ABSTRACT
Military change in India has been a function of two factors: the evolving capabilities and postures of its long-term adversaries, Pakistan and China, and the limited resources available for modernization. Major change has occurred only in India's politico-military strategy towards Pakistan as well as in the doctrines adopted by the armed services for prosecuting wars against that country. This chapter shows how India's grand strategy has not fundamentally changed, with only long-term incremental adjustments being made to cope with the new reality of China's rise. It argues that with regard to Pakistan, strategy, doctrine and organization have changed in both an incremental and major fashion. The pursuit of victory and operational lessons learned drove India's military change on strategic, doctrinal and organizational levels. This was especially so after Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons, which led to the replacement of the pursuit of victory in full-scale war with gaining strategic advantage in limited war.
