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General Krishnaswamy Sundarji will be remembered as one of the Indian military’s most brilliant strategic minds who deserved to have his story told, author Probal Dasgupta tells Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale.
In his book, “General Brasstacks: The Sundarji Story,” Dasgupta traces Sundarji’s formative years, highlighting how his training at the United States Army Command and General Staff College shaped his belief that India needed to move beyond inherited British military structures and embrace mobility, technology, and modern combined-arms warfare.
The book highlights Sundarji’s bold leadership during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War and his handling of the Sumdorong Chu standoff, where innovative heliborne deployments helped India gain a tactical advantage over Chinese forces.
A major focus is Operation Brasstacks, one of the largest military exercises conducted since World War II. This operation showcased Sundarji’s strategic ambition and defined how his assertive approach reshaped India’s national security thinking, generating intense debate within military and political circles.
Dasgupta also critically examines the General’s most controversial and heavily debated operations, such as the tactical execution of Operation Blue Star and the logistical challenges of the IPKF intervention in Sri Lanka.
