Lesson Learnt From Ukraine War Is To Be Self-Reliant In Defence Manufacturing: CDS Chauhan

Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan has said nations around the world are now gearing up for short, contingency wars that require high-precision weapons.

Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan has said India has learnt to be self-reliant in defence manufacturing from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

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New Delhi: Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan said countries today have to plan for contingencies, and that India has from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war learnt to be self-reliant in defence manufacturing. 

“Every conflict has perspectives —political, economic and diplomatic. Some of the lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war is that we must be self-reliant in weapons production, and not wait for supplies from other nations. We cannot depend on imports,” Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan said at the Raisina Dialogue organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). 

He said global peace is in “flux” today and thus countries are increasingly preparing themselves for shorter and smarter wars for which a different kind of weapons set is needed.

“We live in an uncertain world. Global peace is in flux. Every nation is preparing for some contingency. The question is what kind of war should nations prepare for,” he said. 

The CDS said in India he’s doesn’t expect any long-term war but it needs all kinds of weapons. 

“We don’t expect any long-term conflict in India but going forward, we should have a healthy mix of both smart weapons (for shorter & smarter wars) for short, intense wars, and also large numbers of conventional weapons that will also require a lot of personnel to operate,” he added. 

He also said the Russia-Ukraine war has turned out to be a “very longish kind of war” contrary to previous perceptions that future wars will be swift. 

“Earlier we thought future wars will be short and swift but this Russia-Ukraine war is a very longish kind of war. We’ve been looking at talks about endurance, war fighting stamina etc. and seeing all nations build some kind of defence technology. South Korea’s exports have multiplied and most European countries have expanded their defence budgets. These are times of great change,” he added. 

‘US Is Prepared To Confront China’

Also part of the panel discussion, Chauhan’s Australian counterpart Angus J. Campbell said if countries start to spend more on defence budget then statecraft gets weakened.

“More nations will be spending on defence which is not a good thing. There is anxiety in the international system and this is driving the rising defence spending. If more wealth is spent on defence, its statecraft is weakened,” Campbell added. 

According to former US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, being allies with other countries help nations win wars and that can be seen in the Ukraine war. 

He also said that US is prepared to confront China and if Russia succeeds then China can attack India, Taiwan or Vietnam in a similar manner. 

“The US is prepared to confront China. If Russia succeeds, what is stopping China from moving against India, Taiwan or Vietnam. We want to dissuade China from their designs,” he said.