New Delhi: Army Chief Gen. Manoj Pande Thursday said that the Indian Army needs to be “better prepared” and “future-ready” even as it can take advantage of the emergence of disruptive and niche technology. In the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, the COAS said the ongoing conflict is a manifestation of the “changing character” of war.
The Army Chief was speaking at the curtain raiser event of the upcoming ‘Chanakya Defence Dialogue 2023’ being organised by the Indian Army in partnership with the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS). It will be held from 3-4 November in New Delhi.
“We are seeing unprecedented changes in the geostrategic landscape … What you are also seeing is the centrality of national interest in this global flux. National interest is becoming paramount in all these. Also, what we are seeing is in the entire international system, national security and its salience is increasingly growing,” the Army Chief said.
He also said, “There will be responsibilities, opportunities and challenges as far as the Indo-Pacific region is concerned. Internally I think the nation is on the rise, be it the economic growth, technological progress or the influence the nation wields in the world arena.”
The General added that the Indian armed forces need to leverage the usage of “disruptive and niche technology” as the dynamics of warfare is changing with the rapid introduction of newer domains such as “cyber warfare, information warfare and battle of narratives.”
“All these indicate that we need to be better prepared and future-ready to be able to meet security challenges in the future,” said Gen. Pande.
Talking of the progress made by the Indian Army in the past year, Pande said, it has been “challenging yet satisfying.”
As far as the operational situation is concerned on the borders, I would say it is stable. We have dealt with internal security challenges in a manner that is expected of us,” he highlighted.
Land Will Continue To Be Key Warfare Domain
According to the Army Chief, the Russia-Ukraine war has also highlighted the fact that land will continue to be the key area where battles will be fought rather than the maritime domain.
“One of the key lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war was I think land will remain the key domain of warfare, specially in cases where you have contested or disputed borders, just as in our case. I believe the victory-markers will have to be in the land domain, to be defined in the land domain and hence the salience of the land domain,” he said, adding that there is a need to achieve “jointness and integration” with the other two services – Navy and Air Force.
“But my view in terms of salience of land, I feel, is going to be extremely important in our case,” he added.
Gen. Pande also highlighted the fact that one of the key lessons that the Indian Army has learned from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is that of becoming self-reliant and depending less on imported weaponry.
“We need to be self-reliant, that is Atmanirbharta and we have done well there,” Pande said, adding that the armed forces is working as part of the larger defence ecosystem.
Highlighting the significance of self-reliance or Atmanirbharta, General Pande mentioned that the security of the nation can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on the largesse of others. While highlighting enabling actions undertaken by the Government to encourage self-reliance, the COAS cited examples of positive indigenisation list, earmarking R&D budget, corporatisation of ordnance factories, emphasis on defence exports and establishment of defence corridors.
He also said that the Indian Army has been closely working with 340 indigenous defence industries towards finalisation of 230 contracts by the year 2025. The COAS also mentioned that the Indian Army has identified 45 niche technologies in the field of military applications.