Lt Col Manoj K Channan
Vijay Diwas in Delhi and Victory Day in Dhaka are significant for India and its Armed Forces. Post-independence, India and its armed forces were involved in the consolidation of the various princely states which had allegiance to foreign powers.
Under the newly minted political leadership of the then government, it did an excellent task of uniting India. But unfortunately, the Pakistan Government thought of exploiting the situation to its advantage by sending the irregulars with the regulars to annex Kashmir, in 1948.
The Indian Armed Forces delivered by fighting and throwing back the enemy till ordered by the political leadership to the ceasefire, while the political leadership leaned heavily on the UN to reclaim lost territory henceforth called Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by us and Azad Kashmir by the western adversary.
Having become a member of the US-led military alliance, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), a regional-defence organisation from 1955 to 1977, created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defence Treaty, signed at Manila on September 8, 1954, by representatives of Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The treaty came into force on February 19, 1955. Pakistan withdrew in 1968. Pakistan also joined another alliance Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO), formerly the Middle East Treaty Organisation, or Baghdad Pact Organisation, a mutual security organisation dating from 1955 to 1979 and composed of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Until March 1959, the organisation was known as the Middle East Treaty Organisation, which included Iraq and had its headquarters in Baghdad. France suspended financial support in 1975.
The organisation held its final exercise on February 20, 1976, and formally ended on June 30, 1977. However, Pakistan remained a front-line state of the West/US in the region. It was willing to do its bidding since then to date, without batting an eyelid.
The Pakistan Military leaders, having tasted the powers at the apex level, exploited the environment.
Pakistan Army has the unique honour of owning a country, a narrative the current military leadership is attempting to correct.
Having exercised absolute power, the military leadership never shied from removing and executing the political leadership, be it ZA Bhutto or his daughter Benazir; Nawaz Sharif has been lucky to have been deported.
I dwell into a bit of history to bring the young readers up to speed on the events in East Pakistan in the late 1970s.
Mujibur Rahman emerged as a prominent opposition figure in Pakistani politics between 1948 and 1971. He represented the Bengali grassroots. He had an uncanny ability to remember people by their first names, regardless of whether they were political leaders, workers, or ordinary citizens. Mujib suffered repeated bouts of police detention due to his ability to instigate opposition protests against the Pakistani government. Spies of the Pakistani government tracked his movement. Pakistan accused Mujibur Rahman of being a secessionist and an agent of India.
The six-point movement launched by Mujibur Rahman was focused on the issues that impacted the citizens those days in East Pakistan. Mujibur Rahman won the elections, and the fact that a Bengali from East Pakistan would be the PM of Pakistan was unacceptable. The atrocities commenced under the Pakistan Army; India had 10 million refugees accommodated and looked after.
Sam Maneckshaw was asked in early March by the then PM Indira Gandhi if the Indian Army could launch an operation to assist the freedom fight for East Pakistan-domiciled Bengalis.
Sam, the Military Leader that he was, didn’t mince his words in his advice to the “arrogant” young prime minister that he would launch his operations at a time of his choosing, considering the terrain and the weather implications on these operations.
How the war ended is recorded in history; India and Bangladesh celebrated with many Indian Defence Forces Veterans honoured and felicitated at Dacca during the Victory Day celebrations led by their Prime Minister.
How do we assess the current challenges that India faces?
Neighbours surround us with internal challenges, be it Pakistan, China, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. In the near distance, we have interests in Afghanistan.
To date, we have dealt with the Chinese dragon as a reality and its challenges. Fortunately, the Indian Army has stood its ground along the 4057 Km and has given a befitting response at Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
At the Strategic Level, been very proactive and, to state it bluntly, has arm-twisted the domestic industry to step forward and undertake the Make in India to meet its defence technology and the weapon systems required.
Having stated above, the political leadership has yet to be responsible and accountable for the National Security Strategy. This policy document gives the vision, mission and perspective to engage all the stakeholders of comprehensive national power. However, the focus remains on minor issues confined to the military honours at the National War Memorial and the at home at the service chiefs to remember and honour our Bravehearts.
The teachings of comprehensive national power remain an academic exercise in teaching our future Generals; rarely have they been asked to present it to the Parliament of India through its legislated processes.
The border military infrastructure and our current capabilities and capacities have to be focused on to support the five trillion-dollar economy, which is the government’s focus.
Theodore Roosevelt’s guiding principle of “speak softly but carry a big stick”, takes long-term planning, thinking weeks, months, years, and decades ahead.
Hopefully, so will ours shortly, while the focus will remain on 2024.
Author is an Indian Army Veteran and Defence Analyst.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.