THE revelation by Lt. General Rahul Singh, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, that during Operation Sindoor India fought as many as three adversaries, makes the challenge before India officially grim. Though what he said was already known to people in bits and pieces, Lt. General Singh gave a more accurate and grimmer picture of the tough geopolitical and strategic challenge India has to be ready to face in future conflicts. As a seasoned warrior, Lt. General Singh stated clearly that with Pakistan as a front-piece, two other adversaries -- China and Turkey -- were also aligned against India during Operation Sindoor. Obviously, in future conflicts, too, such a wide front may be there for India to tackle.

 

Lt. General Singh’s elaboration, thus, underlined what the country will have to face if it gets pushed or dragged into conflict. Lt. General Singh said that China used the recent four-day conflict as a “live laboratory” for testing its weapons it had given to Pakistan. Turkey, too, supplied a lot of military hardware to Pakistan, thus complicating the Indian challenge all the more. But even as he highlighted the hard realities of that conflict, Lt. General Rahul Singh also brought forth some other aspects of Indian preparedness where a lot of good work is needed to be done at the earliest. He also highlighted the importance of an uninterrupted supply-chain and its well-oiled management as a critical essential to keeping India’s defence mechanisms and systems in great shape. Lt. General Singh’s statement coincided with an official communication by Ministry of Defence about the cleared investment of over Rs. 1 lakh crore in major defence acquisitions on an immediate basis. That did show that Indian leadership -- political and strategic -- is conscious of the nature and level of geopolitical and military challenges India is expected to face currently and distantly. Having known the details of what the Indian strategic planners think and do, it can be said safely that India is geared up to face any challenge to its unity, territorial integrity in the most efficient manner.

 

That also explains how the Indian military preparedness is being rated as among the best in the world by any definition -- manpower, training, equipment, research and development of technology related to national defence. India’s futuristic planners have their sights fixated on distant goals that would stand the country in good stead when challenges become tougher in the future. But even as various persons engaged in India’s leadership teams share their information and knowledge with the people, there is not a shade of fear or doubt about the national capabilities. Much to the contrary, what is visible to the people is a high level of confidence that any and every challenge would be met with elan. This is not a mean assurance. For, when the nation is confronted with challenges of the kind India has to handle, then the character of the national leadership gets to be tested on touchstone of practicality. Operation Sindoor offered India that opportunity to test the mettle of its leadership. It is well known that India passed that litmus test quite successfully. For, during Operation Sindoor, what was on trial was India’s defence preparedness, its R&D in defence production, its futuristic planning. On each of these counts India passed muster. Lt. General Rahul Singh’s statement of fact, thus, has brought to fore the challenges India has had to face, and the manner in which it would handle the task. Kudos to him -- and India!