As India’s ‘pre-emptive’ air strike at Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Balakot camp, and Pakistan’s reaction to it the next day in Kashmir, culminated with lusty cries demanding ‘war’, met instantly with a weaker clamour for peace, it is useful to examine the charged concept of war itself. An armed engagement between two nations, irrespective of the nature of the weaponry used or the duration for which it lasts, rarely gets the official tag of a ‘war’ these days. In fact, since 1945, most countries have been reluctant to officially declare war on another country.