In response to a question about the growing global focus on the maritime domain, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande emphasized the ongoing importance of land warfare in India. While he didn't explicitly mention it, it was clear that he was alluding to the border issue with China.
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Thursday said that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine highlighted the significance of land warfare and that the domain will remain "extremely important" for India and other countries who deal with contested borders.
During an interactive event, and in light of the situation along the Line of Actual Control with China, he noted that the border situation remains stable. He emphasized that his force is prioritizing the enhancement of its comprehensive combat capabilities to address future security challenges effectively.
When discussing global geopolitical shifts, the Chief of Army Staff underscored a crucial lesson learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict: the Army cannot depend on the import of military hardware. He emphasized the vital importance of achieving self-reliance in defense.
He described the Indo-Pacific as a key region and noted that India has an important role to play.
The Army chief discussed these matters during his conversation with Lt Gen Raj Shukla (retd) at the curtain-raiser for the first Chanakya Dialogue. He mentioned that the initial group of 40,000 Agniveers has joined the units, and the feedback from field units has been positive.
In response to a question about the increasing global emphasis on the maritime domain, despite conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war and the Hamas-Israel conflict having a land dimension, Gen Pande emphasized the ongoing significance of land warfare in the Indian context. Although he didn't make a specific reference, it was evident that he was alluding to the border issue with China.
"I mentioned about the lessons we drew from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. And if I can delve on one of the key lessons -- I think land will continue to be a key domain of warfare, especially in cases where you have contested borders just as in our case," he said.
"I think the victory marker will have to be in the land domain. The salience of land domain, I think, is going to be extremely important in our case," he said.
Talking about India's rising global profile, Gen Pande said India will continue to play a key role in the Indo-Pacific region.
"With the enhanced stature, we will have additional responsibilities and with this we will have certain challenges to encounter," he said.
The Chief of Army Staff said "In all of this, we need to remain proactive rather than responding or reacting. We should be able to shape our strategies."
He said there will be responsibilities, opportunities and challenges for India in the Indo-pacific.
"I think the nation is on the rise, be it the economic growth, technological progress or the influence that the nation wields in the world arena," Gen Pande said.
He described the last one year period for the Army as "challenging yet satisfying".
"As far as the operational situation is concerned, on the borders, I would say it is stable and we have dealt with internal security challenges in a manner that is expected of us," he said.
The Chief of Army Staff also noted that the ongoing reform process in the Army is being implemented as planned.
"About a year back, we spelt out our transformation roadmap. In that we defined five distinct foundations as pillars of transformation," he said.
"These were restructuring and right-sizing of the force, modernisation and technology infusion, refining and improving our systems and processes to improve combat and functional efficiencies, jointness and human resources management," he said.
He said the progress of the reform process has been good.
The Army chief also listed technology infusion into his force as a key focus area.
In his remarks, Gen Pande also spoke about how national security is emerging as a crucial aspect in the geo-political competition.
"What we are seeing is the centrality of national interest in this global flux...The salience of national security is growing in the entire international system," he said.
Highlighting the changing character of war, Gen Pande said "by this I am alluding to what we are witnessing in the context of Russia-Ukraine conflict."
"You have new domains -- be it cyber, be it space, be it information warfare, battle of narratives and the rest. All these indicate that we need to be better prepared and future ready to be able to meet future security challenges," he said.
"Looking at the future security challenges, I think we need to transform and that is what we are doing," he added.