‘Be prepared for war to preserve peace’

 
Peace loving India’s Armed Forces need to be prepared for war in order to preserve peace, said Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Rajnath asked the country’s top military leadership to analyse the current situation in Bangladesh and conflicts in Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas and predict the problems that India may face in the future and stay prepared to deal with the “unexpected.”
Presiding over the maiden Joint Commanders’ Conference in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on the second and final day of India’s top-level military leadership meeting, Rajnath “emphasised on the need of a broader and deeper analysis by the top military leadership in view of the situation along the northern border and the happenings in neighbouring countries which are posing a challenge to peace and stability in the region,” according to a Defence Ministry statement.
He stressed on the significance of evolving joint military vision and preparing for the type of challenges the country may face in future wars while emphasizing on synergized, swift and proportionate response to provocations, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
“Despite global volatility, India is enjoying a rare peace dividend and it is developing peacefully. However, due to the increasing number of challenges, we need to remain alert. It is important that we keep our peace intact….We need to focus on our present, keep an eye on the activities happening around us at present and focus on being future-oriented. For this, we should have a strong and robust national security component. We should have a fail-proof deterrence,” Rajnath said at the conference.
He also called upon the military commanders to identify and include the right mix of traditional and modern warfare equipment in their arsenal.
He stressed on capability development in space and electronic warfare, describing them as integral to tackle modern-day challenges and urged the military leadership to focus on increasing the use of latest technological advancements in the fields of data and artificial intelligence.
“These components do not participate in any conflict or war directly. Their indirect participation is deciding the course of warfare to a great extent,” he added.
The Lucknow conference, which began on September 4, brought together the combined apex-level military leadership of the country who deliberated upon the current and future challenges to the nation in the context of national security.
The focus of the conference was on future capability building including organisation structures for joint and integrated response and ushering in efficiency, transparency and accountability in the work process during peace and war.