The truth is that it was pathetic.
It was pathetic because the bygone decade was the period that Indian forces had the budget and all the possible options available to them compared to any other period in the last 67 years plus there was a ready laundry list of requirements both locally and from foreign manufacturers There was also a step by step, decade by decade modernization plan for all wings of the forces prepared by the forces themselves and also approved by the MOD and had funds allocated for it every year but sadly many of them haven't seen the light of day till date and many of them are / were crucial.
As said, that's the sad generalisation which is based on half truths only. Please look at the above shows procurements and tell us how it can be pathetic when we operate 2 aircraft carriers today, when we have the most advanced martitme patrol aircraft inducted, when we have very good tactical and strategic transporters now, when we have nuclear submarine and support vessels to extend operations to blue water areas, when we have crucial early warning aircrafts available and so on. Most of these are strategic assets, which multiplied the defence capabilities to new levels, compared to those they are replacing (P8I vs Tu 142/IL 38, C17 vs IL76, C130J vs AN32...).
There is no denying that there were also problems and mistakes, but even here, one has to look at the real reasons and and who really is responsible and not just generalise.
The mentioned LUH competition for example is on hold by IA not MoD/DM, because of a corruption case in IA not MoD/DM. So you are blaming the completely wrong side here and when you then ask yourself why IA is the only force that has not improved itself in the last 10 years in the same pace as IAF and IN clearly did, you might get to one of the real problems that causes delays.
Not the one that punishes wrong doing is the bad guy, but the one that acutually did something wrong! So when IA were not able to modernise their howitzers for decades, during different governments and defence ministers, because of constant corruption cases, you simply can't blame the government but has to take those accountable, that actually are responsible for the delays!
The simple fact is, that there are numerous of reasons why certain procurements are delayed, be it corruption, be it slow and faulty tendering and trials of the forces, be it development and production delays of the industry and of course also mistakes by the MoD for example by not combining procurement to speed up procurements and get rid of useless bureaucracies and all these sides needs to be taken accountable for THEIR mistakes and failures.
However, even with the problems, our forces are stronger than ever before and especially IAF and IN are showing a good pace of modernisations. But spending alone is not a solution, the efficiency of developments and procurements need to be improved. Pushing our industry to deliver and not only promise, to speed up tenders and procurements, to make new laws that cut bureaucracies and punish corruption in a stronger way, no matter from which side...
