Utility of Military Force in Achieving India’s Strategic Objectives

Abstract

Present-day conflicts present a dichotomy in the utility of military force in achieving strategic objectives. Since the end of the Cold War, decades of irregular wars over the globe suggested that conventional wars were passe. However, in the past two years, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have brought out that prolonged conventional wars are very much possible even under a nuclear overhang. This article carries out a brief analysis of India’s strategic objectives and the theoretical framework of war. It brings out the uncertainties like future wars, and how preparing for a perfect fit is impossible given the availability of resources. In this milieu using military force requires fresh but realistic thinking. When talking of Military Force for achieving strategic objectives all three Services come into play and have to be considered. This article in its first half looks at the overall Military Force and thereafter goes into the specific Army sphere. Here it gives some key recommendations to ensure as to how can India effectively manage and apply ground forces to meet the current and future conventional and asymmetric threats.