Indian Army Has New Strategies For Pakistan And China

24 May, 2021

With tensions continuing with China, India has deployed more troops along the Line of Actual Control this summer than before. Army Chief General M.M. Naravane at Leh to review security situation and operational preparedness along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh

New Delhi: The Indian military is bringing a series of key changes, including in the Order of Battle (ORBAT), with the strategy being punitive deterrence against Pakistan and credible deterrence against China, ThePrint has learnt.

This strategy, which called for integrated formations rather than just corps-level response, forms the foundation of the Indian military’s re-balance from the western borders with Pakistan to the northern and eastern borders with China.

Government sources told ThePrint that the overall strategy does not involve the military alone but also diplomacy and economics.

“From a military point of view, the western theatre has always been the focus area. Our strategy there has been that of punitive deterrence. This means that India has overwhelmingly higher military power for punitive action,” a source said.

Explaining the nuance of the strategy against China, the source said the aim is credible deterrence.

“Under credible deterrence, the opposite side should know that India has the ability for a counter operation and to inflict damage. China sees itself equal to the US in terms of military power. However, it has realised that while militarily it might be bigger, India won’t budge and can actually hit back. This affects the image that they want to portray internationally. This is called credible deterrence,” the source said, refusing to go into the key changes planned and set in motion.

Sources gave the example of the last year’s August 29/30 operation by the Indian forces when they outflanked the Chinese and occupied the heights in the southern banks of Pangong Tso, much to the discomfort of the Chinese.

Sources explained that this strategy is for along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and not just Ladakh which comes under the Northern sector. This means that the strategy will extend to the Central and Eastern sectors too.

The Army chief Gen M M Naravane had in January this year said the force was “re-balancing” its deployment and strategy along the western, northern and northeastern borders to deal with any kind of threat that might emerge — be it from Pakistan or China.

The re-balance strategy came following an internal study conducted by the Army on how to prepare for the threat from China and Pakistan.

ThePrint had on 12 April reported that a summer strategy has already been put in place in Eastern Ladakh and also implemented key changes in the ORBAT.

Courtesy: The Print