Military objectives are achieved by breaking the will of nation: NSA Ajit Doval

India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Oct 25 emphasized the critical role of the nation's will in securing lasting peace post-conflict and questioned the core objectives of warfare.

Referring to the Russia-Ukraine war, Doval said that the way to achieve military objectives is by breaking the will of the nation, and defeating their army breaks the nation's will.

"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.” Doval said at the release of the book ‘Indian Strategic Culture’ by Maj Gen (Retired) Dr GD Bakshi.

“When you defeat them on the battleground, the nation is prepared to have peace with you on your terms," he added.
He suggested that nations often overlook this vital aspect of strategy, and instead focus on military maneuvers and armament rather than the collective resolve of their citizens.

Drawing parallels to ongoing conflicts, Doval 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 cited the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, who, over a century ago, championed the notion of fostering national willpower. "About 100 years ago, one person who rose to do that was Swami Vivekananda."

Doval also stressed the need for a robust counter-narrative on social media to safeguard the morale of India's defense forces and national integrity and said that the credibility of social media is slowly eroding.

"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.