Abstract
This paper examines the arguments that portray India’s strategic and defence bias towards the “continental focus” and studies as to whether the same is unnecessary in the contemporary geopolitical environment wherein technology brought in a paradigm shift in influencing warfare (Das, P. 2015). It evaluates the perceptions, that frequently are cited, prior to budget allocations and change in senior leadership in the Defence organisations— of land centricity, excessive and institutionally biased. The paper contrasts these perceptions with evidence-based arguments from contemporary conflicts and enduring geopolitical realities of the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate relevance of land power to war outcomes, analyse if the current reform processes in the Indian Armed Forces are mischaracterised and challenge uncritical adoption of external strategic constructs into the Indian context. The essence of the paper lies in the fact that Indian strategic posture must be grounded in its geography (Singh, H. 2009), current and future threat environment, and political realities rather than being shaped by fashionable but contextually misaligned narratives.
Keywords: Continental Force, Geography, Strategic Compulsions, Defence
