"MISSION VICTORY INDIA'": AN IDEA, A REALITY & WAY TO VICTORY INDIA ! -' Nixon Fernando
- Nixon Fernando
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Date :- 12/04/26
EDITOR'S NOTE
This piece by Nixon Fernando should be read against the backdrop of the above link MVI article including the additional reference articles inside it . This would give the reader a comprehensive overview of the Victory India Campaign that became Mission Victory India and its aims and objectives.
Editor , MVI
Mission Victory India (MVI)has been operational for the last many years and has in it a wide array of brilliant military minds that have thrown light on bettering the functioning of the Armed forces. MVI is a tremendous effort that has been coordinated by one editor and includes many articles and debates supported and facilitated by many illustrious writers and thinkers.
It began with the focus on the physical aspect of training, it then took on selection and training with special focus on the NDA, and has since dwelled on leadership at all levels of the armed forces. It now even takes on topics relevant to current military affairs of geo-political significance and has evolved into a repository of ideas that in turn hold great significance to wellbeing of the Indian Armed Forces . Briefly, the military leadership, at all levels, stands to gain immensely from MVI’s findings.
Those that have shared their views in Mission Victory India include persons that have occupied positions of highest significance in the Indian military. The total experience in military service going into the compilation may be close to a lakh officer-years of service. The compilation radiates a spirit of reform, wellness, patriotism and a sense of service mindedness that is harmonious with the military salute “Jai Hind”. And it remains committed to the pursuit of truth.
The value of this effort, and the gains that can accrue through it to the armed forces, can be readily understood only by those who are at the heart of the effort. And as the insights grow, and more contributors continue join, the frustration also grows that a thing of such value to the nation and the armed forces is barely being put to use, and that too only after tremendous effort has been put at pushing the ideas across to those currently in harness. All the serving officers need to do is read ! And if they do, it is bound to assist them in their individual pursuit for excellence; they can pass orders, or execute, empowered with insights from very experienced minds.
It is evident that this inability of the armed forces to benefit from insights generated, by all kinds of well-meaning writers and thinkers across forums (not just MVI), is on account of a systemic lacuna. If the armed forces can, on the other hand, come up with a process, that can add this intellectual dimension into its own effective functioning, the intellectual content could turn out to be a huge force multiplier for the military.
By the way of solving this problem, even the simple order, that ‘a military paper written by a member of the Indian Armed forces must receive a well-considered reply from the competent authority being addressed’, can make a difference. This solution, used in the US armed forces, may or may not be suitable in the Indian context in the exact form it is applied there. But surely, some process connected with the National Defense University could resolve the related issues. The goal of such a process should be “to facilitate better decision making in the armed forces, wherever it matters”.
When veterans are appraised of the findings of MVI, a common refrain made to the editor of the MVI is, “If I had known this when I was serving, I would have done everything possible to sort this out”. But of what use is that? It would have mattered if they listened when they were in office. The MVI does a lot to alert those in service about it. The Editor does everything that is humanely possible by a veteran . He even had an audience with the defense minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar (which was scheduled for 10 minutes and extended to 40 minutes ) to pass on his findings. Books from the campaign have been sent to various appointments in the armed forces several times over.
Every new commandant of , at the NDA ,IMA & OTA has been sensitized to the findings of the MVI. There is one approach paper that facilitates a decision maker in better accessing the voluminous compilation. And there is great effort put into getting the Victory India series of books compiled, in keeping the popular magazine for the military brotherhood “Fauji India” alive, and in maintaining the MVI website hosting the articles and debates that are freely accessible on the net. And all this is done without a penny/paise of support from the Indian armed forces. All borne by the sense of service of a retired military officer the editor, and supported by a team of well-meaning veterans who are not paid a single penny/paise for the efforts they put in.
Regardless, there is evidence that those that have enriched themselves with the findings of MVI have been able to use the inputs to excel at their respective mandates. Articles have been used to good effect in military training institutions. But the benefit to the armed forces can be a lot more. And here, benefit to the armed forces implies, the armed forces doing even better what it is already doing; may be that one added edge that will make a difference between success and failure at a future military battle.
Can the situation in the armed forces be corrected? Can we raise the pull factor for knowledge in the armed forces so that this knowledge is furiously consumed and strategically applied across the forces? Can this ‘force multiplier’, based on intellectual content, be tapped to better consequence; without compromise on the existing strengths of the armed forces?
In the pursuit for military excellence, if we can avoid the pitfall of “analysis, analysis, leading to paralysis”, intellectual input can add a lot of strength to the armed forces. Further, timely input can ensure that the armed forces remain nimble at adopting to changing times and technology.
Victory India ! Jai Hind !
Comments