Signals and Orchestration: India's Use of Compellence in the 2001–02 Crisis

Abstract

How effective was the Indian government in sending clear, coercive signals and orchestrating them into coherent messages during ‘Operation Parakram’ in 2001–02? This study finds that compellence was hampered by three factors: (1) the government kept changing its demands; (2) the lack of adequate civil-military coordination; and (3) the government engaged in a dual-track policy of direct coercion of Pakistan, while simultaneously engaging the United States to put pressure on Pakistan. Ultimately, these two policy strands worked at cross-purposes to each other.