Russia-Ukraine conflict impacted asymmetric warfare, digital resilience: Army Chief

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], February 1 : Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Wednesday said the Russia-Ukraine conflict has impacted asymmetric warfare and digital resilience among others.
"The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought to the fore key facets such as the impact of asymmetric warfare, potential of information warfare, digital resilience, weaponisation of economic mechanism, communication redundancy, all driven by technological prowess," General Pande said while addressing the students at the foundation day celebration of the Army Institute of Technology at Pune.
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande also stressed the "self-sufficiency" in critical technology in the armed forces and said that national security cannot be dependent on the "largesse of others".
The Army Chief said that no country is willing to share its latest technologies and therefore national security cannot be outsourced.
"Today's security is founded in the technological edge over the adversary. No country is willing to share the latest, state-of-the-art technologies, it hence implies that the security of the nation can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on the largesse of others," the Army chief said.
Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan 'Jai Jawan, Hai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan', the Army Chief said that it aptly captures the contemporary reality and underscores the importance of research and innovation.
"Self-sufficiency is critical technology and investment in research and development is a strategic imperative that can no longer be ignored. The Indian Army is cognizant of these realities," the Army Chief said.
General Pande said that the Army has resolved to ensure that the capabilities development is based on the principles of self-reliance and leveraging niche technologies and Indian Army is taking concrete steps on both these aspects.