India, in an effort to exploit its military strength, proposed a new doctrine for employing its armed forces in any future war with Pakistan, which was named as �Cold Start Doctrine�. The concept envisions a deliberate buildup and seeks to initiate war in quick timeframe capturing vital objectives in selected areas thus putting India at a better bargaining position at the end of war. The doctrine envisages quick mobilization of armed forces, limited offensives by the potent reserves of holding formations against soft targets and capturing of maximum possible territory along the border before Pakistan is able to retaliate in military as well political dimensions. However, implementation of the doctrine necessitates major modifications in the locations, configuration and war fighting mechanism of Indian holdings and strike formations, Navy and Air Force. Doctrine has severe implications for Pakistan in general and its armed forces in particular. In that context there is a need to carry out an in depth analysis of Cold Start Doctrine (CSD), highlight its practicability for India and the consequent impacts over Pakistan and recommend suitable measures to be incorporated in the strategic and tactical fields to match the threats emerging from the new concept. The paper concludes that the CSD remains vague about defining Pakistan�s nuclear threshold, a factor which will always come into play while making any kind of offense against it. Detailed analysis proves that doctrine is still a concept and is lacking behind in a number of aspects for implementation. Till now the countermeasures of Pakistan are very effective but there is a need for continued monitoring of development in this field by Indian strategists.

Username
Password