Armed Forces need to be prepared for war to preserve peace: India defence minister

Jointness among the three services, an essential prerequisite to the creation of theatre commands, came into sharp focus at a top military conference in Lucknow on Thursday, with India defence minister Rajnath Singh making a push for cultivating a joint vision, preparing for future wars, and delivering a synergised, swift and proportionate response to provocations.

"India is a peace-loving nation, but the armed forces need to be prepared for war to preserve peace. We should have foolproof deterrence," he said, addressing India's top military officials at the maiden two-day Joint Commanders' Conference that began on Wednesday.

Singh released the joint doctrine for amphibious operations, prepared by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, in a boost for the ongoing drive for jointness and integration of the armed forces as they chart a path towards theaterisation, a long-awaited reform for the best use of the military's resources to fight future wars.

The minister was briefed on the recently released joint doctrine for cyberspace operations during the conference based on the theme Sashakt aur Surakshit Bharat: Transforming the Armed Forces. The military is ready with the blueprint of the theaterisation model and will present it to the government for final approval soon.

Speaking at the conference on Wednesday, chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan had made a pitch for jointness and integration for the military to adapt to the contours of future warfare and conducting effective operations.

On the concluding day of the conference, Singh drew the military's attention to ongoing wars between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas, and the instability in Bangladesh.

He asked the military leadership to analyse the troubling global developments, predict the challenges that India may face, and build capability and stay prepared to deal with the unexpected.

"Despite global volatility, India is enjoying a rare peace dividend and developing peacefully. However, due to the increasing number of challenges, we need to remain alert. It is important that we keep our peace intact during Amrit Kaal [the government's term for the period leading to the centenary of India's independence]. For this, we should have a strong and robust national security component," he said.

The minister emphasised the need for a broader and deeper analysis of security dynamics by the top military leadership in light of the situation along the country's border with China and developments in the neighbouring countries, which threaten peace and stability in the region.

Another key takeaway from Singh's address was the need for capability development in the space and electronic warfare domains, and exploiting technological developments in the fields of data and artificial intelligence.

"These components do not participate in any conflict or war directly. But their indirect participation is deciding the course of warfare to a great extent," he said.

The focus of the conference was on future capability building, including strengthening structures for joint and integrated response and ushering in efficiency, transparency and accountability in processes during war and peace, the defence ministry said in a statement.

"Deliberations spanned across a broad spectrum of contemporary issues such as theaterisation, indigenisation and technological developments including those in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence enabled autonomous weapon systems," the defence ministry said, adding that special attention was given to the importance of cyber and space-based capabilities in war.

The theaterisation model being pursued involves raising the China-centric northern theatre command in Lucknow, the Pakistan-centric western theatre command in Jaipur, and the maritime theatre command in Thiruvananthapuram.

The armed forces have 17 single-service commands spread across the country. The army and air force have seven commands each, while the navy has three. Creating theatres would involve merging the existing commands.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the creation of theatre commands to bolster national security was on track, the modernisation of the armed forces was in full swing, and the government was working on reforms to ensure the military was always battle ready.