Review of the Indian Army Doctrine: Dealing with Two Fronts

The Indian Army Doctrine was first published by the Shimla-based Headquarters Army Training Command in October 2004. The original publication was in three parts and a five-yearly review was envisaged. As reported in the media, the army held a closed door seminar at the end of 2009 as part of the ongoing review. Immediately afterwards, sections of the media reported one main thrust of the review, which led to a flurry of reactions, particularly from Pakistan. A public appraisal of the developments related to the ongoing review has now become necessary and topical. Doctrine, strategy and tactics are closely related but they are not the same. A doctrine encapsulates the current dominant thinking on an issue or certain aspects of the issue without being prescriptive; it provides a framework for addressing an issue in its entirely and is, therefore, in the nature of recommendations rather than directives. A doctrine can be either oral or written or a mix of both. A military doctrine may cover all the levels of war – tactical, operational and strategic. Depending on the level at which it is pitched, a military doctrine would cover the nature of wars to be fought, the missions of the armed forces, the types of campaigns and how various operations of war are to be conducted. On the other hand, strategy and tactics refer to the application of existing and planned military potential to the achievement of national strategic and military objectives. The application takes into account the specifics of the situation and involves making of decisions by political and military leaders over the time period