New Army Chief underlines need for 'indigenous weapons' to fight conventional wars

By Ajit K Dubey
New Delhi [India], May 1 : The Russia-Ukraine war has taught India to be prepared to fight conventional wars besides building capacity using indigenous weapon systems, said Army chief General Manoj Pande on Sunday soon after taking over his assignment.
In an exclusive with ANI after assuming the office of the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Pande said, "The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has taught the Indian Army that it should be prepared to fight conventional wars too and that capacity should be built using indigenous weapon systems. The ongoing conflict has brought out that the conventional wars are there to stay and we need to continue to focus on our capability development to fight a conventional war."
Citing the use of modern technology in the over two-month-long conflict between the two countries, the Army Chief stressed on the continuation of India's focus on capability development to fight a conventional war.
"In over two months-long conflict going on between Russia and Ukraine, we have seen the use of artillery guns, tanks, air defence guns and anti-tank guided missiles drones and counter-drone systems. What we need to derive from it is that we need to continue to focus on capability development to fight a conventional war... We need to rely on our indigenous weapon systems and equipment & develop that capacity," the Army Chief said.
Talking about the dimensions of war in the modern era exposed by the Russia-Ukraine war, Gen Pande said that it has brought to the fore the "importance of non-kinetic means of warfare, such as information and cyber warfare".
"To that extent, we are aligned with self-reliance and Make In India initiatives. We need to build our capabilities as we prepare ourselves for future conflict," the Army Chief added.