The various business associations are still asleep; a few Indian businessmen are publicly lauding the fighting spirit of India's Kargil heroes but privately they are doing little about it; more often than not, they are just keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that the war will somehow go away. That doesn't look likely. Pakistan's army and politicians, having uppped the ante, cannot now be seen as abandoning their "cause" without losing face, unless the Indian army forces them to do so. What remains to be seen is whether this end is going to be achieved with a purely "local" war or something broader. Either way, business must be prepared for the consequences and contribute to the nationaleffort. There are three areas in which business must do, and be seen to do, its bit:

* At the obvious level, the apex chambers of commerce must organise efforts to take care of the huge numbers of widows and orphans that this war will leave behind. By the time this is over, Indian casualties may have to be reckoned in the thousand rather than the hundred, unless peace is achieved by a miracle in the meanwhile. This means raising funds, making job offers to the relatives of those killed, et al. The Government will, no doubt, do its bid for the dependents of those killed or maimed, but the corporate sector needs to supplement these efforts and send the message that they are as conscious of their national responsibilities as they are of their shareholders' interests.

* At another level, it is clear that any war will roil the Indian economy and Government finances, which has already been adversely affected by the implementation of the Pay Commission report. Even without a full-fledged war, the next Governmentformed after the elections will have to come up with fresh revenue proposals to bridge the budgetary gap and make additional allocations for defence. Business clearly needs to be prepared for more taxes. But they can help the national effort in their own way: they can mitigate, to some extent, the Government's financial crunch by paying up their taxes in time or even in advance, and thus prevent a fiscal crisis from worsening. Businessmen need to realise that ultimately they will have to pay: they can pay earlier and postpone a fiscal crisis, or they can pay later--through higher taxes and interest rates. But pay they must. The apex chambers have a major role to play in conscientising Indian business about paying its taxes at a time when the country needs it the most.

* Third, it is time Indian businessmen started taking a direct interest in the defence of the country. Thus far, business' attitude has been to leave the work entirely to the government and the armed forces. Which is fine, up to a point. Butultimately, politicians tend to have only their own short-term interests in mind. They do not have the long-term commitment to think through the country's defence options--options that are both militarily viable and financially cost-effective. In the west, private think-tanks regularly advise policymakers on strategic defence options; but in India, there are almost no privately-funded foundations that take up such issues for study and the discussion of options. The business of defence is too serious to be left to politicians and military chiefs alone.

Businessmen, whose fortunes ultimately depend on India's success in achieving peace with its neighbours, have to take an interest in how their country is defended. Kargil is a wakeup call to Indian business in more ways than one.