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Defending India
Jaswant Singh
New Delhi: Macmillan India, 1999
ISBN 0-333-72774-6
Jaswant Singh's book makes its readers consider two important and related issues. First, it forces the reader to consider lessons learnt from the evolution of Indian security and defence policy since independence. Second, it makes the reader look into the future and consider challenges before India's security establishment and how appropriate policies might be shaped. The book is organised as follows. The narrative (Chapter 2) begins with a survey of the evolution of the armed forces from their British origins to the present day. This is followed by two chapters Q and 4, respectively) on independent India's military operations and defence spending and force structure. These chapters are thorough, competent and comprehensive, but they are not exceptional. Those who expected the book to sketch an outline of Indian's nuclear doctrine will be disappointed. The postscript, which deals with India's nuclear tests, offers little by way of original analysis and relies excessively on quotes from Raja Ramanna's memoirs and Jasjit...