Modern War Studies

Full Spectrum Operations and the Changing Contours of Modern Conflict

Arjun Subramaniam

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780700631995
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Indian & South Asian History
• Index: History

A Military History of India since 1972 is a definitive work of military history that gives the Indian military its rightful place as a key contributor to Indian democracy. Arjun Subramaniam offers an engaging narrative that combines superb storytelling with the academic rigor of deep research and analysis. It is a comprehensive account of India’s resolute, responsible, and restrained use of force as an instrument of statecraft and how the military has played an essential role in securing the country’s democratic tradition along with its rise as an economic and demographic power.

This book is also about how the Indian nation-state and its armed forces have coped with the changing contours of modern conflict in the decades since 1972. These include the 2016 “surgical” or cross-border strikes by the Indian Army’s Special Forces across the line of control with Pakistan, the face-off with the Chinese at Doklam in 2017 and in Ladakh in 2020, the preemptive punitive strikes by the Indian Air Force against terror­ist camps in Pakistan in 2019, and the large-scale aerial engagement between the Indian Air Force and the Pakistan Air Force the following day. These conflicts also include the long-running insurgencies in the northeast, terrorism and proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, separatist violence in Punjab, and the Indian Peacekeeping Force’s intervention in Sri Lanka. The author also includes a chapter on the development of India’s nuclear capabilities.

Arjun Subramaniam enlivens the narrative with a practitioner’s insights amplified by interviews and conversations with almost a hundred serving and retired officers, including former chiefs from all three armed forces, for an in-depth exploration of land, air, and naval operations. The structure of the book offers readers a choice of either embarking on a comprehensive and chronological examination of war and conflict in contemporary India or a selective reading based on specific time lines or campaigns.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1. Chameleon Wars
• 2. India’s Military Renaissance
• 3. The Naga Rebellion
• 4. Joint Operations in Mizoram and Nagaland
• 5. Operation Blue Star: Ours Is Not to Question Why
• 6. Siachen: An Icy Battleground
• 7. Flyboys over the Glacier
• 8. Standing Up to the Dragon
• 9. Peacekeeping in Sri Lanka: Was India Prepared?
• 10. Into the Tiger’s Lair
• 11. Speedy Intervention in Maldives
• 12. Jammu and Kashmir Erupts
• 13. The Indian Army Responds
• 14. Surprise and Riposte in Kargil
• 15. A Costly Victory
• 16. Hybrid War in Jammu and Kashmir
• 17. Under the United Nations Flag
• 18. Operations Other than War along the Western Front
• 19. Stress along the Line of Actual Control
• 20. India’s Nuclear Conundrum
• Afterword: The GAP Crisis
• Appendix: Serving and Retired Officers Formally Interviewed, Informally Spoken to, or Corresponded With
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Photo Credits
• Index
• Back Cover