The Indian military was ready for a two-front war, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said at the India-US Strategic Partnership Forum on September 4. Though no context could justify this assertion which bordered on the bombastic, the immediate provocation was the Indian Army’s initiative in Ladakh.
On the night of August 29-30, the army pre-empted the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in occupying some heights along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) south of Pangong Tso. As a consequence of Gen. Rawat’s claim, many analysts started writing that India should evict the PLA from all occupied territories in Ladakh by a limited war.
How will a limited war by India fare? It would end quickly with considerable loss of men and war matériel to the Indian military, without meeting the war objectives of compelling the PLA to vacate the occupied areas. True, the dependable and courageous Indian soldier will not fail the country; the Concept of Operations (COP) or war fighting doctrines and training (both are the responsibility of the military...
