Archive · 20 Aug 2026
General Sundarji’s Strategic Legacy From Brasstacks to Brassboard
General Krishnaswamy Sundarji was an important Indian Army leader who liked to think about future wars.
He was known for being unconventional and for creating new military plans.
He became the first Infantry officer to command an Armoured Division.
He also helped set up a military planning group that later became the Integrated Defence Staff.
His large exercise, Operation Brasstacks, tested how India might use its forces against Pakistan.
The exercise became dangerous when Indian armoured forces moved toward the international border and Pakistan responded with its own military move.
India then chose to reduce tensions and use diplomacy.
Sundarji was praised for his ideas but also criticized for decisions connected with Operation Blue Star and Operation Pawan.
The article says his proposed two-front exercise, Brassboard, was never carried out after he retired.
General Krishnaswamy Sundarji is portrayed as an unconventional, influential and highly strategic Indian Army commander.
He became the first Infantry officer to command an Armoured Division and later led the Eastern and Western Armies.
Sundarji helped establish the Defence Planning Staff, now called the Integrated Defence Staff.
The article credits him with shaping Operation Brasstacks and concepts later linked to the Cold Start Doctrine and Integrated Battle Groups.
His record also included criticism over Operation Blue Star, Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka and the escalation risks during Brasstacks.
- Who
- General Krishnaswamy Sundarji, a former Indian Army Chief, and the military and political figures associated with his career.
- What
- The article assesses Sundarji’s military career, strategic ideas, successes, controversies and unrealized Brassboard concept.
- When
- Across Sundarji’s military career, including the periods of Operation Blue Star, Operation Pawan and Operation Brasstacks; the article does not provide exact dates.
- Where
- India, including the Golden Temple, Western and Northern Commands, Delhi Cantonment and the borders involving Pakistan and China; Sri Lanka was also central to Operation Pawan.
- Why
- The article argues that Sundarji anticipated strategic questions facing India and influenced military planning despite serious operational and political controversies.
Strategic Innovator
Operationally Controversial Commander
Military vision
Strategic Innovator
Supporters portray Sundarji as a thinking and unconventional General who anticipated India’s modern strategic challenges.
Operationally Controversial Commander
Critics point to his lack of combat experience and argue that some of his major operational judgments produced serious setbacks.
Operation Brasstacks
Strategic Innovator
The exercise is presented as a sophisticated strategic and military evaluation that influenced later ideas about deep strikes, mechanised formations and Integrated Battle Groups.
Operationally Controversial Commander
The movement of Indian armoured forces toward the international border created escalation risks, prompting Pakistan’s response and India’s decision to de-escalate.
Operational record
Strategic Innovator
Despite controversy, the article says Sundarji retained credibility and was repeatedly sought for defence reforms, strategic papers and military exercises.
Operationally Controversial Commander
The article attributes criticism to the use of force in Operation Blue Star and to flawed intelligence and an overconfident initial plan during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka.
- Military distinction
- Sundarji became the first Infantry officer to command an Armoured Division.
- Senior commands
- He served as commander of both the Eastern and Western Armies before becoming Army Chief.
- Planning institution
- He ordered the creation of the Defence Planning Staff, now called the Integrated Defence Staff.
- Major exercise
- Operation Brasstacks was a large Indian military exercise whose escalation created concern along the India-Pakistan border.
- Two-front concept
- The proposed Brassboard exercise was intended to combine the strategic lessons of Brasstacks and Chequerboard.
- Operational criticism
- The article criticizes Sundarji’s role in Operation Blue Star and Operation Pawan.
- Nuclear theme
- The article says nuclear dangers emerged during Brasstacks and were addressed in Sundarji’s fictionalized war game, Blind Men of Hindoostan: Indo-Pakistan Nuclear War.