Prashant Mishra asked: What is ‘two-and-a-half front war’ and is India prepared for it?

Alok Deb replies: The phrase "two and a half front war" has been heard from time to time in various fora. Essentially it pertains to the Indian armed forces preparing to simultaneously fight conventional wars to the North and West, while also battling any insurgency that might be ongoing at that time in the hinterland.

This is the worst case scenario which the military could be faced with, and would come about only if there is a total breakdown of political, diplomatic, economic and other efforts (including international) to resolve the situation, considering that it is not in any nation's interest in today's connected age to choose to go to war. It also points towards a breakdown of various administrative and other processes in the concerned state/states of the union, consequent to which insurgency has taken root therein.

While the feasibility of such a situation arising is debatable, it is the task of security planners to look at all eventualities and make contingency plans to deal with such situations, all the while maintaining a balance. The state of preparedness to deal with such eventualities is unlikely to be intimated publicly for obvious reasons.

Posted on March 26, 2018