Getting to the China border and back: Why India-US cooperation on logistics delivery is important

It’s time for the big visit of the Prime Minister to the United States, and corridors of power are humming with activity. ‘Breaking’ news is constantly updated, with reports of large acquisitions like 30  MQ-9 Reaper drones, in addition to the massive General Electric deal to manufacture aircraft engines in India. The armed forces will be delighted with any other capability they can garner. But as files move and officials run around, there is an area more important than weapons or their development. That is getting men and material to the border and back. To fight, you first need to be there, and quickly. That’s quite a challenge in the Himalayas, where mountains can quickly crumble and fall. The crumbling mountains The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has done a stellar job in building roads at breakneck speed, given the urgency to keep vital logistics flowing to the China border. This is a hostile territory in more ways than one. Expert  studies observe that at least 29.2 per cent of major landslides, for instance in Uttarakhand has been caused by erratic road construction.  Research points to severe instability of road cut slopes in the Sikkim Himalayas as a major hazard due again to insufficiency in taking geological factors into account. The Himalayas are the only instance in the world of a continental-continental collision (collision of Indian and Eurasian plates) and therefore an infrastructure challenge, to put it mildly. The ministry has been active in finding solutions, using technology for slope stabilisation in avalanche-prone areas of  Arunachal Pradesh with a project of Rs 63 crore. That’s money well spent. While meticulous cost estimates have been made by the  Public Works Department (with a 20 per cent overhead for environmental protection), the truth is that the actual costs of cutting down thousands of trees are incalculable. The sinking of Joshimath is only one example of unplanned construction.  Kinnaur has seen the same phenomenon, while  Nainital is a disaster waiting to happen, with even recently constructed roads crumbling. Climate change adds hugely to the problem. All of this is the concern of those whose business it is to get armaments and troops to the border. Projects which lead to environmental devastation also cause political frays and local resentment. That should concern state governments in particular. Solutions have to therefore consider a holistic view. US Department of Defence adapts to climate change The US Department of Defence (DoD) has already identified climate change as a national security issue observing that “Climate change will continue to amplify operational demands on the force, degrade installations and infrastructure resilience, increase health risks… and require modifications to existing and planned equipment needs”. DoD has submitted a “ Climate Risk Analysis” to the National Security Council, with sensitive redactions, and a  Climate Adaptation Plan that includes climate-related tasking, as well as working with local, state and federal partners to protect key installations and ranges, enhancing natural infrastructure solutions, preserving critical species and habitats, and importantly, cooperating with local communities, with a special fund and a lead office for the purpose. In its typically thorough fashion, a simple ‘climate adaptation” guide has been issued to commanders on the ground. All of this is relevant to the Indian armed forces regarding its infrastructural plans. India’s Parvatmala is a beginning To an extent, the India-US cooperation has already begun. A forthcoming satellite,  NISAR, jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will map the most earthquake-prone regions in the Himalayas with unprecedented regularity, thereby also giving advance warning of land subsidence that has damaged strategic roads leading to the Chinese border. This cooperation could be usefully extended to consider alternative corridors to move troops, logistics or local produce. Such a dual approach ensures defence capability, backed by local and state government support. MoRTH has already started an innovative scheme called  Parvatmala a national ropeway scheme, announcing three bids including the longest and possibly highest ropeway in the world, at 11,500 feet, the 9.7-km-long Gaurikund-Kedarnath ropeway project, an environmentally sustainable way for the Kedarnath trek. Nitin Gadkari, minister of MoRTH, recently  invited European industries to participate. That contributes to building experience in highly hostile terrain. Taking a leap into R&D The needs of the military are far more stringent, with just one battalion — roughly 900 troops — requiring some 10 tonnes of supplies a day. Take that forward to a brigade’s requirements, and it’s mind-boggling. As of now, trucks ply continuously over roads that are increasingly avalanche-prone, leading to delays which are manageable in peacetime. It’s a different story during a prolonged Ukraine-type conflict. Ways to modify cable transit systems — like aerial  tramways — capable of moving up to 230 people per car for troops and possibly equipment, or  cable cranes for heavy lift need to be explored. Involving a series of cables, towers, and cabins on a continuous loop, it can allow troops or cargo to be transported in high-altitude regions, even in adverse weather conditions, from logistics hubs in the valley. These are electrically powered, produce zero direct emissions, and occupy relatively small land. Again, remote villages can use the same infrastructure, to move easily to the plains, which otherwise takes weeks. Also, these systems would be in the inner valleys, preventing hostile action by air. True, there are significant challenges for their use in the rugged Himalayas, particularly in terms of power source and load-carrying capacities, which requires both countries to use innovation to find solutions. There are other ways. Former Director General of the Border Roads Organisation Lt Gen Ravi Shankar has long been advocating heavy-duty barges, capable of a 1,000-tonne load for moving up rivers for faster logistics. That’s particularly useful in the North East. None of this is to say that road projects need to be abandoned. Stabilisation studies could take army engineers on board given their vast experience, plus allowing some reverse exposure to new technology. However, state governments need to cry a halt to non-strategic roads in Uttarakhand in particular and consider ropeway solutions that are likely to boost their popularity and electability, rather than tearing down the mountains. Sceptics will scoff, but think of Henry Ford who famously quipped, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Capability means taking that leap. The author is a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. She tweets @kartha_tara. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.