Russia-Ukraine conflict highlighted impact of asymmetric warfare, digital resilience: Army Chief General Manoj Pande
Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande said Wednesday that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has highlighted the impact of asymmetric warfare, digital resilience and space-based systems, among others.
“The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought to the fore several key facets such as the impact of asymmetric warfare, potential of information warfare, digital resilience, weaponisation of economic mechanisms, communication redundancy, space-based systems and many more. All are driven by the position of technological prowess,” he said, addressing the gathering at the Army Institute of Technology (AIT) in Pune, where he presided over its 29th foundation day ceremony.
“Today’s security is, therefore, founded on the technological edge over the adversary. No country is willing to share the latest state-of-the-art technology. It is hence important to know that the security of the nation can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on the largesse of others,” he added.
General Pande further said, “Self-sufficiency in critical technologies and investment in research and development is a strategic imperative that can no longer be ignored. The Indian Army is cognisant of all these realities. We have resolved to ensure that our capability development is based on the principle of self-reliance and leveraging niche technologies. We are taking concrete steps on both these aspects. Capability development efforts are progressing in the edifice of our commitment to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
The AIT is an undergraduate engineering college affiliated with the University of Pune for the ward of Army personnel and is located at Dighi Hills in the Alandi Road area in Pune. It functions under the aegis of the Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) and has the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army as the president of its Board of Governors.
The AIT was set up when General BC Joshi, then Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army in the early 1990s, saw the need for an engineering college for the children of all ranks of the Indian Army. Gen Shankar Roy Chaudhary inaugurated it formally in February 1995 and the first batch of students graduated in 1998.
