Heavy  reliance on Western  models  of warfare  and  the rhetoric  of  US- and UK-based  think tanks has  held back India’s  strategic  development.  

New Delhi:  Twenty years  ago, the Indian Navy prepared  its  war doctrine for 2025, which  envisaged  Indians sending expeditionary forces to different parts of the  world. It turned out that the  doctrine  drafted  by an Indian Navy  vice admiral was unfortunately an iteration  of the  American Expeditionary Force’s  doctrine and was  later abandoned because India, by  the late  1990s, could barely afford it. ability to launch naval air strikes  against  world superpowers at  the  time.  Although  promoted by the  Navy  chief at the time,  the doctrine was  rejected by  the Naval  Command.  

  Although  Prime Minister Narendra Modi  has emphasized  the need to decolonize  India’s thinking  as part of  the ‘Paanch Prans’  announced on  the  75th Independence  Day in 2022,  the  strategic  thinking of India  is  still heavily  influenced by Western terminology. This  not only  permeates  the training institutions of the Indian  armed forces  and is  also  reflected in  theses,  even at the  higher command  level.  The downside  is that future Indian warriors have a Western approach  to  a problem  that has a  regional/civilizational  context, which is underappreciated  and  seen  as baggage  from  history  India  or  the ancient  past.  

 Even in  high-level  national security  organizations  or war  academies,  words like  “maximalism”, “progressivism”, “global joint”, “kinetic  and non-kinetic  weapons” ”  and  “multilateralism”  are  an integral  part of the  common language.  in  American  think tanks. In  the  higher  defense establishment,  the  war strategists  most often  mentioned  are  the  Chinese Sun Tzu or  the  Prussian  General  Carl Von  Clausewitz,  with or without  context,  not  the  Indian strategist Chanakya  , alias Vishnugupt,  of the Mauryan  period.  

 The heavy reliance on Western  models  of warfare  and  the rhetoric  of  US and UK based  think tanks has actually  held back India’s  strategic  development,  as we  happily when modeled on  Western solutions to  inherently  Indian problems. It is in this context that Prime Minister Narendra Modi  called on  the Indian Navy to  celebrate Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Sindhudurg  Navy Day  to  showcase India’s  maritime  heritage.  It is for this  reason that the seal of the Maratha Emperor was included in the  flag of the  Indian Navy  and  on the  Shivaji-inspired  shoulder straps  for Indian Navy personnel.  It’s all  part of  clearing away  vestiges of the colonial era for a maritime force that  had displayed  the  St. George colony until  the  INS Vikrant  was commissioned  in 2022.  The cross itself  was replaced by the seal of the Maratha  emperor. ,  who had  the same  maritime vision  as the  Chola  emperor  Rajendra Chola  over  the  centuries.  

 Since India has ambitions to sit  high  globally,  it  must  develop  unique  thinking and  strategic  solutions in the  Indian  context  and not  just imitate  Western concepts. “Atmanirbhar Bharat”  is  not  limited to making India a military-industrial  power but must  also  inspire unique  strategic thinking. 

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