‘Self-reliance, a key lesson from Russia-Ukraine conflict’ says Army Chief Manoj Pande

The Chief of Army Staff, Manoj Pande, stated on Thursday that India has performed admirably in the crisis between Russia and Ukraine and that one of the most important lessons learned from it is independence. Speaking at the national capital’s curtain-raiser for the Chanakya Defence Dialogue was the Army Chief.

He said, “Self-reliance is one of the key lessons in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and we have done well there. The lesson from the Russia-Ukraine conflict is that land will continue to be a key domain of warfare where you have contested borders, as in our case. The victory markers will have to be defined in the land domain. That is not to suggest that the integration or jointness that we ought to achieve is not important but in my view, land domain is going to be more important.”

Army Chief Manoj Pande said, “We are seeing unprecedented changes in the world. We’re also seeing the centrality of national interests in global affairs. The importance of national security is growing in international affairs.”

“The last year has been challenging yet satisfying. As far as the OP situation is concerned, it is stable and we have dealt with internal security challenges the way we are supposed to deal with them,” he added.

General Manoj Pande stated that modernization and technology indicator are essential components of the capability development program in response to a question concerning data and new technology as the new engines of war.

“Modernization and technology indication are central to our capability development programme. We have been focusing on the infusion of new technology. We have identified 45 niche technologies that we need to follow. We have defined philosophy for Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. AI in terms of surveillance and image interpretation and the key is to interpret information quickly. In the field of robotics, we are looking at man-and-unmanned combinations,” he said.

The chief of army also conveyed his joy at the first group of Agniveers joining and stated they had received positive response. “The first batch of 40,000 ‘Agniveers’ have joined the units and the feedback from the field is good and encouraging,” added the official.

Leading intellectuals in the fields of defense and strategic affairs, ambassadors, military strategists, and distinguished speakers come together for the two-day Chanakya Defence Dialogue. The extensive range of security issues and tactics in the crucial Indo-Pacific and South Asian regions will be discussed.