Sehgal is a retired army officer, a respected entrepreneur, and a defence analyst. He is the Chairman of 'Pathfinder Group' which controls two of the largest private security companies in Pakistan. Sehgal is the former Chairman of All Pakistan Security Agencies Association (APSAA) and Chairman Defence and Security Committee, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE).
He is the foundation member of World Economic Forum (WEF), Switzerland, and member of WEF Global Agenda Council (GAC) for counter-terrorism. He is a director at Bank Alfalah Limited, General Tyre Limited, and EastWest Institute (EWI) USA. He is the publisher & chief editor of 'Defence Journal'.
"You need a well funded army, there is no question about that" says Sehgal arguing that given the country's precarious law and order situation and ongoing efforts against insurgencies, now is not the time to slash defence spending to curtail fiscal deficits.
"As long as the army exists, Pakistan will exist. The day you make the army weak; you will not survive" he cautions.
Praising the efforts of the country's armed forces, the noted defence analyst argues that "counter insurgency has been very successful in the country, but there is no counter terrorism force in Pakistan".
He contends that such a force is direly needed to combat the wave of extremism and violence that has swept across the nation. "The biggest and most vicious problem faced by Pakistan is ideological. A small minority feels that by the force of arms they can rule over the majority".
However, the retired army officer is much more critical of the political government and bureaucracy. "There is a nexus between corruption, organized crime and terrorism", he says, adding that criminal gangs responsible for supplying arms and ammunition to terrorists are operating under the patronage of political parties.
"A counter-terrorism force in this country will not spare anyone who is involved in insurgency in any form and that is why the government will not allow it. Even the local politicians will not be spared as it is no hidden fact that every political party has some links to some form of organized crime and corruption," asserts Sehgal. Therefore, according to Sehgal, "it is against the interests of all politicians (and some bureaucrats) to form a counter terrorist force".
Besides the need to combat internal threats, he contends that while a thaw in Pakistan-India relations must be a priority, it must not be presented as an argument for a troop drawdown from the country's eastern borders. "Why is four-fifths of the Indian army deployed around the Pakistani border region, with their army outnumbering us by four to one at the border?" he questions. Because of move of some units from the holding Divisions, this has gone up to a five and even six to one, disadvantage.
Sehgal, who was the first Pakistani to escape from the first Indian Army Prisoner of War (POW) Camp established even before the War of 1971, is convinced that "if by chance our army gets weak, the Indians will overwhelm us". He highlights that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have also built up strong armies in the face of India's mounting regional ambitions.
"During the 1965 war, Pakistan had three and a half lightly equipped divisions in East Pakistan. Today, the Bangladeshi army has deployed seven infantry divisions and two armoured brigades in that region. Why do they need so big an army against a country that has supposedly given them their independence?" questions Sehgal.
The analyst concedes that "more money is required for the country's development and for the social sector" but insists that "we need out of the box solutions" that do not compromise defence spending. He calls for accurate and efficient allocation of resources and transfer of management control of state-run enterprises to the private sector.
NO BUSINESS DOING BUSINESS
"The army has no business doing business," says Sehgal. He opposes the commercial operations of National Logistics Cell (NLC) and other departments of the army involved in real estate development, transport and other economic activities.
He suggests that while ownership of strategic assets must remain with the public sector, "efficient public-private partnerships" should be inculcated under which management should be handed over to professionals in the private sector.
But Sehgal is equally opposed to the deployment of army personnel in development and infrastructure projects. "The army's purpose should not be to do business and by the same token you cannot ask the army to use its manpower for civilian projects. The army is not labour," he sums up.
The defence analyst contends that bad press regarding sprawling cantonment areas with enviable amenities is unwarranted. He highlights that other countries provide similar perks and facilities to their armed forces as well. "The only thing that I think is wrong with the army is the allotment of plots," says Sehgal. He advises against senior military officers acquiring multiple residential plots, this sets a bad precedent for others to follow. "At this rate, in ten years there will be no plots left," asserts Sehgal. According to Sehgal "there is nowhere in the world where you give plots to anybody. The concept is flawed".
The former military man suggests that all government servants including the military should receive a house (or an apartment) at the end of their career in exchange for regular deductions from their salaries. "They must have a roof over their heads free of loans when they retire," he says.
"By starting a properly planned housing scheme you start a whole economic cycle," says Sehgal explaining that such projects would not only generate jobs in the construction sector; but also in services sector once the residential schemes are populated.
He vociferously opposes the development of housing schemes within cantonment areas. Mentioning the development of residential plots in Lahore Cantt, Sehgal says, "The army has cut itself off from a potential strategic area in Lahore". He warns that by building houses in this area close to the border, "The army will not be able to manoeuvre its tanks or artillery in that region," in case of war.
ACCOUNTABILITY & SCRUTINY
Sehgal believes that scrutiny of the military budget must be limited within the confines of protecting the national interest."The Public Accounts Committee should be allowed to look at the accounts of the army and based on that they should bring the anomalies that they find to the parliament. There has to be civilian check," he says.
However, he is not in favour of total transparency of military spending as this would reveal the country's strategic defence plans to internal and external foes. When pressed that this issue limits civil supremacy over the armed forces, he retorts, "civil supremacy will come about when you have people of stature in the political field".
Sehgal points towards "endemic corruption" in the country adding that "you have to take action against corruption in the judiciary, bureaucracy, establishment and military simultaneously without being selective about it".
He insists that military officers under scrutiny for embezzlement to the tune of Rs 4.2 billion from NLC must "face the music". "There is a proper judicial system that everyone must follow," adds Sehgal
IMAGE MANAGEMENT
While conceding that recent incidents like the shooting of a youth by Rangers personnel in Karachi brews resentment against armed forces, Ikram Sehgal is, however, convinced that the overall image of the country's military is stellar.
When prompted that such incidents put the military in a precarious situation, he says, "Indeed it does but it will only last till the next crisis that the country faces. The armed forces will then pull you out of it and then everything will be back to normal".
Sehgal insists that the presence of paramilitary personnel in the cities and towns is imperative because if they leave, "all vested interests that have access to power will start extorting money from you".
He also points out that much of the progress made by the armed forces is jeopardised due to the inefficiency of other government institutions. Highlighting recent military operations in the country's restive western region he says, "thirty percent of the work in a counter insurgency is in military operations and seventy percent is to carry out civilian socio-economic initiatives but we see a total failure in the establishment of the latter".
The analyst also rubbishes assertions that extremists have permeated the ranks of these forces. "The polarization is invented," he contends adding that "Do you think there are no right-leaning generals in the US Army? There is nothing widespread that might be a cause of concern". The former soldier is convinced that "vested interests and inept bureaucratic governance combined with across the board corruption has never allowed this country to go forward". He believes that the same foes are colluding with unscrupulous members of the media to malign national institutions including the army.