Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh  attributed the prolonged nature of ongoing global conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza conflict, to a lack of clear conflict termination strategies. He also criticised the shifting of goals and added that “egos are coming in between”. 

The Air Force Chief further emphasised the importance of defining and adhering to military objectives in conflict situations. He added that a conflict has a “price which has to be paid” and would affect the economy of the nation. 

“The main wars that are going on today be it Russia, Ukraine, or the Israel war. They are going on, years have passed, because no one is thinking about conflict termination. We heard that people said that no, we should have done a little more. We stopped the war very quickly. Yes, they were on the back foot, no doubt, but what were our objectives? Our objective was anti-terrorism,” he said.  

“We had to strike them. We had done that. So if our objectives have been met, then why should we not terminate a conflict? Why should we carry on? Because any conflict has a lot of price that has to be paid. It will affect our preparedness for the next one. It will affect our economy. It will affect the progress of the country. So, I think this is what the world is forgetting,” the IAF Chief said. 

He further pointed to India’s approach as a model and said, “They do not know what our target was when we started the war. Now their goal post is shifting. Egos are coming in between. And this is where I think the world has to learn a lesson from India, how to start and terminate a conflict at the earliest possible opportunity.”