Bengaluru: “War is an instrument of political leaders to achieve political objectives. One fights a war because they think it is a way of solving a problem. When statements like ‘mooh tod jawab denge’ are made, it could be targeted at achieving some objectives in domestic politics,” said Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Prakash Menon, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, at the launch of his book, The Strategy Trap - India and Pakistan Under the Nuclear Shadow, here on Sunday.
On adopting a belligerent and hawkish stand, the decorated officer said that it is to pump up nationalism and jingoism, which is a worrying trend.
“The conventional paradigm earlier used was Peace-Crisis-War and Peace. But it cannot be applied to nuclear powers. The use of force against an enemy is okay, but it is not good statecraft if it is employed to serve domestic interests,” Lt Gen Menon said.
On Pakistan surging ahead of India in nuclear stockpile, he said that India is clear about its need of nuclear weapons and it should not worry about the neighbouring country having 120 nuclear warheads.
Infosys non-executive chairman Nandan Nilekani released the book. Mr Nilekani, Lt Gen Menon and others have contributed to the book, Non-Alignment 2.0.
For the Indian military, Lt. Gen. Menon recommended a doctrinal shift from capture of territory to stand-off destruction with a rebalance from west to north. At the same time, the political leadership should understand that putting nuclear weapons on alert is a red line which once crossed has the potential to spiral out of control. “Nuclear deterrence stands on the loose sands of nuclear strategy that has not been able to answer the query, ‘What happens when nuclear deterrence fails?’”, he said.
Book excerpt:
India’s emergence as a nuclear weapon state gave birth to the concept of limited war and therefore, the feasibility of conventional war under the nuclear shadow informs India’s military preparations. But is achievement of substantial political objectives possible through war? What are the dangers of escalation caused by what Clausewitz described as the friction and fog of war? In the context of Indo-Pak conflict, can force application by India provide an answer to resolving the contentious issue of Pakistan supported terrorism? Or would it only lead to a temporary change of status quo?
Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Prakash Menon retired in October 2011, but continued in the government as the Military Adviser and Secretary to Government of India.
