New Delhi: Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval highlighted the importance of a nation’s will in securing lasting peace post-conflict and also elaborated on the objectives of wars.
The NSA said that the main objective of war is to break the will of the nation by defeating its Army.
"Why do we fight the wars? Is it for some vicarious pleasure in killing the adversary's human resources? What are our military objectives and how do we achieve them? We achieve it by breaking the will of the nation and defeating their army breaks the nation's will. When you defeat them on the battleground, the nation is prepared to have peace with you on your terms," Doval said at the launch of Indian Strategic Culture by Maj Gen (Retired) Dr GD Bakshi.
He noted that nations frequently overlook this crucial element of strategy, prioritizing military maneuvers and weaponry over the collective determination of their citizens.
Drawing parallels to ongoing conflicts, the NSA said, "Whether it is Ukraine, Russia, or any war, one of the major tasks that was neglected was creating and strengthening the national will."
He also invoked the teachings of Swami Vivekananda who stressed on fostering national willpower and said "About 100 years ago, one person who rose to do that was Swami Vivekananda."
Doval also stressed the importance of a strong counter-narrative on social media to protect the morale of India's defence forces and maintain national integrity, noting that the credibility of social media is gradually diminishing.
"Social media needs to be countered using social media…The credibility of social media is slowly eroding now. You should focus on searching and exposing stories on social media that show total and blatant lies. This can be done by presenting some photos etc," Doval said.
(With inputs from ANI)