Gen Chauhan described modern warfare as being on the verge of a “third revolution in military affairs”.
India Must Be Ready for Short and Long-Term Wars, Says CDS Gen Anil Chauhan
On Monday, while addressing an audience at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said that India should be prepared to confront both short-duration, high-intensity conflicts as well as long-duration territorial wars to safeguard its national security. The top military official emphasised that evolving security threats demand holistic preparedness across the conflict spectrum, according to defence sources.
Gen Chauhan noted that India must be capable of deterring terrorism through swift, high-intensity operations, citing examples such as Operation Sindoor, while also being ready for protracted, land-centric conflicts arising from unresolved territorial disputes with its neighbours. He clarified that although he did not name specific countries, India’s challenges stem from adversaries with significant military capabilities, warning that deterrence thresholds must not be breached.
Gen Chauhan described modern warfare as being on the verge of a “third revolution in military affairs”, which he termed asconvergence warfare. This paradigm reflects the increasing influence of diverse technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, edge computing, hypersonics, advanced materials, and robotics, on how wars are fought. The CDS highlighted that such technologies are reshaping the character of conflict, making future battlegrounds faster, more interconnected, and technologically complex.
Gen Chauhan said that one of the major implications of this transformation is that multi-domain operations, where actions in one domain footprint (land, air, sea, cyber or space) have immediate effects on others, will transition from being an option to a necessity for effective military response. He highlighted how Operation Sindoor, a brief but decisive campaign lasting around four days, demonstrated the importance of coordinating capabilities across domains with tempo and precision.
According to defence experts, for successful implementation of such operations, the CDS underscored the need for multi-domain capabilities and extensive coordination among the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also across cyber, space, and cognitive warfare wings. He suggested that this integrated approach will be central to India’s defence readiness in an era of rapid geopolitical change.
Source: Hindustan Times
