India, Oct. 9 -- Summoning hundreds of America's top military leaders from their posts worldwide, US President Donald Trump and secretary of war Pete Hegseth, harangued them in what is being interpreted as an attempt to enforce ideological alignment among the military's command structure, with a blunt ultimatum that officers who disagree should resign. While such developments in far-off America should not be of concern to us, this sudden and significant departure from long-standing norms in a fellow democracy and its bearing on civil-military relations calls for reflection.

India's armed forces have, so far, had an excellent record of non-involvement in any kind of activity that can be described as politically motivated. A serviceman is ...