Lucknow: India’s military doctrine has moved beyond the Cold Start strategy to a more flexible response model, allowing it to calibrate military action according to the scale of provocation rather than following a fixed operational template, according to Maj Gen (retd) Bipin Bakshi.Maj Gen Bakshi is a decorated paratrooper and former IG (training), NSG, former deputy director general of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and currently distinguished fellow at Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi.Speaking to TOI, Bakshi said Operation Sindoor represents the latest phase in a gradual evolution of India’s military thinking that has unfolded over the past two decades.“The Indian doctrine has evolved. It is not a sudden change. We have shifted from deterrence by denial to deterrence by punishment,” he said.Bakshi traced the evolution back to India’s earlier war fighting doctrine, popularly known as the Sundarji doctrine, which relied on large strike corps designed for deep offensives into enemy territory.While formidable on paper, the doctrine had a critical weakness. Mobilising these massive formations took nearly two weeks, making surprise virtually impossible in the age of satellite surveillance.“The old strike corps were enormous formations. By the time they reached the western border, satellite imagery would reveal exactly where we intended to attack,” he said.The shortcomings became evident during Operation Parakram after the 2001 Parliament attack, when India mobilised its forces but stopped short of military action. That experience eventually led to the development of the Cold Start doctrine, which envisaged smaller, forward deployed formations capable of launching multiple shallow thrusts across the border with little warning.However, Maj Gen Bakshi believes even Cold Start has now evolved.Operation Sindoor reflects what he calls a “dynamic response doctrine”, where India is no longer bound by predefined military plans but has a range of options depending on the nature of the provocation.“A flexible response means we can do less, we can do more or we can do something entirely different. It depends on the degree of provocation. The objective is flexibility rather than following a fixed template,” he said.He said this evolution could be seen in India’s recent military actions. “The 2016 surgical strikes demonstrated limited cross-border punitive capability inside PoK, while the 2019 Balakot air strike expanded the scope by hitting a target inside Pakistan. “Operation Sindoor takes this evolution further by giving policymakers multiple military options instead of a single doctrinal response,” he argued.“Another defining feature of the new doctrine is India’s increasing willingness to use cross-border kinetic force without formally declaring war, a trend that mirrors recent conflicts elsewhere,” he said.“Across the world including Israeli operations in Lebanon, Russian military action in Ukraine and targeted strikes elsewhere, there is an increasing propensity to use focused kinetic force without a declaration of war. We are also looking at these options,” Maj Gen Bakshi said.He added that Operation Sindoor signals India’s “new normal”, where future responses would be guided by strategic flexibility, calibrated punishment and a broad spectrum of military options rather than adherence to any single doctrine or template.
