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Vijay Diwas Celebration: On the occasion of Vijay Diwas, as the country commemorates the historic victory of the 1971 war, we spoke exclusively with former DIG Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey. In this exclusive interview, he explained the significance of the Indian Army’s decisive victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan war and shed light on the Indian Army’s journey from ground combat 54 years ago to today’s high-tech warfare. He also explained what the biggest military challenges facing India in 2040 will be: border security, cyber warfare, and drone warfare. Learn what the former DIG of the BSF had to say on these issues.
Question: The 1971 war with Pakistan was a major victory for the Indian Army. How do you view the journey from that era’s army to today’s army? What has changed the most since then?
Answer: Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey said that 1971 was the only decisive war in India’s war history. After Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession in 1947, the Indian Army first had the opportunity to demonstrate its bravery when Pakistani tribesmen attacked the state of Jammu and Kashmir. They were supported by the Pakistani army. At that time, the Instrument of Accession granted India the right to intervene by sending troops. And in 1947, India intervened in Jammu and Kashmir within a very short time, but by the time this happened, a part of Jammu and Kashmir had broken away to become Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). But do not forget that the foundation for the creation of Pakistan is very old, and the continuity of that foundation remains the same today; only its form has changed.
In 1965, Pakistan again attempted audacity, and was defeated by India on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. However, the 1971 war was decisive. It was a one-sided war. It’s cited as an example in the history of world wars. We were children in 1971, and I vaguely remember listening to coverage of that war on the transistor. But imagine how the then leadership prepared and fought an open war in this very winter month on the 4,090-kilometer East Pakistan border. They then separated East Pakistan from mainland Pakistan.
It’s history also includes the fact that the Border Security Force, which was raised in 1965, entered Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, on March 25, 1971. Its military briefing took place at the BSF Academy, Tekanpur, where the military commander, our Chief of Army Staff, Sam Bahadur Manekshaw, was personally present. And that was the day the BSF first used homemade rocketry in 1971. The BSF column in East Pakistan became part of the Army’s open column. The first bombardment of Rajshahi Cantonment was carried out by Army and BSF troops traveling by boat across the Padma River. That was the first shelling; it is part of history.
Besides that, there are many areas in the Northeast and along the Bengal border where open warfare took place, and there’s a history of that war. But that war was fought with howitzers and .303 guns. That is, we only had howitzers in terms of artillery. And we had .303 bolt-action rifles from the Enfield company, which was a foreign company; even then, we didn’t produce the .303 guns ourselves. You can imagine how basic the weapons were with which the Indian Army, the Border Security Force, and the Air Force, with their support, fought that war. And the Navy, as a silent fighter, maintained dominance in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, a dominance that shook Pakistan.
Now, look at that war; it was a war of valor, a war of numbers, a war of courage, a war of the number of boots on the ground. And strategically, India had a huge advantage because East Pakistan was landlocked on three sides by India, and below it was the Bay of Bengal, where our Navy had supremacy. So, all in all, it was a decisive war, and in that war, there was a great, conventional, basic, rudimentary display of military power. In terms of artillery, there were howitzers, and in terms of rifles, there were single-shot .303 bolt-action rifles. But if you start that journey from 1971, then in these 54 years, our military history, our defense doctrine, and our defense preparedness have advanced manifold. This has progressed to such an extent that you witnessed a demonstration of it in Operation Sindoor 2025, where, within a 32-minute window, the Indian Army and Air Force destroyed 14 Pakistani targets, including the Nur Khan Air Base, Kirana Hills, Rawalpindi, and then, if you go further north, parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. If you look at the area from Skardu, which is part of India, all the way to Bolari, that is, the eastern part of Karachi, there wasn’t a single airbase left where the Indian Air Force hadn’t demonstrated its prowess. And they neutralized their airbases in such a way, rendering them unfit for use, that Pakistan couldn’t even respond.
The biggest thing was that their facade of nuclear blackmail was exposed to the whole world – the empty threat of using nuclear bombs. The US used nuclear bombs only once, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; since then, no nuclear bombs have been used in the world, because in a nuclear war, nobody wins. Only humanity loses; no individual or country emerges victorious.
So, if you look at it, India’s journey from 1971 to 2025 has been a very significant one. There were major reasons behind this. The reason was that earlier we relied entirely on the defense equipment of developed countries. But sometimes, as they say, a setback makes you stronger. When it came to becoming a nuclear power or preparing for nuclear capabilities, the world community treated us in a certain way. Even the Non-Proliferation Treaty came into question, and people refused to provide us with the related technology. I am grateful to those scientists—Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, then Satish Dhawan, Vikram Sarabhai, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and countless other scientists who envisioned ISRO and DRDO. If ISRO and DRDO hadn’t existed, our satellites wouldn’t be in space right now.
We wouldn’t have missiles. The Agni missile, which we are discussing today, was conceived in 1981-82. This means it took 45 years to develop such an effective armament. So, India started its journey from there and, within its own system, drew up a comprehensive blueprint for defense preparedness. Because, if we look at the world today, even during the conflict between India and Pakistan in April, we found many in the world giving us advice and preaching peace.
European countries, which are Westernized but considered somewhat neutral, did condemn the attack. But no one said that Pakistan should be given a befitting reply. Chinese-made fighter aircraft, missiles, and drones were used by Pakistan on our soil. Turkish and Azerbaijani materials were also used. But how complex the world is today! Today, war is not just a strategic war. This entire conflict has transformed into an economic war; it’s a trade war.
Trade warfare has become so intertwined with security and military warfare that we conduct $105 billion worth of business with the same China whose weapons were used against us. There is no other way; you have to do it. Because in the world market, America is threatening you with open tariffs and imposing tariffs on you. You know that our exports to America are more than our imports. So, to tighten the screws, America imposed such severe tariffs on us.
These are the people who brought about the United Nations after World War II, the WTO was brought in by the US, the International Monetary Fund was brought in by the US, and the World Bank was also brought in by the US, simply to sell their products to the world, and that too on terms that support their own economy. So, in such a complex world, India cannot remain isolated.
India has increased its defense capabilities, and at this time we are in a position where, as you may have recently seen, Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to Russia after a two-day visit. It was very encouraging to hear that by 2030, India will be conducting $100 billion worth of transactions with Russia. Look at the traditional wars we have fought, whether it was the 1971 war or even today in 2025. Our biggest defense supplier has been Russia, and it’s also very gratifying that they have agreed to a deal for five squadrons of S-400s, which is a huge shield for our air defense, often referred to as the Sudarshan Chakra.
After this agreement, India is now going to establish five squadrons. Following this, there have been so many series of deals, and now the question is not about buyer and seller, Russia selling and us buying. Now the relationship between India and Russia is not that of buyer and seller. This relationship has now reached the level of a partnership. Because we developed the BrahMos missile in a partnership. And that BrahMos proved so successful that it completely overwhelmed the Pakistani defense system. Pakistan was not in a position to defend against it.
Now, with the agreement that is about to be signed, we are going to develop a model of the BrahMos that we can even drop from light combat aircraft. Because the current BrahMos projectile requires large jet engines. We are now going to produce it with smaller jet engines as well, and we are going to become a supplier to Third World countries. The most important thing is that we are going to become a supplier. And the government has allocated 49 lakh crore rupees to your R&D, research, and production in the defense budget. So, if you look at it, our defense budget has also increased by about 13-14 percent. So, today, India is not just using defense for its own security; it’s using it for defense commerce.
India is not just manufacturing weapons for self-defense. India will sell these weapons to the world because we have 37 crore young people in our country. There are 60 crore middle-aged people in this country, and India is a country of 145 crore people, which is the world’s largest consumer market. Because America’s strength is the service sector. Most of America’s wealth is in the service sector. China’s biggest strength is the manufacturing sector. China is currently doing about 22 percent of the world’s production. So, in the last 20-22 years, China has taken itself to almost a $20 trillion economy.
So, a $20 trillion economy and India’s $4.2 trillion economy. There is still a huge gap between China and us. We have to bridge this gap. So, where did we stand in the field of defense in 1971, and where do we stand today? In the last 10 years, from 2014 to 2024, we have seen a 10-fold growth. I’m talking about the last 10 years. India has now understood that there are only two fundamental mantras to compete in the world: indigenous production and self-reliance. That is, we have to be self-reliant, we have to be Atmanirbhar (self-sufficient).
Today, warfare is not just fought with rifles on the border. Today, TV screens are also a very big part of warfare. Battles are being fought on computer screens as well. There was a time when our soldiers walked on foot through the entirely riverine East Pakistan area to separate East Pakistan from Pakistan and create Bangladesh. But today, your missile has struck a target 260 kilometers away without crossing the border. You’ve seen for yourselves that none of the soldiers crossed the international border during Operation Sindoor.
The entire battle was fought within our own territory and was a technological war. Space warfare and your satellites played a huge role. The navigational equipment you have deployed in space played a significant role. And then, there was the synergy of our indigenous products with this high-end equipment. We synchronized our existing assets with new technology, which is why we achieved such accurate, pinpoint success in such a short time, a success the whole world is witnessing.
And today, India is a thorn in everyone’s side. Because if anyone is going to compete in the world market, it will be India. And whether it’s America, China, or the European Union, none of them want India to become a competitor in their defense production in the future. So this is a very significant change, and it’s a very interesting journey from 1971 to 2025.
