Arming without Aiming: India's Military Modernization

by Stephen Philip Cohen

Why did India not pursue its strategic goals more completely? The conventional answer is that India was under international pressure. President Nixon had ordered the USS Enterprise carrier group into the Bay of Bengal to coerce New Delhi. Even India's Soviet allies wanted a quick cessation of hostilities. There was also the military reality that Pakistani defenses in the west were much stronger than in the east. The irrigation ditches in the Punjab, which had proved to be a considerable obstacle in 1965, continued to present a serious challenge. No popular insurrection welcomed the invaders. Additionally, there is the view that India had concentrated its military capacity so overwhelmingly in the east that a change of theater to the west was not even feasible. Further, Indian military stocks were low and needed replenishment. While all these arguments are valid, it is also the case that these problems were surmountable. New Delhi could have prevailed on Moscow to undertake a serious resupply effort and even asked for Soviet submarines to enter the Bay of Bengal to counter the threat from the USS Enterprise task force. Had Indian leaders been ambitious, they might have taken these risks. The decision to keep war goals in check, we believe, is evidence of strategic restraint. New Delhi saw advantage in breaking up Pakistan, but it did not want to prolong the war.