Ukraine War: Lessions for India
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
The course of the Ukraine war, writes Gp Capt Murli Menon Retd. (Defence Analyst) “notwithstanding the paucity of authentic reportage and the continuation of the vicious information war from both sides, has thrown up several lessons for professional armed forces such as ours.”
Implications of a prolonged conflict
The most important takeaway “is the peculiar nature of an unplanned, prolonged, all-out war. Traditionally, our planners have counted on short-duration wars in the subcontinent. But what if a subcontinental or India-China confrontation leads to a prolonged conflict?…….Ukraine has NATO on its side to bolster its arms inventory. For India, it has traditionally been Russia that steps in to augment our armament stores for the exigencies of war. Until the ‘Atmanirbharta’ (self reliance) push starts showing concrete results, we would need such reliable sources of arms supplies, especially by way of beefing up our war wastage reserve holdings in armaments and perhaps fuel as well as lubricants.”
Other variables
The security of airfields and road networks along active borders, states Menon “would call for a robust defence budget outlay for the foreseeable future. Intelligence is another key area that needs substantial funding, especially in the space domain, to have in place dedicated defence satellite capability and a stand-alone GPS capability — a must for a nation like India with an international strategic footprint. Besides, our strategic arms inventory would need modernisation to meet current challenges. The requirement thus would be to fathom the ramifications of a future war, compensating adequately for our country’s historical baggage by virtue of not having addressed the requirements of a national war machine, including integrating national security objectives…..”
