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Operation Sindoor ongoing, future soldier must be info, tech and scholar warrior: CDS Gen Chauhan
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Friday said Operation Sindoor remains active, and stressed that India's military preparedness must stay at an exceptionally high level—24/7 and year-round.
Delivering the keynote address at a defence seminar held at Subroto Park, General Chauhan said that future warfare will require more than conventional combat skills. Soldiers, he noted, must evolve into a blend of 'information warriors, technology warriors, and scholar warriors."
The event, themed 'Aerospace Power: Preserving India's Sovereignty and Furthering National Interests', was organised under the Indian Air Force's No.4 Warfare and Aerospace Strategy Programme (WASP).
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The seminar on 'Aerospace Power: Preserving India's Sovereignty and Furthering National Interests' was held under the aegis of the 'No.4 Warfare and Aerospace Strategy Programme (WASP)'.
The CDS said there are no runners-up in a war, and any military must be constantly alert and maintain a high degree of operational preparedness.
'An example is Operation Sindoor, which still continues. Our preparedness level has to be very high, 24×7, 365 days (a year),' Gen Chauhan said.
India launched Operation Sindoor early May 7 and decimated multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK).
Pakistan also launched offensives against India, and all subsequent counter-offensives by India were also carried out under Operation Sindoor.
The military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.
The CDS also emphasised the importance of learning about both 'Shastra' (warfare) and 'Shaastra' (knowledge system).
Gen Chauhan defined a scholar warrior as a military professional who combines intellectual depth and combat skills, who possesses strong academic knowledge and practical military expertise that enable him to analyse complex situations and address 'diverse challenges to meet military aims and objectives'.
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Tracing the relationship between a scholar and a warrior, from ancient Indian history, through the World Wars up to recent conflicts, the CDS highlighted that today's military professional must be a 'well-calibrated mix of a scholar warrior, a techno warrior and an info warrior'.
A technology warrior to understand and apply the cutting-edge technologies and AI that are changing the nature of warfare, and an 'info warrior' to shape narratives, counter disinformation and dominate the invisible battlespace of perception.
Elucidating the changing character of warfare, especially as evinced through recent and ongoing conflicts, the CDS underscored the important role of a scholar warrior in modern warfare, emphasising their role in preserving India's sovereignty and furthering national interests.
Operation Sindoor was a critical focus and found ample mention during the two thematic sessions.
The Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) also shared some photos of the event on X.
'He complimented the Indian Air Force, College of Air Warfare and @CAPS_INDIA for constantly evolving the scope of the program. CDS awarded Certificates to 12 officers of Indian Armed Forces for their contribution in taking forward the strategic thought process,' it said.
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IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi were also present on the occasion.
The CDS in his address also said, 'If we look at modern warfare today, we are seeing unprecedented pace give by relentless march of technology. Turbulent geopolitical shifts happening, battlespaces are no long longer a linear front, but transparent, swift, multi-domain arenas.' 'We are now on the cusp of what I have been calling a third evolution in military affairs…a convergence of kinetic and non-kinetic, first and second generation with third generation of warfare, convergence of tactical, operational and strategic kind of domain,' he said, adding that a warrior today needs to master all the three level of warfare, tactical, operational and strategic levels and all domains — land, air, sea, cyberspace and cognitive.
Gen Chauhan underlined that only a warrior with 'superhuman capabilities' can decode this complex mode that may connect a drone strike to a cyber breach, a narrative war to an orbital disruption, and 'still have moral courage to lead men through fog and fire'.
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He emphasised that future wars will demand 'hybrid warriors' who can fight on borders, manoeuvre in deserts, plan counter-insurgency operations in dense jungles, neutralise drones and decode cyber intrusions.
WASP was conceived by Indian Air Force to cultivate critical thinking in its future leaders. It prepares officers to think through politico-military environmental layers, to interpret the frameworks within which decisions are made, and to assess outcomes including second-order effects, the defence ministry said in a statement.
This edition of WASP featured the participation of twelve officers, comprising ten from the Indian Air Force and two from the Indian Navy, it said.
With inputs from agencies
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