Indian Army Chief Gen Dwivedi Urges Societal Awareness, Recruitment Reforms & Domain Fusion for Future Warfare

Bengaluru: Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Thursday emphasised that societal awareness and a strengthening national identity are critical binding forces for India’s defence preparedness, even as the armed forces push ahead with sweeping reforms to embrace Multi-Domain Operations (MDO).

Speaking at the Tri-Service seminar ‘Ran Samwad’ in Bengaluru, General Dwivedi outlined a bold vision that blends technological modernisation, civil-military synergy and psychological resilience to prepare the military for a “dispersed, undeclared, multi-theatre, multi-domain world war.”

General Dwivedi stressed that unlike the “American dream” that united immigrants in the United States or religion that binds fighters in conflict zones such as Iran, India’s strength lies in its evolving national identity.

“Our national identity, which is mushrooming or increasing with every passing day… but what is important is whether we are connected at various levels? To connect, you require architecture,” he said.

He called upon academia to play a pivotal role in building this connective tissue.

The Army Chief announced major reviews of existing personnel policies to align them with the demands of MDO. He revealed that the Army is revisiting reservist terms and conditions, proposing the removal of age and rank embargoes so that senior officers, Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Other Ranks (ORs) can participate fully in multi-domain campaigns. On the controversial Agneepath scheme, he said induction norms “need to be reviewed” to attract technologically qualified talent.

“IIT-technologically qualified people who were there are going to help us in a big way,” he noted, adding that all three services have already revised education-core terms to induct cyber, linguistic and domain experts. Training periods will be optimised to overcome current deficiencies, he assured.

A key thrust of General Dwivedi’s address was deeper integration between the military and the civil sector. The Army is collaborating with multiple ministries and agencies, including BISAG and MeitY, on cutting-edge tools such as the Shubham Large Language Model for AI-driven operations.

“We are looking at more upgradation, and with the support of all three services, I am sure that we will be able to change the terms and conditions that exist today to better ones,” he said.

The Chief highlighted the Army’s proactive steps in the cognitive and information domains. An embedded battalion-level disinformation cell and a Psychological Defence Division have been established, currently operating at corps and command levels in “phase one.” Drawing lessons from Operation Sindoor, the forces enforced a “single source of truth” by shutting down all unofficial social media handles except the ADG (Strategic Communication).

“Every soldier who is there will also know which is the single source of truth which he has to look into,” General Dwivedi explained. He noted that disinformation campaigns assume greater importance in expeditionary operations where troops operate in unfamiliar terrain and culture.

On the drone front, the Army is rapidly scaling capabilities, inspired by lessons from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“Today, we are looking at approximately 15 regiments and about 34 batteries, 286 Ashni Platoons, and so on,” he disclosed.

The call-sign “Eagle on the arm” underscores the goal that every soldier should be able to operate a drone. Training is being intensified across schools of instruction, units and headquarters. However, Operation Sindoor exposed challenges: Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) difficulties and effective jamming.

“That is what something has to be understood… It’s a lesson which we have drawn, and we have to move forward from that,” the Chief said.

General Dwivedi framed MDO through the “six Ds” -- dispersion, democratisation of domains, diffusion, diversification, delegation and distributed response -- warning that “fragmented responses will not work hereafter.” He outlined a six-step progression from domain purity to full domain fusion, where “the seams disappear entirely.” He called for commanders to evolve into “techno-commanders,” driven by the “Three Is” -- Integration, Informatisation and Intelligentization -- while keeping humans firmly in the loop. The Army has declared 2026 and 2027 as “years of networking and data-centricity” following the 2024-25 focus on technology absorption.

Operation Sindoor served as a live laboratory for MDO. “It was a ground intelligence network coupled with cyber and EW inputs that gave the joint Army-Air Force targeting cycle its precision, while the Navy’s repositioning shaped the strategic calculus simultaneously. No single domain decided the operation,” the Chief recalled. He described the land domain as uniquely complex, requiring both decentralised execution and centralised effect, with all six domains operating in “constant, dynamic interaction, where the weight shifts and the lead changes.”

Acknowledging challenges, General Dwivedi noted the mismatch between responsibility and capability in the expanded land battlespace, the rise of hybrid grey-zone tactics, and the need to synchronise operations horizontally across domains and vertically across strategic, operational and tactical levels. Yet he remained optimistic: the military must lead by example so other ministries follow.

“We should not have even the doctrine at all… so that we have the freedom to grow the way we want,” he argued, favouring minimum-order quantities initially to allow organic evolution before formal policy frameworks are imposed.

General Dwivedi also urged the seminar participants to debate how India can build a force that “does not know where one domain ends and another begins.” With nuclear threats a “reality along both borders” and cognitive warfare now central, the Army Chief’s message was clear: future victory will belong to those who master seamless domain fusion, empowered cognition and whole-of-nation synergy.

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