In the decade preceding the 1962 disaster, the predominant and dogmatic view amongst the Indian political elite was that wars just wouldn’t happen anymore. To seek political legitimacy, Nehru had insisted that freedom had been gained solely through non-violence and ahimsa. He deliberately sought to dismiss the role and sacrifices of Bose and the violent means of his INA.
Out of about 60,000 INA officers and men, some 26,000 died. Was that ahimsa? To gain legitimacy vis-a-vis Bose, Nehru marginalised the INA’s contribution and stressed pacifism. British Indian Army was downsized from 2.5 million men to just 2.5 lakh. Nehru contemptuously told his first British Chief of Staff that he did not need an army, but just police forces.
He sidelined the military and starved it of resources in quest for a ‘police state’. So, 1962 was a disaster in waiting. Nehru died of a broken heart and his successors learnt a hard lesson in realpolitik. Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi expanded and modernised the armed forces thereafter and turned to realpolitik. India fought two wars—in 1965 and 1971.
The 1971 war produced a historic and decisive win that ensured a decade’s peace. The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, however, overturned all the gains of that war. Pakistan became a US-backed frontline state. In 1998, India and Pakistan became overt nuclear powers. In 1999, they fought in Kargil.
The Second Phase of Pacifism: Post nuclearisation, the civilian bureaucracy made a bid to downplay and marginalise the armed forces once again. The UPA convinced itself that wars would just not happen. As such, for two decades they completely derailed the modernisation of Indian armed forces and opened glaring gaps of vulnerability.
Pakistan now felt emboldened to wage unceasing asymmetric war against India in Punjab first, then J&K and thereafter in other cities.
Some 80,000 Indian soldiers and citizens have died at the hands of Pakistani terrorists, but a soft and supine India refused to hit back. The UPA went a step ahead and emasculated our military capability to hit back by eroding our air power and fire power. At the basis was the imbecilic pre-1962 mantra —“Wars just can’t happen anymore”.
The Return of the Era of Wars? The bad news is the world seems inexorably headed for yet another era of wars and bloody conflicts. China has been modernising its armed forces rapidly. Its defence budget is over a $150 billion compared to India’s $42 billion. In the USA, Donald Trump is heralding another era of protectionism. On April 6, Xi Jinping arrived in the US for talks with its administration.
Donald Trump ordered two US destroyers, USS Porter and Ross, to fire 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the Syrian airbase in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack on civilians. Americans claimed to have destroyed some 20 aircrafts, 13 hardened shelters, 10 ammunition storage sites and two fuel dumps. It was a warning signal to China about the US willingness to use military force.
Trump also ordered the US Aircraft Carrier Battle Group led by Carl Vinson towards North Korea and warned China that it would not accept North Korean intransigence on missile testing and nuclear proliferation. Days later, the Americans employed the 10,000-kg GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb in Nangarhar on Pakistan’s border. Again, it was a clear signal to North Korea, China, Russia and Iran of America’s willingness to use military force in the pursuit of its national interests. Trump was also signalling to a domestic audience.
The Trump world view displayed the cognitive simplicity of the Ronald Reagan era. The Hollywood B-grade hero had recklessly used force in Afghanistan and in Middle East, and waged unrelenting economic warfare to derail the Soviet economy.
The economic weakness of the USSR and the emergence of a very pacific leadership under Gorbachev had led to the decline and demise of the Soviet Union. The world has since then transited from a bipolar to a uni-polar world order and is now headed for a stage of multi-polarity.
World War I and II were both eras of multi-polarity, rising nationalism and economic protectionism and competition. That had led to shooting wars. Today, unlike Gorbachev’s pacifism, Russia under Putin is pushing back. China’s military might is rising. Military experts world over are warning of largescale conflicts.
Indian Military Lethargy: The NDA had promised to revive our faltering military modernisation programmes. Manohar Parrikar made efforts to stimulate Make in India projects and speed up purchase of vital arms and ammunition. Just when he seemed to have learnt his job, he was ordered to return to Goa. The defence ministry now has a part-time and overworked minister incharge.
The impression given is that defence is the least important sector in our current dispensation. Military modernisation programmes are languishing. Our political leadership seems convinced there is no danger of wars and it can afford to ignore the military’s modernisation. The clouds of war are gathering ominously. We must come out of that pre-1962 mind set that wars will just not happen anymore—unless we want to invite another disaster of that magnitude.
gagandeep.bakshi@yahoo.com