Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was on the button when he declared that, if war broke out, the military would not be ready for at least six to seven months.


The RSS chief did not mention that those months would fly past in emergency procurement of weaponry for the army, probably at usurious prices.


And he was laughably naive in boasting that the RSS could fill the gap while the army prepared for operations.


Yet, Bhagwat perceived the worrying lack of defence readiness, even though it apparently escapes those whose primary responsibility is the defence of the country -- Prime Minister Narendra D Modi, his defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and her predecessors, Arun Jaitley and Manohar Parrikar. Read the full column here.