NEW DELHI: At a time when India is facing tensions along the Line of Actual Control and Pakistan, the Indian Army Chief on Thursday pointed out the significance of land being a key domain of warfare.
“One of the key lessons from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, I think, is land warfare which will continue to be such, especially when there are contested borders like in our context. I believe victory markers have to be defined in the land domain,” said General Manoj Pande.
However, he hastened to add that “we must look at enhancing our outcomes through jointness that we wish to or must achieve with other services.” Commenting on tensions in eastern Ladakh, he said the previous year was challenging. “But the situation at the borders is stable.”
The Army Chief’s remarks came while presiding over at the curtain-raiser for the first Chanakya Dialogue. The chat was moderated by Lieutenant General Raj Shukla (retired). The event is being organised by the Indian Army in partnership with the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS). The first edition of the two-day Chanakya Defence Dialogue will be held on November 3 at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi. This is the first such event being held by the Indian Army.
This Dialogue will carry out a comprehensive analysis of security challenges in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific. It will also focus on crafting a roadmap for collaborative security measures in the region to fortify India’s position as a ready, resurgent, and relevant stakeholder among the nations of this region. “As far as the operational situation is concerned, it is stable and we have dealt with internal security challenges the way we are supposed to,” said Pande.
“We are putting a significant focus to leverage infusion of modern technology into the Army,” said General Pande, adding that modernisation and technology indication are central to the capability development programmes. The COAS also mentioned that technology is the new strategic arena of geo-political competition and self-reliance has emerged as a key imperative.
Highlighting the significance of self-reliance, the Army Chief said that recent conflicts revealed that the nation’s security can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on the largesse of others.