NEW DELHI: The Indian Army is set to adopt a new Land Warfare Doctrine to prepare for the changing character of modern combat, where drones, precision strikes and networked operations are increasingly deciding battlefield outcomes. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will release the doctrine on Friday.
The release will mark the final day of the biannual Army Commanders' Conference, the force's apex decision-making forum, which got underway in the capital on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth. The three-day conference brings together the Army's senior leadership, including the commanders-in-chief of its commands and Principal Staff Officers at Army Headquarters.
"The doctrine will provide an overarching framework to prepare the Indian Army to meet the challenges posed by the evolving character of warfare and future conflicts," the defence ministry announced in a statement.
The Army's previous Land Warfare Doctrine was released in December 2018, following the Joint Doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces issued in April 2017. Its earlier doctrines were published in 1998 and 2004.
The new doctrine comes amid changes in the conduct of warfare witnessed during Operation Sindoor in May last year, the Russia-Ukraine war and conflicts in West Asia. These have featured the use of unmanned aerial systems, loitering munitions, precision strikes and missile attacks, alongside increasingly contested airspace and persistent battlefield surveillance.
The framework will also set out an approach to the changing battlefield that has increased the importance of integrating operations across conventional military domains and newer areas such as cyber, space and electronic warfare. Unmanned platforms and artificial intelligence are expected to play a growing role in surveillance, targeting and decision-making.
For the Indian Army, the evolving character of warfare has implications for operational planning along its borders with China and Pakistan, including the possibility of a two-front contingency and the need to prepare for operations across diverse terrain.
Besides the doctrine, the Army's top brass will also deliberate on the evolving security environment, operational preparedness, capability development and transformation initiatives. Chief of Defence Staff General N.S. Raja Subramani, Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Electronics and Information Technology Secretary S. Krishnan will address the commanders on contemporary security issues.
The aim, the ministry said, is to take stock of ongoing initiatives, identify future thrust areas and chart policy directions to build a "progressive, adaptive, technologically enabled and future-ready" Army.