India Plans Strategic Retaliation Post-Pahalgam; Doval's 'Defensive Offense' Doctrine Back in Focus
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Tensions between India and Pakistan are at their peak after the martyrdom of 26 people in the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. While there is anger and mourning in the whole country after this attack, on the other hand, Pakistan is badly scared of India's possible response. Pakistan is breathing heavily in view of the airstrikes carried out by India after the Pulwama attack. However, it is believed that this time the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval is working on some other big and new strategy other than the airstrikes, which has put Pakistan in a state of shock.
According to sources and defense experts, Ajit Doval is preparing to respond to Pakistan under a special strategy. This strategy is based on the principle of 'defensive offense', which was publicly clarified during his Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture given at Shastra University in 2014. Doval has been of the view that India's approach till now has been mainly defensive, where we only respond to Pakistan's terrorist action, due to which India always has to suffer losses.
The essence of the 'defensive offence' strategy is that India must now strike at Pakistan's internal weaknesses rather than merely defend. Doval had then said that "if Pakistan does 'one Mumbai', it should be prepared to lose 'Balochistan'." His clear indication was that India must move towards eliminating the terror threat at its root, i.e. in Pakistan itself. This could include exposing Pakistan's terror network on the international stage and also using countries like Afghanistan to strategically pressurise Pakistan.
Many strategists believe that this is the right time to respond by pushing Pakistan on the backfoot. Currently, there is a lot of anger among the people of Pakistan against their own army and government. Anti-government protests are taking place from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad. At the international level, India also has the support of many major countries, and even Pakistan's traditional ally China is trying to improve its relations with India. Given these favorable conditions, analysts believe that this is the right time to put diplomatic and strategic pressure on Pakistan.
With an experienced and dynamic officer like Ajit Doval, the central government is adopting a policy of giving a strong and decisive message to Pakistan for its actions. Even though there has been some criticism after the Pathankot attack, Doval's thinking and his tough intentions have full support at the highest level in the government. Attacks like Pahalgam have once again caused serious damage to India, so it is likely that Doval and the government may once again move towards actively implementing the strategy of 'defensive offense'. The goal of this strategy is not only to respond to Pakistan on its soil, but also to ensure that India does not become a mere responding country, but stops the threat where it arises.
