India's new war policy to fight maritime threat

New Delhi: Till now India’s war doctrine hinged on a possible two-pronged adversarial scenario keeping just Pakistan and China in mind. A key landmark change may now be underway with another front — to counter the increasing naval threat from the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal — being factored in to move to a three-pronged war doctrine.

The top secret proposal has been sparked off due to recent developments in the Indian Ocean region which has become a hub of military activity where ships and submarines of many nations prowl. Reports already speak of a nuclear Chinese submarine being docked in Karachi harbour in May last year and then being spotted by satellites in the Malacca Straits in June. Chinese submarines have also been spotted in and around Gwadar port in Pakistan, key entry point to the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor.

There is therefore a feeling in relevant circles that the military assets in the southern part of the country need to be buttressed, a region that has been relatively neglected with the armed forces mainly focused in the eastern, western and northern fronts.

This newspaper has learnt from reliable sources that the proposal was actively deliberated and considered in the annual combined commanders’ conference which was held in the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun from January 21.

The new doctrine proposal is learnt to be in the drafting stage now under the aegis of the Integrated Defence Services headquarters. Subsequent to its framing, the doctrine will be deliberated upon and all stakeholders consulted before it is finally approved and adopted as a doctrine. Besides the armed forces, the NSA will also have a key word.

The doctrinal change proposal is done by the service headquarters which is tantamount to an informal approval in principle as the agenda for the combined commanders’ conference is decided on the basis of directions given by the PM.

In the backdrop of a thinking in the defence ministry to reorganise defence forces into theatre commands, a three-pronged doctrine will create and re-position military assets in an unprecedented scale. Another core item discussed in the meet was the need for a separate unified aerospace command.