Defence strategy experts need of the hour, says ex-Army chief

Indian universities should produce experts in defence strategic studies to guide military personnel not to repeat their old mistakes if any war is fought in the future. Former Army chief and Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge) Gen V K Singh stated this while addressing a seminar on ‘1962 War: an Appraisal’ at Panjab University here . The event also marked the book release of “1962 The War That Wasn’t” by Shiv Kunal Verma.Referring to the PU Defence Studies Department where courses related to the strategic studies was going on, he said such departments were the need of the hour. He said in other developed countries special departments were created by the government so that specialisation and analysis of history and wars of the country could be done to understand the loopholes. This was done so that their soldiers did not repeat such mistakes in future wars. But in India, defence studies meant what we learn in NCC and nothing else, he said. During his address, he said those who did not learn from history suffered a lot in future.Referring to the 1962 war, he appreciated the courage of the Indian soldiers and said they performed well but the defeat was due to political establishment and leadership at the top of the military which lacked in taking the right decision at the right time. He stressed upon analysing the situation of 1962 war to learn what went wrong so that it should not be repeated by the military in the future.Clarifying the myth that after Independence,  the military was keen to go on war to show their might to the neighbours, he said during the 1962 war, military was not taken into confidence by political heads before taking a final call on the war. The political establishment cheated the military by not actively consulting it.Meanwhile, filmmaker and military historian Shiv Kunal Verma who authored the book “1962 The War That Wasn’t” mentioned that while signing the Panchsheel Agreement, India made concessions to China which was against the advice given by the military leadership. PU VC Prof Arun Kumar Grover called upon the Department of Defence and National Security Studies to reach out to the military leadership and retired military officers and create a think tank.  Gen Kulwant Singh, Maj Gen Rajendar Nath, Brig Amarjit Singh Behl and Brigadier DK Khullar also shared their views.The 1962 war veterans Maj Gen Rajendar Nath, Brigadier Amarjit Singh Behl and Brig DK Khullar were also present. They were given standing ovation by the audience.