HIGHLIGHTS
- The 80-page doctrine will be released next week
- It says joint operation will optimise utilisation of resources for a greater military punch from limited budgetary funds
- It is a positive step to address the lack of military synergy in the country, experts say
NEW DELHI: The armed forces have formulated a new "joint doctrine" to ensure the Army, Navy and IAF plan and work together to effectively tackle the entire spectrum of conflict, ranging from full blown conventional wars to irregular and hybrid warfare, in the years ahead.
Defence ministry sources say the around 80-page doctrine, which will formally be released next week, underlines the need for
"application of military power" in an integrated manner to enhance operational efficiency as well as optimise utilisation of resources for a greater military punch from limited budgetary funds.
Not only does the doctrine chart out a broad framework of principles for joint planning and the need to build an integrated land-air-sea-cyberspace war-fighting machinery, but also
"signals" the intent of the Indian armed forces to the world at large, say the sources.
But the doctrine comes at a time when India is still dragging its feet to create unified military structures from a desperately-needed tri-Service chief or chief of
defence staff (CDS), which has been hanging fire since the 1999 Kargil conflict, to integrated theatre commands in the long-term.
All this, incidentally, was discussed at the combined commanders' conference held at Dehradun in January, attended by PM Narendra Modi, as was first reported by TOI.
Similarly, the long-awaited tri-Service organisations to handle the critical areas of space, cyberspace and special operations are still stuck due to politico-bureaucratic apathy. This despite the fact that the original proposal for full-fledged commands was whittled down to creation of just a Cyber Defence Agency, Defence Space Agency and Special Operations Directorate.
