CDS Gen Anil Chauhan Explains India’s ‘National Security Architecture’ Using Ops Sindoor

Asianet News English

CDS Gen Anil Chauhan decoded India’s national security architecture through three concentric circles—mission security, mission defence and military preparedness at the core. Citing Ops Sindoor, he highlighted future-war readiness, strategic culture and the role of diplomacy, economy and technology in securing the nation. He stressed understanding threats and preparing accordingly.  #CDSChauhan #NationalSecurity #OperationSindoor #IndiaDefence #MilitaryPreparedness #DefenceStrategy #IndianArmy #India  🔊 LIKE ➡ SHARE ➡ SUBSCRIBE  Download the Asianet News App now!  Available on Android & iOS  👉 Android:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vserv.asianet&hl=en_IN   👉 iOS:  https://apps.apple.com/in/app/asianet-news-official/id1093450032   For More Updates:  Follow us on our What's app Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va5Bq3yKwqSLSQTxam0r  English: https://newsable.asianetnews.com/  Hindi: https://hindi.asianetnews.com/  Malayalam: https://www.asianetnews.com/  Kannada: https://kannada.asianetnews.com/  Tamil: https://tamil.asianetnews.com/  Telugu: https://telugu.asianetnews.com/  Bengali: https://bangla.asianetnews.com/  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsianetNewsa...  Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/AsianetNewsEN  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ann.newsable/  ➡ If you like our video, give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel to get the daily dosage of news, entertainment, sports and more.

Transcript

00:00I have tried to explain national security architecture in the form of three concentric circles.

00:07We look at defense preparedness as such that is slightly bigger limit than military preparedness.

00:13In any kind of conflict, how do we win actually? We win by creating asymmetries.

00:17I will give you three examples from the latest operations.

00:21Let me first tell you about the time part.

00:25You said you get up every day at 8 and you are on a study table.

00:29I do that three and a half hours before.

00:32I get up every day at quarter to five. At quarter to five I am at my study table.

00:37I also have a good habit of taking down notes what's happening in the day.

00:41That helps me.

00:43And of course what you rightly said that I interact with a large amount of people in service, out of service, in uniform, civilians, academicians, industry.

00:56It gives me a lot of ideas. I note down those ideas, develop upon that.

01:01And then some of them actually find part of my talks.

01:07And when those talks mature, I have converted some of them into articles.

01:12So it's not very difficult if you actually want to do it.

01:15So I have done it twice, so two books.

01:20Yeah.

01:21The next question is what motivated me to do this?

01:24So these are my thoughts and ideas on matters, military I would say.

01:28And my idea was basically to establish a connect and reach out to the middle and junior level leadership of the Indian Army.

01:36With the senior level leadership, you are always interacting. Army commander conference, combined commander conferences.

01:42They hear you out.

01:43But it's the middle level and junior.

01:45You can't really reach out to the whole armed forces which is 60,000 strong.

01:49And this is important because the nature and the scope of reform which we are attempting is so huge that everyone of us have to be on the same kind of stage.

02:01So this is one way to reach out to people so that they can understand what the senior leadership is thinking.

02:08Hopefully this will help develop some kind of strategic culture, motivate other people also to write like you.

02:17I believe you have written a book.

02:18Yes, sir.

02:19Almost.

02:20Sir, just before we finish with the journal which the last question I put to him, what advice does he give to the new military for jointness and integration?

02:31So I think he's spoken exactly what you have written in your book.

02:34So that means a journal who was then during Kargil days also speaks the similar thought which you have.

02:40But why both the books are the same name, sir?

02:43Because normally you don't say volume one, volume two, but both the names are same, sir.

02:48Yes, so when I wrote the first one, I thought there will be second one, but they're going to write one in it.

02:54But when I wrote the second one, so it is already relevant to certain two, part two.

02:59Well, why two books?

03:03There could be three all.

03:06With the same name.

03:08So that's the three and a half hours early which he spends every morning.

03:12So, you know, the first book lays the basic foundation.

03:18It addresses the basic foundation of reforms.

03:21So it addresses issues like what is jointness and integration?

03:25What is higher defense organization?

03:27What is the national security architecture?

03:30How I perceive?

03:31What is change management?

03:33So these are the basic building blocks.

03:35It does contain some articles on war and warfare.

03:37But the second book is about application.

03:40You will find a larger number of articles on war, warfare, warfare and new domains, space, cyber.

03:47All this you will find in the next book.

03:50So that's the basic difference between these two books.

03:54There are some common subjects also.

03:57Like geography is one subject which always has fascinated me.

04:01So I have written about geography in both the books.

04:04Two articles in the first one and one more in the second.

04:08So this is what.

04:09And what will be the third one, sir?

04:11Well, as I said, one was foundation.

04:16Maybe the second was application.

04:18And how did we do it actually?

04:21Opsindoor.

04:22Okay, sir.

04:24So that means we are now going to get an authentic Opsindoor book.

04:27All these books which have come from the newspaper ads or somewhere else.

04:30But now we are going to get an authentic book.

04:32Sir, in your book you have spoken about.

04:34I have heard these terms for the very first time.

04:37Military Geography and Human Geography.

04:39What exactly are these will you like to share with all of us?

04:43So I was actually a science student in India.

04:47But I don't know if there are some ex-NDAs of my times.

04:51There was one Mr. Dhotiwala.

04:53He used to teach us military geography and regularly.

04:58He used to be stepping very slowly and he used to allow us to take notes.

05:02The fascination, little bit of understanding of military geography came about during that

05:07day.

05:08But military geography is important.

05:11We say military army officers or military officers.

05:14Whenever you are doing any kind of an appreciation of anything, military problem.

05:21You first analyze the terrain actually.

05:23Then you come down to relative strength.

05:25Then you come down to time and space.

05:26These are the three factors.

05:28So the first part you analyze is always geography.

05:31And at a larger geopolitical level, location of a particular nation actually determines its

05:37importance.

05:38And they are saying that people who don't know their geography are likely to be condemned

05:44by history.

05:45So geography is important.

05:47All operations take place in an environment which is compasses of physical geography and

05:57human geography.

05:58So geography has two parts.

05:59Physical geography which is about landscapes, which is about terrain, which is about climate,

06:04it's about weather.

06:06Human geography is about spatial distribution of population, religion, ethnicity, language,

06:13culture.

06:14Human geography is equally important in understanding warfare.

06:20Especially counter-intergency and CICT operations.

06:23This is important so that you understand where you are operating and why it is important.

06:28Sometimes we say that geography is relevant, different.

06:33But I think even human geography is relevant today.

06:36Even if you map the complete human geography of say JNK Northeast or whichever is the conflict

06:41known area.

06:42Today when we talk about cognitive warfare, when we are talking about influence operations,

06:48psychological operations, social engineering, unless we don't understand the human geography

06:54of that particular place, I don't think this is possible.

06:58So both geographies are important and will remain relevant for times to come, physical as

07:04well as human geography.

07:06So in both your books you have lot of articles on warfare, wars and strategy.

07:13Are you fond of somebody on whom you've actually worked on these because there's a lot of articles

07:18on this.

07:19I know the CDS is supposed to do this only but then how did this come into these books?

07:23No, let me, you see when I, it was my general observation that when I joined as CDS or when

07:32the government appointed me as CDS, that the general narrative and think tanks and any kind

07:37of discussions were not related to war warfare and war fighting.

07:40I have changed that narrative.

07:42It used to be on issues like geopolitics, diplomacy, resource management for geopolitics in Indo-Pacific,

07:53human capital for national building, such kind of topics used to be the general discussion

07:59in forums in which lot of people would take part.

08:03But this was freely available, this particular knowledge.

08:06But I think that that did not directly contribute to a basic red and white profession.

08:11Our profession is war, war fighting.

08:13I have tried to change the narrative towards this and I'm quite happy that most of the discussions

08:20that take place now are somehow connected to this particular aspect and not to peripheral

08:25kind of subject which was the case earlier.

08:29And what you are alluding to is someone famous etc. which I may have mentioned that actually

08:37in all my articles on warfare, you will find some quote or something about Clausewitz, which

08:44I thought is one original author who understood warfare and that's the time actually modern warfare

08:54warfare was transforming.

08:55There was a Napoleon wars etc.

08:58So, he wrote it at a time that it was still relevant.

09:01Wars were relevant before that medieval and ancient wars, but they are no longer relevant.

09:05Clausewitz is one which I have quoted most of the articles about that.

09:11Sir, very nicely you have given the concentric circles of national security architecture in

09:16your book.

09:17How is it different or will you like to draw some circles for national defense security strategy?

09:23What are these circles basically?

09:26Sir, very nicely explained if you see his book.

09:29So, I have tried to explain national security architecture in form of three concentric circles.

09:38The outermost circle describes how do you secure a nation.

09:43This is the largest.

09:45Then there is a middle circle which is part of it and how do you defend your nation.

09:50It is slightly lesser than that and in the center of that is military preparedness of a nation.

09:56All these circles are not watertight compartments.

09:59They interact with each other.

10:01They may help you derive a national security strategy, defense strategy or a military strategy.

10:06All three of them.

10:08So, when you talk about national military strategy or military preparedness of a nation, which

10:15is the core of these three circles, our job is how to visualize how wars will be there in

10:23future, understand the current operating environment, what are the kind of threats and challenges,

10:28equip ourselves, then train ourselves, war game those things, come out with plans, contingency

10:34plan.

10:35That is all about military preparedness.

10:37That is all we well serving.

10:39We all do that.

10:40Then we look at the defense preparedness assets that is slightly bigger limit than military preparedness.

10:48In that what you are looking at say defense preparedness of a nation from the point of view

10:52of defense manufacturing.

10:53So, you want to be independent of any kind of foreign industry.

10:58So, that is one.

11:00You may like to build search capacities during war.

11:04That could be one.

11:05Defense R&D could be third.

11:07Strategic culture could be fourth.

11:08So, the remedy is slightly larger.

11:11And security.

11:12How do you secure a nation?

11:14That remedy is a long term thing.

11:16It will depend on diplomacy, economy.

11:18It will depend on technologies.

11:20So, all these things may be required to secure a nation.

11:24All of them work in tandem with each other.

11:26We have structures for all of this.

11:28And they need to interact freely with each other for a nation to successfully do this.

11:34So, in your second book, you are talking a lot about space warfare and space.

11:39Was it by design or is actually the second book is giving a lot of things about space warfare?

11:45You know, in any kind of conflict, how do we win actually?

11:50We win by creating asymmetries against the adversary.

11:55These asymmetries are easy to create in new domains, not in old domains.

12:02So, when the warfare was there on land, people invented Samaritan domain.

12:08So, there you could create asymmetries and that kind, you could influence warfare over there.

12:13And the outcome of conflict actually dependent by the guy who was initiating the conflict.

12:17He initiated this in the new domain in which he had created asymmetries.

12:21Similarly, look at air power.

12:23Precisely warfare power.

12:25Today, we are at the cusp of these traditional domains of land, maritime, air, rover.

12:29I think these new domains are important.

12:34Space is important domain.

12:36And if there are asymmetries, the other nations will exploit those asymmetries to defeat space

12:41first.

12:42Warfare in other domains will come later.

12:45If you start a fight in land domain, in an older domain, the fight will always be bloody.

12:50Very, very, very.

12:51It will be difficult, hard slogging match.

12:53But in a new domain, it will be smart, fast and technology intensive.

12:56So, you will win in that new domain.

12:59So, that's why I thought space was important.

13:01And that's why I put a number of articles on space.

13:06Sir, you've spoken about third RMA, which you would like to introduce.

13:12It's so difficult to get the three services talking very, let's achieve it tomorrow.

13:18It's so difficult to achieve that.

13:20And that's what the journal also mentioned.

13:22Don't be in a hurry.

13:23Let's give time.

13:24So, how do you propose to do the third RMAs?

13:27So, third RMA, first we must understand this particular concept.

13:31When I said first RMA was to do with manual warfare because of advances in mobility, in

13:38surface mobility and air mobility.

13:40And then the new concept like air land battle, deep battles, those kind of concepts came in.

13:47And then there was net centric warfare, battlefield transparency and net centricity, battlefield awareness.

13:57Third is, and these were all influenced by some of the other technologies.

14:01One I said was mobility.

14:03Second was because of communication, ICP, etc.

14:06But today, there are number of technologies which are competing with each other to transform warfare.

14:12So, I have called this as convergence because it's a convergence of large number of technologies which are taking place.

14:19It's also convergence of first and second RMA.

14:21It's a convergence of kinetic with non-kinetic, contact with non-contact.

14:25It's convergence of operational level, tactical level, strategic level.

14:31So, there is convergence of number of things which are going to get very complex kind of in warfare.

14:38Advances in this, number of these fields in which advances are taking place.

14:44We have to, all services have to be taking part in it together at the same kind of speed.

14:50There were instances in which some places, some service had taken a lead and they were progressing in artificial intelligence separately or in quantum separately.

15:01We are trying to get all these people together, who they solve their effects in one particular manner and that's the role of headquarter ideas.

15:09The ICT division over there, I think they are doing a great job.

15:12We have already come out with a kind of a roadmap which we have called as multi-domain operations and net-centric warfare.

15:20So, it's basically leading on to data-centric warfare where data will help us take better decisions in future.

15:27So, it's a futuristic concept but we have made a proper roadmap for that and hopefully we will be able to achieve it.

15:33Once again, sir, very important question because one of the allocations of business rule ask the CDS to get the jointness in.

15:42Jointness is in.

15:43From Kargil days, even the journal said that the jointness is happening.

15:47How about integration, sir?

15:48Why ask this question is, there is a very nice photograph of the RM, Madam Sitaraman and the entire price services crest being drawn in Fort Blair.

16:02Where in the swords, the army officers and army men are there.

16:06In the anchor, the navy and the coast guard is there and the wing, the air force is there.

16:10That's jointness.

16:11They've joined together to form this crest.

16:13If we shuffle them all and put them in these places, that means all are mixed.

16:17We don't know.

16:18In the anchor, you could get an air force uniform and so on.

16:21That's integration which I think of, sir.

16:23Because let's say in the Andaman Nicobar, I remember, sir.

16:26We have three units which are flying down here.

16:30Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force.

16:32They couldn't share the pilots between the two.

16:35Syncanism, common commander.

16:37They couldn't share the spare parts to each other.

16:39They did not have the servicing schedule.

16:41All the three aeroplanes designed, drawn, built by HAL.

16:46How is, how far have we reached in all these?

16:49I am talking five, seven years ago.

16:51So now we've obviously moved ahead.

16:53Okay.

16:54Let me see each individual service.

16:57We all aspire to join the army immediately.

16:59So we are not trying to say that there will be one common uniform.

17:02No.

17:03Each service will retain its individual identity.

17:06That's important.

17:07Because they have a specific kind of enrol.

17:09So there's no dilution in that.

17:11We are trying to take the best practices out of each service.

17:14It's not the worst.

17:15It's not the lowest common denominator, but the highest common factor, which we try.

17:20When we look at jointness.

17:23So rather than giving you what all we have done, I'll give you three examples from the latest operations in group.

17:30We'll plan to explain as to what jointness is or what integration is.

17:35So during this period from 22nd to 7th, there was a lot of requirement to reassess as to what is the requirement of assets which have been removed from northern borders or from east to the west.

17:47It required a lot of movement of air actually.

17:51And this was all done.

17:54I didn't even come to know.

17:56The chiefs came to know.

17:57This was done at the level of say two stars.

18:00No, not two stars.

18:01One stars.

18:02Without even asking their vice chiefs.

18:04Because they knew that this has to be done.

18:06And they were able to speak to each other.

18:08We had built that kind of a confidence.

18:10So it was done at that level back.

18:12Most I think two star levels.

18:13They moved all this aircraft, etc.

18:16Because that to be, you know, it is a priority.

18:19You know that we have that official air movement plan.

18:22So that will get disrupted.

18:24Who's to move?

18:25But it's all done seamlessly without.

18:27So this is I would say is an example of jointness.

18:31Integration.

18:32Another example I can give you is.

18:35All three services are common equipment now.

18:38Say MR Sands are there.

18:40Brahmoos are there.

18:41So there were places where some equipment was unserviceable.

18:47Because of want of some spares, etc.

18:50Now that we have integration.

18:52We have common communication architecture.

18:54And the inventory is visible to the services.

18:57So one could find okay this is available with the navy.

19:00That's available with the army.

19:02So that inventory is available.

19:03So they just spoke.

19:05Got that particular thing.

19:07So and that's 100% equipment was serviceable.

19:10So it's not because of want of something.

19:12We are able to exchange that.

19:13So here we have integrated our say communication network in which inventories are able to speak

19:20to each other.

19:21I am not saying that we are in a perfect stage.

19:24It's an offline mode.

19:25We are trying to get it online.

19:26So it will take me some time.

19:27So we are at a particular stage of integration.

19:30Another example which I can give you is still in spite of all this sometimes we don't know

19:37each other's capabilities.

19:38So I have given this example that many of you may be knowing or may not be knowing that

19:44the navy also took part in couple of the strikes which took place across the border.

19:49They used their equipment Palm 400 and Palm 120, which is the lower transmission, which

19:55had a very long range and but was available with the name.

19:58But unfortunately this was not known to the army and the air force, but it was known to

20:04headquarter ideas because we integrate things.

20:07So we offered that to the army and the air force and they were all three.

20:13It was a joint.

20:14So Marcos went to land borders along with the airport and army.

20:19So this is I thought by giving you an example it will be better.

20:24Otherwise we have say 197 odd initiatives across eight domains.

20:29We have achieved 56.

20:30That would mean nothing to you.

20:32But that's for me to keep statistics and keep chasing people.

20:35I know the audience won't know but I'll understand sir because I've spent so many years in ideas.

20:39Sir, you've very nicely spoken about joint culture.

20:42What exactly is this and how is this going to help us and get the jointness?

20:49So culture is something to do with ritual traditions practices that's developed over a period of time.

20:59A lot of time.

21:01So like the air force, 77 years, 78 years, a definite different culture.

21:06Navy will have different.

21:07So joint culture is something different.

21:10So what are we doing about it?

21:13In your previous question you had asked there is something to do about that we have common platforms, emission platforms.

21:20So we all know that the Navy, Coast Guard, Army, not the Army, but the Air Force.

21:27They're flag donors or you may have mid-29s, you may be having the same ALH or Cheetah Chetak variety, LCH between two services.

21:39But the aviation part of all the three services had their own culture, their own practices.

21:45I've combined them.

21:46So today you have one common aerospace safety organization.

21:51It's manned by all three services.

21:53We've just done it.

21:54Rana Day was about to touch.

21:57He was instrumental in getting it done.

21:59So we have now common aviation standards amongst all the services.

22:03They're all different.

22:04The Army's aviation standards, whether what is low visibility, what is at what altitude he can land, what kind of a helipad he requires, what is categorization of pilots, all were different.

22:15Now we have common aviation standards.

22:18For training, for medical, for everything.

22:21So these kind of things we are attempting.

22:25So wherever there is something which is common, say like staff will be always common.

22:30I mean we don't want to say that Air Force has said common means that uniqueness of Air Force should remain with Air Force.

22:38Air Force trains his staff, their pilots, etc.

22:40No one is disturbing that.

22:42But when we are in a common environment, suppose you have a joint headquarters or say theta headquarters in future, so you'll have staff which is common.

22:49No problem.

22:50So this has to be trained in a common manner, which we are trying to do in staff college.

22:54So you have a deep purple division.

22:56So people now attend a Army Staff College, AFO Staff College, Navy Staff College and there's a joint staff college, which about 40 or 50 officers are attending.

23:06The second course which is running there.

23:08So we are developing that joint culture in those people where there is commonality first.

23:12Sir, the book says Journal Anil Chauhan.

23:17No, the book is from Journal Anil Chauhan or from the CDS?

23:21What was there in your mind when you wrote the book?

23:24I wind up with this, sir.

23:26Actually, there is a disclaimer over there.

23:30It says that these are the views of General Anil Chauhan and not the views of MOD.

23:37So that's why it got a clearance actually.

23:42That's why you talked about it.

23:44Incidentally, he is authorized to say MOD because earlier when we used to say MOD, we actually meant DOD.

23:50MOD is not DMA also.

23:52So he wears the three hats, Permanent Chairman, Chief of Staff, Secretary, DMA and the CDS.

23:58How do you do all these threes?

24:00That's why it's not the views of MOD because I am also Secretary to Government of India.

24:06So it's the personal views.

24:10We must take it as that.

24:12And one more thing I must add.

24:15This is the copyrights are not available with me hereafter.

24:18They are with St. Jules.

24:20That's our think tank for price services think tank.

24:24So I have given this rights to St. Jules actually.

24:27So they are getting it published.

24:29And whatever is between the publisher and them, it matters.

24:33My job was only to write.

24:35Thereafter it was given to a think tank and the copyrights etc. that lies with them.

24:39Slice with them.

24:41market, the marketplace, the market, the market, the market, the market, the market naturally.

24:58So they have to hold some wings and the fortively high.

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