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26 Sayurusara 2022 December

“The Art of War is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either
to safety or to ruin. Hence, it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. ” -
General Sun Tzu (771-476 BC)

1. The significant argument of the Art of War is, ‘the war should be avoided by the diplomacy.
If it can not be controlled, it should be fought strategically and psychologically to minimize
damage to the own resources’. The war is the last option and leading to a battle means, you
are already making a path of whatever of defeat. This statement is relevant to the any era and
applicable for any kind of state.

2. Sun Tzu is a famous Chinese military philosopher who lived in the Spring and Autumn
period of China. There is no any debate about his well known work; ‘The Art of War’ is the
most referred military document in the world, without considering his nationality. There are
many evidences for the employment of Sun Tzu’s teachings by seven nations of East China
(Zhao,Qi,Qin, Chu,Han,Wei and Tan) ,during the war period from 475 to 221BC. The ‘Art of War’
had been identified to the Western world through a French translation done by father Amiot.
3. Today, the world has been linked with globalization including international trade, power
projection, nuclear politics, cyber space, etc. However, it can be observed that the Sun Tzu’s
concepts in the ‘Art of War’ are practiced by every country, with or without awareness. This
article focuses to elaborate few points of ‘Art of war’ through applications in the modern world.

4. Attack by Stratagem Sun Tzu has mentioned that the best way in battles is,
capturing an army or regiment or a company rather than destroying it. In 1971, India was
capable to neutralize the Pakistani military mechanism at Bangladesh Liberation War in East
Pakistan. Specially, India had cut off the supply chain of Pakistani Eastern Command by using
Indian naval power and forced to the surrender. Approximately a hundred thousand of Pakistani
military personals were captured as prisoners and Commander of Pakistani Eastern Command,
Lieutenant General A. A.K Niazi signed the instrument of surrender on 16 December 1971.This
elaborates the Sun Tzu’s view in the art of war.

5. Tactical Dispositions Sun Tzu has said that the good fighters put themselves beyond
the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. In the
famous ‘Six Day War’ of 1967, Israel launched deliberate attacks to Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq
and Lebanon within limited time frame and gained the supremacy of the war before the enemy.
In this war, Israeli’s well prepared and enacted strategy was highlighted beyond the strength