A Military History of India since 1972 Full Spectrum Operations and the Changing Contours of Modern Conflict

A Military History of India since 1972 is a definitive work of military history that gives the Indian military its rightful place as a key contributor to Indian democracy. Arjun Subramaniam offers an engaging narrative that combines superb storytelling with the academic rigor of deep research and analysis. It is a comprehensive account of India's resolute, responsible, and restrained use of force as an instrument of statecraft and how the military has played an essential role in securing the country's democratic tradition along with its rise as an economic and demographic power.

This book is also about how the Indian nation-state and its armed forces have coped with the changing contours of modern conflict in the decades since 1972. These include the 2016 “surgical” or cross-border strikes across the Line of Control with Pakistan by the Indian Army’s Special Forces, the face-offs with the Chinese at Doklam in 2017 and in Ladakh in 2020, the preemptive punitive strikes by the Indian Air Force against terrorist camps in Pakistan in 2019, and the large-scale aerial engagement between the Indian Air Force and the Pakistan Air Force the following day. These conflicts also include the long-running insurgencies in the northeast, terrorism and proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, separatist violence in Punjab, and the Indian Peace Keeping Force’s intervention in Sri Lanka. The author also includes a chapter on the development of India’s nuclear capabilities.

Arjun Subramaniam enlivens the narrative with a practitioner’s insights amplified by interviews and conversations with almost a hundred serving and retired officers, including former chiefs from all the three armed forces for an in-depth exploration of land, air, and naval operations. The structure of the book offers readers a choice of either embarking on a comprehensive and chronological examination of war and conflict in contemporary India or a selective reading based on specific timelines or campaigns.

Arjun Subramaniam is a retired air vice marshal from the Indian Air Force. In addition to serving as a mentor and academic advisor at India’s National Defence College, he has been a visiting fellow at the Harvard Asia Center, at Oxford University, and at Northeastern University. He has taught at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and several universities in India. He is the author of India’s Wars: A Military History, 1947–1971.