Cold Start and ‘The Sehjra Option’

  • Ali Ahmed
    He worked at Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses from 2008 to 2012 . read more
Volume:4
Issue:4
Perspectives

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. This has its limitations in reacting to nuclear strikes of low opprobrium quotient. Moving to ‘flexible’ nuclear retaliation countenancing ending an exchange at the lowest possible level may be preferable instead. In the nuclear age, utility of military force has reached its limits. The future lies in energising non-military problem solving approaches.

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