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In a world dictated by the realist
school, Air Cmde Jasjit Singh
continues to defend national interests through the power of his pen,
leaving behind a legacy of strategic thought that may continue to
guide India for years to come, says
Atul Bhardwaj
 International
relations thinkers, despite the penchant to be heard, are by and large
reticent. Perhaps, their professions or rather love demands that their
cadences are measured and precise. And nobody epitomizes this wisdom
more than retired Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, the foremost strategic
thinker that independent India has produced. His mantra is simple- let
your bat (read pen) do all the talking. The man has written numerous
books, papers, commentaries, and reports. And the best part is that
despite his age (he turned 75 on 18 July 2009), he continues to
contribute some seminal thoughts on the changing shape of
international relations.
It is a cliché to talk about the lack of a strategic culture in India
and to say that there is a paucity of thinking men within the Indian
defence establishment. Jasjit, after his retirement from the Air Force
went on to defy these twin myths. The fighter pilot in his second
innings set course to change the strategic culture in the country and
was chiefly instrumental in encouraging young officer corps within the
armed forces to begin appreciating the value of international
relations.
He is too humble to have acknowledged any grandiose plans at the
beginning of his stint with the Institute for Defence Studies and
Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. But those who have had the opportunity to
work with him could clearly read that the Khalsa had the honesty of
purpose to take things to their logical conclusion. That Jasjit was
chosen to head the IDSA by none other than the doyen of strategic
thinking in India, Mr K Subrahmanyam and the very fact that he steered
the Institute for 14 years at a stretch speaks volumes about his
strategic acumen. More than just heading the Institute and publishing
some path breaking work, his single biggest contribution is that he
has democratized strategic thinking in India. Earlier, strategic
thinking was limited to certain quarters in India. The entire thought
process either used to originate from leaders like Nehru or from the
portals of the Ministry of External Affairs. Lesser mortals had very
little room to express their dissent- a generation was brought up,
believing that there is a “consensus on foreign policy issues”.
Jasjit was at the helm at IDSA, when the Berlin Wall began to crumble
and cataclysmic changes started appearing on the international
political scene. The moment India, took its first step into the
liberalization era, it had almost become a habit to deride Nehruvian
economics as well as foreign policy. Gullible Indians were being told
that their foreign policy was hardly based on realism and it was too
moralistic. In the mid 1990s pressure was mounting on India to sign
the NPT and CTBT.
It is at this juncture that Jasjit along with his guru, K Subrahmanyam
articulated India’s nuclear stance to the world at large while
educating Indians who were oblivious of the pulls and pressures being
exerted on their country in the new environment. It would hardly be an
exaggeration to say that Jasjit is well known to and read by a
majority of India watchers across the globe. A contribution for which
he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government.
The result of his endless efforts over the past three decades - that
now continue to flow through the medium of the Centre of Air Power
Studies- have borne fruit. Today, the Indian Navy’s Maritime Research
Foundation and Indian Army’s Centre for Land Warfare Studies are both
headed by Jasjit’s erstwhile colleagues at the IDSA, Cmde. Uday C
Bhaskar and Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal respectively.
The perfectionist that he is, Jasjit feels that a lot more needs to be
accomplished. The fact that not many in the country appreciate the
critical role of the armed forces in the current security environment
and the detachment of the military leadership from the higher decision
making process in the country are serious concerns. On nuclear issues,
Jasjit believes that the current scenario precludes India from taking
any hardline stance on either the NPT or the CTBT. He wants India to
retain its minimum credible deterrence capability, but he strongly
feels that nuclear weapons have a very limited political role as far
as India is concerned. On the issue of jointness, according to him, we
need to adopt a more cautious approach when it comes to announcing the
formation of CDS.
One may agree or disagree with Jasjit, but the fact is that his views
- pearls of wisdom - will continue to be valued by the nation.
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