QUESTION 18
GS3
12.5 marks
The terms ‘Hot Pursuit’ and ‘Surgical Strikes’ are often used in connection with armed action against terrorist attacks. Discuss the strategic impact of such actions.
WRITE IN
9 min
200 words
What the examiner wants
Distinguish hot pursuit from surgical strikes and discuss their strategic consequences.
DiscussExplain the different sides of the issue, use evidence, and finish with a balanced view.
Demand-wise check
- 1Meaning: hot pursuit is chasing attackers across a border immediately; surgical strike is a pre-planned, limited precision attack on targets≈35 words
- 2Examples: Myanmar border operation (June 2015), strikes across the LoC (September 2016), later Balakot (2019)≈35 words
- 3Strategic impact: deterrence, raising cost of terror, public morale, calling nuclear bluff; risks of escalation, international law, diplomatic backlash, limited long-term effect on proxy war≈35 words
- 4Conclusion: tool, not strategy≈35 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
DefinitionsExamplesPositive strategic impactRisksConclusion
Where marks usually go
- Treating both terms as the same
- Only celebrating operations without risks
Draw this
- Escalation ladder showing where these actions sit
Value addition
- EventAfter the Uri attack (September 2016) India conducted surgical strikes across the LoC on 29 September 2016.Indian Army, 2016
- EventJune 2015 operation against NSCN(K) camps on the Myanmar border followed the Chandel ambush in Manipur.2015
- LawArticle 51 of the UN Charter recognises the right of self-defence against an armed attack.UN Charter
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 9 minutes, then get it checked.