India must be prepared for threats from China, Pakistan: CDS Bipin Rawat

Listing out the challenged being faced by India, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that the country should be prepared for threats for military primary arising from China and Pakistan.

In his keynote address during a national webinar on “Transformation: Imperatives for Indian Armed Forces” organised by the College of Defence Management (CDM), Secunderabad, Rawat said that India is facing complex security and a challenging environment. “Some important steps that we need to take, include—defining the national security strategy, higher defence strategic guidance, structural reforms in higher defence and operational organisations,” he said.

The CDS said that the 20th century has seen profound changes in the character and nature of warfare due to information inclusivity and technological development. “New tools and tactics can be employed to connect rapidly to an audience like never before. Information is indeed more democratised today. India needs to take adapt its defence strategies accordingly,” he said.

“Military power as an instrument of state policy needs to transform at various levels including ground strategic i.e. political-military, strategic operation and tactical level. Main dimensions of transformation are doctrine, post structure, technology, sustenance and readiness,” he added.

CDS Rawat asserted that the Indian military faces greater challenges than any other military in the world and hence need to study transformational concepts adopted in other countries carefully to cater to the spectrum of warfare. “Since independence, the Indian military has grown from a small force with limited warfare capabilities into a large and modern fighting machine. The organisational structure for conventional wars or limited conflicts under nuclear overrank already exists, but they need to be re-modelled, re-equipped and re-oriented to conduct joint battles in digitized battlespace to have necessary flexibility for other types of operations,” he said.

“We must prepare for threats for military primary arising from China and Pakistan. In the future, China will continue to assert itself seeking to establish dominance in states surrounding India and the Indian Ocean region,” he added.

The CDS suggested that India needs to work on maritime requirements including ensuring the protection of maritime interest, safeguarding assets, supporting Indian war efforts in conjunction with other forces.

“We must effectively also leverage the opportunity provided by our Island territories which enables us to extend our reach, orchestrate our defence strategy and also provide depth to the mainland,” he said.