Chanakya was an ancient Indian philosopher who served as the advisor to the Maurya ruler and authored the Arthashastra some 2400 years ago. This book talks about power, governance, state duties and relations with neighbours. According to his Mandala doctrine, one must attack in the rear in the diplomatic, economic or psychological sphereas well as wherever the enemy is getting economic, social, mental and physical strength. The aim is to erase that source before reaching the enemy. The present government of Modi is highly obsessed with Chanakya policies and theories and Indian foreign policy strictly revolves around them.
The Indian Express carried a news according to which President Ayub Khan’s book, ‘Diaries of Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan 1966-1972’, had a significant entry; “Chanakya the Indian philosopher was also called Kutilya which means liar”. In the late 80s, the Indian Army Chief, General Sundarji, gave a new doctrine against Pakistan, known as the Sundarji doctrine. The concept was to deploy all holding corps along the western border and then to strike deep inside Pakistan to destroy its strike crops. Later in 2004, India introduced yet another doctrine known as Cold Start. It was basically a limited wardoctrine designed to seize Pakistan’s territory swiftly without risking a nuclear conflict. In this doctrine, operations could be undertaken within 48 hours of the orders being issued –enabling the Indian army to take Pakistan by surprise. However, Pakistan countered all these so-called doctrines by undertaking massive exercises. India has now come to the conclusion that it cannot damage Pakistan through a conventional war afterthe nuclear explosions in May 1998. Therefore India has subjected Pakistan to hybrid and fifth generation warfare.
Fifth generation and hybrid warfare are gaining a lot of momentum on socialand mainstream media. Hostile intelligence agencies are using pseudo intellectuals, journalist and bloggers to propagate their narratives. Articles are being published in local and foreign print media to tarnish the image of the armed forces of Pakistan. India is already waging a hybrid war against Pakistan by using RAW to facilitate and influence some pressure groups to undermine peace and stability in Pakistan. At the international forum, India also propagating against Pakistan through getting it blacklisted by lobbying at FATF. There is a growing negative propaganda on social media against Pakistan’s army and the ISI.
When BJP came into power in May 2014, Modi appointed Ajit Doval as the National Security Advisor. A former directorof the Intelligence Bureau (IB) who had spent seven years in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. He was characterised by AS Daulat, the former head of RAW, as ‘the hawkish AjitDoval’ and known as a conspirator and liar. He is obsessed with Pakistan therefore his policies are anti-Muslim and Pakistan centric.His set of policies and ideas are called Doval doctrine through which he is determined to wipe out all Gandhian and Nehruvian approach and to replace it by this Hindutva philosophy. According to his doctrine,‘India will fight not only on its own territory but also on foreign soil which becomes the source of a security threat’ –a clear message to China and Pakistan. However, later India tried to cover up his remarks by saying that he was speaking in the context of civilisation ethos and his remarks were not directed against anyone. Given that China had already taken the war well inside Ladakh, captured 1000 square kilometersof territory in IIOJKshows that it has brought India on its knees. In case of Pakistan we have already demonstrated ourcapability and everytime gave them a bloody nose.
In 2016, India claimed of carrying out surgical strikes against so called terrorist launch pads across the LOCbut noevidence was given. However, it was again planned and executed by RAW to malign Pakistan and this drama was done for public consumption. After Pulwama’s false flag operation, on February 20, 2019, the Indian Air Force conducted air strike on a so called Jaish-e-Muhammad camp is Jabba, Balakot, KPK. This attack was again done for domestic consumption due to election environment in India at that time. Pakistan took a group of international media journalists, mostly Indian based ambassadors and defence attaché of various countries, to the impact site. They were shown the crater in barren open space where fleeing Indian planes dropped their payload contrary to Indian claim that they hit a madrassa.
On February 27, 2019, the PAF engaged six targets acrossthe LOC and also shot down two Indian aircrafts. On the same day an Indian MI-17 was also shot down by Indians themselves out of panic. Furthermore, India is funding banned terrorist organisations to fan sectarian violence and wants to create chaos in the country.It has recently signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) with the US. Pakistan has taken a serious note of this agreement as it will damage stability in South Asia. According to The Wire, through the agreement, India has potentially mortgaged the digitised military capability of its three services to the US. However, with this capability, India is likely to focus on Tibet, Xinjiang, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Afghanistan. Pakistan needs to further strengthen Pakistan-China strategic command and must improve its ties with countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Srilanka. The message to India should be that no matter what doctrine is implemented, Pakistan’s Armed Forces are ready to face all the challenges.