Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said that technology can be an enabler but it cannot replace people. He noted that India has been facing asymmetric threats and it is called the “subconventional kind of conflict” in India.
In his remarks during the discussion on ‘Verses and Wars: Navigating Hybrid Theatres’ during the Raisina Dialogue on August 19, he said that India invented the “unconventional kind of conflict” term much before the West invented terms like global war on terror or asymmetric warfare or fourth generation warfare.
When asked about his experience in countering asymmetric threats as India has faced hybrid threats from both state and non-state actors, he responded, “India has been facing this asymmetric threat, or what you call this kind of a threat. We have called it always subconventional kind of conflict. We invented this particular term much before West invented terms like global war on terror or asymmetric warfare or fourth generation warfare or now hyper conflicts. So, we have called it conflict which is below the threshold of conventional kind of conflict. And as far as the lessons are concerned, I think the biggest lesson is that there is no substitute for boots on grounds. Technology can only be an enabler but it cannot replace people. think that’s very important.”
He stated that second important lesson is about shaping of the combat zone and called intelligence the third important lesson.
Elaborating on lessons learnt by India, he said, “Second important lesson is about shaping of the combat zone actually. In conventional conflicts, you shape the battlefield with fire actually. Over here, we are looking at shaping of the mindscape, not the landscape. So the battle of the minds becomes important as far as hybrid warfare is concerned.”
“The third important lesson is about intelligence that intelligence is important, both human and technical intelligence. And we’re not talking about the combat zone, but area around the combat zone also, this would be important. In such kind of hybrid warfare, I think we should also look at close collaboration between the state government and the local police. So it’s a kind of a whole of government approach which is able to look at such kind of warfare. This I think would be major lessons what India has learned in its battle against subconventional conflicts,” he added.
During the discussion, he said that the global security environment is marked by two things – uncertainty and rapid amount of change. He recalled that the types of war that were taught when he joined the army 43 years back was traditional wars.
“I think the global security environment is marked by two things. One is uncertainty and rapid amount of change. I joined the army about almost 43 years back and the types of war they taught us about, the traditional wars, you know, declared conflicts, they’re no longer there. But yet conflicts exists. It’s perennial and it is ubiquitous. We see it every day on our television screens. So, this is where the global security environment is,” he said.
He termed training people or understanding the conventional war along with a hybrid kind of war the biggest challenge that India faces.
On challenges faced by India, he said, “And as far as India is concerned, I think the biggest challenge which I face is to train people or to understand the conventional war as well along with this kind of hybrid kind of wars. That’s one big challenge. The second big challenge which I foresee is training people for all this kind of conflicts and wars.
“The third thing which I feel is disinformation. For a country like us, which is a multicultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic society, disinformation is, I think, our internal strife could be a major challenge. So, that’s a big challenge for us, and this is beginning of what we can call is the battle of minds, actually, or the cognitive warfare. This, I think, is a major challenge. Last but not the least is the speed of technological advancement and absorbing those technologies into us, our system, and training people, retraining people, that I think is a major challenge,” he added.
During the discussion, Vivek Lall, Chief Executive, General Atomics Global Corporation, United States of America, called speed the essence of any endeavour these days. He said that persistent surveillance deters conflict and force.
He said, “I think speed is, of course, the essence of any endeavor these days, whether in the Defense Security space or the energy security space. And as I hear the conversation that Raisina, I can’t help but distill down to six areas that I think need absolute, immediate attention from like-minded nations. The first would be persistent surveillance. Persistent surveillance deters conflict. It deters force. And we don’t do enough. We need to do more of them individually.”
“The second aspect that has been brought up by some. We need robust data sharing. Robust data sharing not just by partners and allies…The third piece is the human resource factor, and the fact that training and cooperation and training special especially in special forces training, I think is very critical,” he added.
He called electromagnetic spectrum dominance “very critical.” He stressed that the relationship between India and the US is “very robust.”
Lall said, “Another point is electromagnetic spectrum dominance, I think that is very critical. Moving forward, you can collect all sorts of data, but if you do not put it in an order where you can actually see a real time operational picture, and therefore be able to respond, the data will just remain data.”
“Finally, the ability to deliver massive numbers. We’ve seen that in the recent months, the ability to have loitering munitions in the numbers required…this is logistical nodes that is going to be critical in moving forward. And certainly the US India relationship is, I think, very robust. There’s been a lot of great strides made. Indian industry is world class, I think, with not only the large, medium, small, but also the startup community, we’ve had great success working together industry,” he added.
(with inputs from ANI)
