India's New Military Doctrine Shoot First, Questions Later

Having compromised its strategic interests for decades through an overly defensive posture, India now has a more assertive military doctrine, which may well turn out to be a case of closing the barn door after the horses have bolted! Besides, assertive doctrines accomplish little when placed in the hands of zero risk leadership, writes RAKESH KRISHNAN SIMHA

- Rakesh Krishnan Simha

India has made a decisive break from its defensive and reactive mindset that in previous conflicts prevented the country’s armed forces from performing to their true potential. The second edition of the Joint Doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces (JDIAF-2017) leaves no doubt that both the political leadership and the military brass are moving away from strategic timidity and embracing the concept of strategic offensive.

Released in April by Admiral Sunil Lamba, the senior among the current three services chiefs, JDIAF-2017 declares: “India has moved to a pro-active and pragmatic philosophy to counter various conflict situations.”

The language of the document is typical Indian bureaucratese – riddled with typos and punctuation errors, besides being ponderous and verbose. Despite these faults, there is a sense of exuberance – rare in an official document. Perhaps this is an indication that India’s commanders feel they have finally been given a free hand to deploy the full might of the country’s vast armed forces in a future war. India’s elite strike forces will no longer sit idle waiting for the opportune moment, which never came in the last wars. The document says: "Conflict will be determined or prevented through a process of credible deterrence, coercive diplomacy and conclusively by punitive destruction, disruption and constraint in a nuclear environment across the Spectrum of Conflict.” Translation: India will henceforth adopt Patton-style kick them-hard warfare.

India’s Shifting Doctrines