NEW DELHI: Signalling continuity in military reforms after Operation Sindoor while pushing the Army deeper into future warfare, new Army chief General Dhiraj Seth on Wednesday laid out a five-point vision built around vigilance, technology, joint operations, self-reliance and soldier welfare.
Hours after taking charge as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Gen Seth said the force would accelerate its shift into a “technology-enabled, future-ready” Army able to operate across land, air, cyber and other domains.
He packaged his priorities as VIJAY which stands with V for Vigilance, I for Innovation and Transformation, J for Jointness and Integration, A for Atmanirbharta and Y for Yodha First.
“We will maintain constant vigilance along our borders and against emerging threats while ensuring a high level of operational readiness,” he said, adding that innovation in doctrine and technology would stay central as the character of war changes.
The stress on jointness comes as the three services push integrated theatre commands and absorb lessons from recent conflicts, where drones, long-range precision strikes, cyber and information warfare have reshaped the battlefield. Synergy with the Navy and the Air Force, backed by a whole-of-nation approach, would be critical, he said.
On self-reliance, Gen Seth set the goal as “winning our wars with indigenous solutions,” in step with the drive to expand domestic output of weapons, ammunition, drones and communication systems under Atmanirbhar Bharat.
“Yodha First,” he said, would cover everyone from Agniveers to veterans and Veer Naris, with better training, faster technology adoption and welfare as priorities.
Gen Seth, the first Armoured Corps officer to head the Army since General Shankar Roy Chowdhury in 1997, succeeds General Upendra Dwivedi at a time when the force is balancing readiness on the northern and western fronts with an ambitious modernisation push. He linked VIJAY to the government’s “JAI” mantra (Jointness, Atmanirbharta and Innovation), coining the line “JAI se VIJAY.”