Very strange and paradoxical it seems that preparedness for war is essential for preserving peace. But the saying, appears to be true for if a country be well equipped with all the modem war gadgets and weapons, other nations will have to think twice before taking any conflict with it. On the other hand, a weak nation becomes prey to the whims and aggressions of powerful neighbors. Balance of Power is must for preserving the peace.
Peace means freedom from war, but how can one preserve it unless or until you are well equipped you can’t preserve your peace. A peace loving nation may not have the intention to enlarge its empire but who can guarantee the dictates of other neighbor countries.
What happened with our country when China attacked in 1962 ? We, being fully peace loving country, never felt necessity till then to be equipped our self with modem war gadgets and weapons. China, took the opportunity and attacked us, made encroachment on our land. What did UNO do? What other Super Power could have done? None came to our rescue. Think of today, when we are equipped with all kinds of nuclear and other weapons, can china dare to attack us now ? No … , because ,China is,well known to our preparedness for war. Our ‘No First Attack’ stand with Pakistan,since 1971, is because of being capable to destroy that country in all eventualities. In the present world your power decides your relation with neighbors.
The attack of USA on Iraq and the removal of Osamabin Laden from Afghanistan all show the same thing that best guarantee for peace is your best preparedness for war. A powerful can dictate terms to the less powerful.
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But ‘Peace’ if taken in a broader sense, reflects some thing different. Actually. peace can’t be preserved only with the preparedness for war. Preparedness for war could be a deterrent for an attacking country, but the real things the removal of cause of war, removal of cause of discontent, removal of disparities. Think of a situation, when none have any war weapons, will the society or mankind not be survived then peacefully. The actual requirement for preserving peace is, faith in principles of Coexistence, faith in integrity and sovereignty of all nations, faith in the inherent values of humanity and mankind. Total disarmament, destruction of nuclear and other weapons, making the UNO the real effective must be made in order to keep the whole world in peace to bring in the form of one loving family. The Terrorism, Imperialistic intensions, Racial and Religious hatredness must be eliminated at all cost only then we can think of to preserve the peace in this world.
All these things are like sermons of ethics, one finds difficult to follow. The lessons of Non-violence can be effective but how much sacrifices one has to make, can be well understand with Indian experience. To tackle the imperial whims of the rulers it is but necessary that we are prepared for all the eventualities. After attaining independence the great and peace loving leaders of our country followed the principles of Panchsheel and never thought to get ready or prepare ourselves for any ill will of the neighbors, and as a result we had to lose land ,when China attacked.
The ancient history of India reveals so many examples where a stronger ruler always attacks the weaker neighbor. America attacked Japan and dropped Atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because Japan was a weak country. Can today America dare to do like that? No not at all.
Nothing but Power, your preparations for any eventualities, your preparations to face any imperialistic whims, can guarantee you the peace. So it is the right conclusion that preparedness for war is necessary for the preservation of peace.