CASS Lahore Highlights Hindutva’s Growing Influence on India’s Strategic Culture

LAHORE: (News Desk) – The Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS) Lahore organised an event titled “Saffronisation of India’s Strategic Culture: Contemporary Transition and Future Outlook” on July 8, 2026, bringing together academics, intellectuals and security experts to examine ideological shifts in India’s strategic thinking.

Ms Ezba Walayat Khan, Research Assistant at CASS Lahore, delivered the opening address and welcomed participants. She said CASS Lahore, as an independent think tank, regularly holds academic engagements for scholars and practitioners interested in national security and related issues.

Dr Asma Khawaja, Executive Director of the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS), AJK, discussed the mythological roots and civilisational foundations of Hindutva’s influence on Indian strategic thought. She described strategic culture as dynamic and identified revisionism, Hindu supremacy, deception and grand strategic thinking as key features shaping India’s contemporary approach.

Dr Khawaja said that despite India’s claims of preparedness for a two-front war, its civilisational aversion to overextension makes such a conflict unlikely. Referring to Marka-e-Haq, she said India’s conduct appeared to be shaped by historical narratives and civilisational assumptions. She added that India’s pursuit of prestige suffered due to what she termed a misapplication of Kautilya’s principle that perception without preparation can lead to defeat.

She concluded that Indian strategy appeared aimed at achieving dominance rather than maintaining a balance of power.

Dr Bilal Ghazanfar, Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of International Relations at the University of Rawalpindi, said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India had deliberately reshaped its strategic culture through ideological, institutional, military, informational and diplomatic changes.

He identified five factors behind the transition: ideological transformation, institutional and societal reordering, assertive military realism, information dominance and strategic optimism driven by global partnerships. He said Marka-e-Haq served as the first major stress test of this evolving approach and exposed weaknesses in India’s military planning.

Dr Ghazanfar said the Pakistan Air Force’s operational performance under Air Chief Marshal Baber Sidhu highlighted shortcomings in India’s military planning and the intellectual foundations of its post-2014 strategic outlook. He warned that ideological rigidity could restrict strategic self-reflection in India and increase the risk of miscalculation during future crises.

In his concluding remarks, Air Marshal Asim Suleiman (Retd), President of CASS Lahore, said that since 2014, the BJP government had increasingly aligned India’s military outlook with RSS ideology through initiatives such as Project Udbhav, the Agnipath scheme and RSS influence in Sainik Schools.

He contrasted India’s approach during Marka-e-Haq with what he described as the Pakistan Air Force’s measured response under Air Chief Marshal Baber Sidhu. He said the PAF exercised restraint despite having the capability to inflict greater damage.

Air Marshal Suleiman further said that India’s growing extremism had weakened its strategic standing as a net-security provider following Sindoor, referring to the US Pentagon’s restoration of the Pacific Command name. He stressed the need for Pakistan to remain vigilant, prepared and capable of maintaining credible deterrence in an increasingly unpredictable regional security environment.

The event concluded with an interactive session in which participants discussed BJP leadership, deception, morality and informational warfare. The participants appreciated CASS Lahore for hosting what they described as an engaging and thought-provoking discussion.