Indeed it will. But Punjab is no longer the preferred battle-field. It has been extended to much further south.
As the Indian Army stretches the theatre boundaries, the Pakistan Army will be under more and more strain. It is possible for India to win a future war even before it starts with the right order of battle and configuration in place.
When you refer to
no groundwork regarding quick deployment or basing BG near border, I presume you are referring to Battle Groups as BG. If so, the whole point of Cold Start is to allow the Holding Corps to initiate action from their position close to the international borders, and to allow the Battle Groups to move up from their peacetime positions to their forward positions without slowing down the tempo of action.
There is still need to move the Battle Groups fast. This has to be done by three separate exercises:
- Restructuring the formations into Battle Groups (the reasons why Battle Groups are needed, and no longer Brigades and Divisions, should be carefully studied and understood);
- An extensive re-working of railway lines, highways and airfields well behind the front lines need to be built up, capable of moving large numbers of troops in a short while;
- The composition of the battlefield mobility resources at the disposal of the Indian Army has to be changed drastically, urgently, away from soft-skinned wheeled vehicles to tracked, protected vehicles.
On a bigger framework, it means this: The Indian Cabinet has to decide if it wants total war or not. In case of total war, it has to be clear where and when it will stop, that is, where and when will there be six hours before the nuclear tripwire is tripped.
In strategic terms, the Indian Army has to decide where along Pakistan's borders (not India's borders with Pakistan) should the attack be launched.
In operational terms, the IA and IAF and IN have to build joint battle groups, with integral air and naval components incorporated.
In tactics, the IA has to practise hard and often with its embedded air force elements and its embedded naval elements to enforce 'jointness' in organic level.