption…
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Q6
100/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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There is robust regular public debate among academics, journalists, opinion-formers, and CSOs about defence issues [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. High priority issues are discussed with continuity through…
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The government engages in regular discussion with the public about defence issues through media briefings, public forums, in-studio live television interviews on multiple television…
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Q7
88/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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The current government’s election success of 2014 was centred on bringing greater transparency in governance and combating corruption in all sectors including defence. Prime…
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One can conclude from above, that the government is robustly addressing corruption at the Centre, encompassing defence. From the significant changes to the Prevention…
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Q8
58/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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There are no defence and security specific institutions within defence tasked with countering corruption and building integrity. There are however, bodies whose remit covers…
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CVC is conceived to be the apex vigilance institution. It is independent from any executive authority. It is tasked with monitoring all vigilance activity…
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On the whole, anti-corruption mechanisms are in place. Units with the MoD do identify corruption risks. There is evidence of the CVC’s efforts to…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The Indian public has traditionally had a deep reverence for its Armed Forces. It…
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Q10
25/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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There is no evidence of regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Armed Forces personnel. However,…
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As alluded to above, there is evidence to suggest a paradigm shift in the MoD and its incorporation of a risk management framework. There…
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As mentioned above, there is no evidence of regular corruption risk assessments but there is evidence of identification of corruption risks that affect policy…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
75/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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India has a clear process for the whole acquisition planning cycle. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is entrusted with coordinating the fifteen years Long…
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Procedures and guidelines related to defence acquisition are publicly available as is information regarding assessment of needs. However, given the complexity of defence acquisition…
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Oversight of defence acquisitions is primarily undertaken by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Central Bureau of Investigation…
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Q12
75/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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No stand-alone comprehensive defence budget document exists in the public domain. A series of detailed documents in PDF and Excel format can be viewed…
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The legislature receives an accurate defence budget proposal in a timely manner ahead of the start of the budget year. There is no evidence…
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Q13
75/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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The Standing Committee on Defence is responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis. It considers the Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Defence…
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The Standing Committee on Defence carries out in-depth analysis of the Demand for Grants through formal mechanisms and provides written recommendations in reports [1].…
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Q14
58/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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As alluded to in Q.12, no stand-alone comprehensive defence budget document exists in the public domain. A series of detailed documents in PDF and…
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As discussed in Q.12, no comprehensive unified defence budget document exists in the public domain directly from the government. A series of detailed documents…
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Under the Right To Information Act, 2005, citizens can request and obtain government information [1]. Under Chapter II, Section 4 (b)(xi): “(xi) the budget…
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Q15
50/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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There are no publicly available official financial statements containing non-central government defence income particulars [1][2][3][4]. There are other financial statements available such as the…
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As stated above, there is no official information on non-central government defence income particulars. Internal audits are carried out by the Comptroller General of…
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There is public scrutiny if misappropriations are reported in the media, as there is no official information on non-central government defence income particulars publicly…
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Q16
50/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Comptroller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) is head of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) and undertakes the internal audit of the Ministry of…
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Internal audit processes are comprehensive and according to procedures, full reports should be available to oversight bodies such as the Standing Committee on Defence…
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As alluded to above, there is evidence of external scrutiny by CAG and the CBI [1][2]. External audit and oversight agencies can examine the…
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At times, audit findings are recognised and at times, inadequacies are overlooked. AK Saxena former Additional Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) at the…
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Q17
75/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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Military defence expenditure is externally audited by the Comptroller Auditor General of Accounts (CAG) who has mandate under the provisions of the Indian Constitution…
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CAG is independent and functions autonomously [1][2]. PAC constitutes of 15 members from the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and 7 members from the Rajya…
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Audit reports are published by CAG and PAC and are available online [1][2][3][4]. These reports are presented in Parliament hence are public documents. It…
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The Ministry acknowledges audit findings by way of replies to observations and recommendations. According to former Director General of CAG, KP Shashidharan, in a…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
58/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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There is no evidence that defence institutions are, by statutory or constitutional means, removed from having controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with…
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Research did not identify evidence of defence institutions being involved in businesses relating to natural resource exploitation. Interests seems to be purely strategic, as…
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There is no recent evidence of individual defence personnel being involved in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource exploitation. However, there has in…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable, as there is no evidence that such interests exist. Overarching interest in natural resources seems to be…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable, as there is no evidence that such interests exist. As mentioned above, overarching interest in natural resources…
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Organised Crime
Q19
38/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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Q20
58/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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There exists a law enforcement agency in the Army called the Corps of Military Police (CMP). The CMP has a broad mandate which includes…
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CAG, PAC, CVC and CBI have autonomy and in theory cannot be influenced by the executive or military officials. The CMP is a branch…
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Though there is no public material on CMP investigations, there is evidence to suggest that the function of policing through joint vigillance activities with…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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India has a number of civilian and military intelligence agencies and most are shrouded in secrecy. The most publicly prominent are the Central Bureau…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable because, as stated above, there are currently no independent oversight mechanisms. There does appear to be executive…
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Q22
25/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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India has a number of intelligence agencies and most are shrouded in secrecy. The most publicly prominent are the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)…
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There has been criticism that the Indian Police Service (IPS) has had a favoured status in the recruitment processes of a number of intelligence…
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Given the secrecy shrouding India’s intelligence agencies, no central recruitment handbook is in existence at present but analysis of the IAS and IPS recruitment…
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Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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India has neither signed up to nor ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) [1][2].
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India has not signed or ratified the ATT [1][2]. As such, this indicator has been scored Not Applicable.
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India though not a signatory to the ATT, has a well-scrutinised arms control process as stated earlier. Chapter IVA of Foreign Trade (Development &…
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Lobbying in Defence
India has no framework for regulating lobbying activity. In August 2013, a press release was published by the government stating that at that point…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable, as country does not have legislation regulating lobbying in the defence sector [1].
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable, as country does not have legislation regulating lobbying in the defence sector [1].
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable, as country does not have legislation regulating lobbying in the defence sector [1].
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