Operation Brasstacks

The Operation Brasstacks was a codename of a large military exercise undertaken by the Indian Army in Rajasthan region of India during November 1986 and March 1987. It was one of the largest mobilizations of Indian Armed Forces in the Indian subcontinent. Many regard this as one of the most critical points in the relationships between India and Pakistan with regard to nuclear war. The exercise's magnitude and closeness to the border caused a situation where a war between India Pakistan looked imminent. There is still a considerable debate regarding the purpose of the exercise as many believe that India was preparing for a war against Pakistan, even though the stated objective of Operation Brasstacks was to test new concepts of mechanization, mobility, and air support devised by General Sundarji.^{[1][dubious – discuss]}

Indian army rationale and moves

The Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, General Krishnaswamy Sundarrajan (popularly known as Sundarji), at that time, advocated for modern methods of land-based warfare and professionalism in the Indian Army. According to General Sundarji, Operation Brasstacks was carried out to test new concepts of mechanization, mobility, and air support.

The scale of the operation was bigger than any NATO exercise and the biggest land exercise since World War II. According to retired Lieutenant-General PN Hoon, commander of the Western Military Command of the Indian Army, Operation Brasstacks was a mobilization of the entire army of India. The exercise took place in the deserts of Rajasthan instead of the sensitive regions of Kashmir and the then restive Punjab. At one point of time nearly 400,000 Indian army troops were deployed directly across the Sindh Province of Pakistan. The magnitude and large scale direction of the exercise led to Pakistan fears that India was displaying an overwhelming conventional superiority and was planning to invade Pakistan, and dismember it by surgical strikes, as it did with East Pakistan during the Indo-Pak 1971 Winter war.

Pakistan's response

Pakistan's response was to mobilize its entire V Corps and Southern Air Command, near the Indian state of Punjab. Then-President and Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, General Zia-ul-Haq viewed the exercise as a direct threat and challenge to Pakistan's existence, and issued commands Armoured Corps and entire V Corps to move to the front lines. Meanwhile, Pakistan Air Force proceeded with Pakistan Army, and the Southern Air Command was put on high-alert directly reporting to Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force Air Chief Marshal Jamal Ahmad Khan.

In order to remind the Indian Armed Forces of the possible repercussions of war with Pakistan General Zia-ul-Haq famously said: "If your [Indian Armed] Forces cross our [Pakistan] borders by even an inch, we are going to annihilate your cities", indicating that if necessary, Pakistanis will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons, as first strike policy, in order to defend their motherland. Many defence analysts saw this statement as the first real, although subtle, confirmation of Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons and discouraged an Indian invasion of Pakistan's territory.^[2]

By mid January, both the Indian army and the Pakistan army were facing each other on the frontiers. The situation could have potentially lead to a war between a de facto nuclear weapon state (India—who had already conducted a nuclear test in 1974 codename Smiling Buddha) and a state that was believed to be developing nuclear weapons at that time (Pakistan).

End of Operation Brasstacks

According to events that played out and stance taken by the Indian army, Operation Brasstacks was only an exercise and not supposed to be a provocative one. The media, particularly the western media, was involved after this and intense diplomatic maneuvers followed preventing any further escalation in hostilities.

Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and self-appointed President General Zia-ul-Haq involved in Cricket diplomacy to resolve this issue towards a peaceful end. It is also widely quoted that General Zia-ul-Haq, using his military confidence to his advantage, threatened and intimidated the Indian prime minister in the same cricket diplomacy during a match by warning him of Pakistani fighter jets loaded with nuclear weapons awaiting orders back home.^{[3] [4]}

Further reading

• Sunil Dasgupta, 'Operation Brasstacks,' Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, October 1996 (book review; notes previous coverage of the operation)

External links

• http://www.upiasia.com/Politics/2010/02/24/indias_futile_talks_with_pakistan/3333/
• http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143245
• http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/siafdu/sundarji.html&date=2009-10-26+02:34:27
• http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/aug/05hoon.htm Rediff interview by PN Hoon
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/brass-tacks.htm
• http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rtanter/S96PS472_Papers/KHAN.ARIFA.PAKISTAN
• http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/Army-Chiefs/Chiefs-Army16.html
• http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1902/19021240.htm V.P Singh's statement on the operation

1. ^ "pakistanlink url=http://pakistanlink.org/Commentary/2006/March06/03/02.HTM". 
2. ^ "pakistanlink url=http://pakistanlink.org/Commentary/2006/March06/03/02.HTM". 
3. ^ "pakistanlink url=http://pakistanlink.org/Commentary/2006/March06/03/02.HTM". 
4. ^ "israelnationalnews url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143245".