Military History of India since 1972

A Military History of India since 1972 is a definitive work of military history that gives the Indian military its rightful place as a key contributor to Indian democracy. Arjun Subramaniam offers an engaging narrative that combines superb storytelling with the academic rigor of deep research and analysis. It is a comprehensive account of Indias resolute, responsible, and restrained use of force as an instrument of statecraft and how the military has played an essential role in securing the countrys democratic tradition along with its rise as an economic and demographic power.This book is also about how the Indian nation-state and its armed forces have coped with the changing contours of modern conflict in the decades since 1972. These include the 2016 surgical or cross-border strikes by the Indian Armys Special Forces across the line of control with Pakistan, the face-off with the Chinese at Doklam in 2017 and in Ladakh in 2020, the preemptive punitive strikes by the Indian Air Force against terror-ist camps in Pakistan in 2019, and the large-scale aerial engagement between the Indian Air Force and the Pakistan Air Force the following day. These conflicts also include the long-running insurgencies in the northeast, terrorism and proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, separatist violence in Punjab, and the Indian Peacekeeping Forces intervention in Sri Lanka. The author also includes a chapter on the development of Indias nuclear capabilities.Arjun Subramaniam enlivens the narrative with a practitioners insights amplified by interviews and conversations with almost a hundred serving and retired officers, including former chiefs from all three armed forces, for an in-depth exploration of land, air, and naval operations. The structure of the book offers readers a choice of either embarking on a comprehensive and chronological examination of war and conflict in contemporary India or a selective reading based on specific time lines or campaigns.