Ali Ahmed

The current predicament the Military finds itself in can be used constructively by the Services and the government for undertaking the necessary correctives with a sense of urgency and obligation.

• Published: November 04, 2010
• IDSA Comments

Non-articulation of India's strategic doctrine lends it to be interpreted and perceived variously. India's security establishment need not be defensive about its strategic doctrine but boldly take on critics in the strategic community. Besides, its articulation would help provide direction to the military in their formulation of military doctrine, planning and acquisitions.

• Published: October 25, 2010
• IDSA Comments

The Cold Start doctrine is an innovative exercise. While Cold Start discusses how to start the campaign, equal thinking needs to attend how to end it. On the conventional level, the learning is that the Cold Start offensives of the integrated battle groups need to be delinked from those of the strike corps. Plausible political aims cannot be visualised that make nuclear risk of launch of strike corps offensives worth running. On the nuclear front, fallout of the scenario considered is on the doctrine of ‘massive’ nuclear retaliation.

• Published: October 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

The strategy helps sensitise Pakistan to India’s tolerance threshold and reinforces deterrence by bringing home unambiguously to Pakistan that things could get out of hand.

• Published: September 28, 2010
• IDSA Comments

The Services have been doctrinally fecund over the past decade, with each Service bidding to pursue relatively distinct campaigns, which would amount to lack of synergy and the whole failing to rise higher than the sum of its parts.

• Published: August 16, 2010
• IDSA Comments

Continued engagement with LOAC and IHL is ongoing with the Judge Advocates General Department taking the primary role. Its training institution in Kamptee is at the forefront. There has been increased interaction with the ICRC since India opened up to the ICRC in the mid nineties, after initially being defensive with respect to Kashmir. Not only has IHL been introduced into officer and subordinate ranks courses, but guest lectures are also organised. Increased scope of the engagement is possible, particularly if it finds mention in the next edition of the Army doctrine.

• Published: July 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

In the wake of Director General IDSA’s initiation of a debate on civil-military relations through his piece in the Indian Express of 9 July 2010, this Comment outlines the two major positions in the debate.

• Published: July 14, 2010
• IDSA Comments

A strategic dialogue mechanism with Pakistan at the level of NSAs, assisted by representatives of the national security establishment including the military on both sides, needs to be initiated to address core questions like the strategic balance and reconciling strategic doctrines.

• Published: July 05, 2010
• IDSA Comments

The robustness of India's nuclear doctrine would face a severe challenge in the case of conventional military offensives into Pakistan in a future Indo-Pak conflict. Such offensives are possible in case Pakistan's nuclear threshold is taken as high and its doctrine one of 'last resort'. However, Pakistani nuclear use options may include lower order nuclear use. In light of this, it recommends that India take a serious look at the Limited War concept as well as revise its nuclear doctrine to 'flexible nuclear retaliation'.

• Published: July 2010
• Strategic Analysis

• Published: July 2010
• Strategic Analysis