Signals and Orchestration: India’s Use of Compellence in the 2001–02 Crisis

Patrick Bratton

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How effective was the Indian government in sending clear, coercive signals and orchestrating them into coherent messages during ‘Operation Parakram’ in 2001-02? This study finds that compellence was hampered by three factors: (1) the government kept changing its demands; (2) the lack of adequate civil-military coordination; and (3) the government engaged in a dual-track policy of direct coercion of Pakistan, while simultaneously engaging the United States to put pressure on Pakistan. Ultimately, these two policy strands worked at cross-purposes to each other.