At a time when India has trouble on the borders with Pakistan and China, though calm prevails for the time being, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call to the armed forces to be prepared to fight invisible enemy is not without a reason. This was Modi’s first meet with all the top commanders. And for the first time the fourth dimension of security—the security of the space including cyber space was emphasised. The threat may be known but enemy may be invisible, said Modi at the conference. The Prime Minister noted that the world was looking at New Delhi with renewed interest, confidence and excitement and there was expectation from India to emerge not only as one of the poles of the global economy but also as one of the anchors of regional and global security. Controlling of space may become critical as that of land, air, and sea as an agent of deterrence. With security challenges less predictable there is a need to have futuristic vision evolving along with the changing technologies, ideologies and threats-internal or external. Though ruling out full scale wars Modi did not rule out small wars, which at times become unavoidable keeping in view the border situations like in Jammu and Kashmir. However, in the present scenario with inflation not that alarming and industrial production still struggling to gain grounds, war in any case seems a remote possibility. Both countries are not in a position to sustain the aftermath of it. For Pakistan the situation is the worst. With the scourge of Jihadi terrorism sweeping across that country and democratic institutions falling, India will have to respond to Pakistan’s provocations across the border alongside engaging through back channel to end cross-border firing. Pakistan should also realise the futility of the prolonged troubles on the border and helping infiltration so that peace process can be initiated in the right earnest.
