Manoj Joshi
New Delhi, January 17, 2009
The Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy were ready to strike almost immediately after the Mumbai carnage on November 26 — the former activating its forward bases and the latter fuelling its anti-ship missiles.
But, the government stayed its hand when the Indian Army apparently indicated to the government that it might take it several weeks before it could prudently begin the operations.
In September 2002, after the crisis that developed following the December 2001 attack on Parliament had waned, President Pervez Musharraf travelled to the US and in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor , had this to say: “…my military judgment was that they [Indians] would not attack us… Militarily… there is a certain ratio required for an offensive force to succeed. The ratios that we maintain are far above that — far above what a defensive force requires to defend itself...”
Cocky Musharraf was not wrong. Fireeaters across the country have been egging the government to go to war with Pakistan over the Mumbai massacre. But could it be that India have an Army that is simply not ready for one? Who is responsible for this? Everyone, from the generals who have become progressively bureaucratised, to the bureaucrats whose only concern is over their empanelment and time- scales. And, above all, their political bosses, who are content to let things be the way they are and allow hundreds of thousands of crores of rupees to be spent for an armed force that is not ready when needed.
Extracts from: Was the army ready for war?
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