Book Review | In praise of Modi’s calibrated risk-taking on the security front

This is a partisan’s book, but there is no pejorative attached to the word partisan. The author’s partisan overtones are reflected in the opening pages when he contrasts the ineffectiveness and ineptitude of the Manmohan Singh government in the aftermath of November 26, 2008, Mumbai terrorist act in contrast to Prime Minister Modi’s calibrated responses to the terrorist attacks in Pathankot and Uri in the September2016 surgical strikes on the camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, and the February 2019 Balakot airstrike after the Pulwama terror attack. For example, he writes: “The Indian journalist Uday Mahurkar has narrated a point-blank exchange between Modi and Xi on the banks of the serene Sabarmati river, when the Indian leader apparently said, ‘this was not expected of your country’ and asked, ‘Can you tell me when the troops are withdrawing.’ While the exact wording of Modi’s plain-speaking with Xi has not been officially declassified, the Indian leader revealed that he had not pulled punches out of any obligatory sense of hospitality, expectations of Chinese foreign direct investment in the Indian economy, or deference to Chinese military might…”. And about Modi’s decision to conduct surgical strikes in PoK on September 28, 2016, after the terror attacks in Pathankot and in Uri military bases, the author says, “One vector of this transformation was Modi’s Gujarati self-confidence and entrepreneurial spirit to undertake calculated gambles.” It is indeed an interesting way of explaining things. The author writes: “On 28 September 2016, just before the surgical strikes, Doval spoke to his US counterpart, Susan Rice… Once Rice learnt about the surgical strikes the next day, she called Doval again, ‘to ensure that there was no further escalation.’…” The crucial missing link is of course whether Doval told Rice about the surgical strike to be carried out.