Need to go digital in a big way, bring allies together for future, says top Army official

BENGALURU: In a major drive to bring friendly countries together to face future conflicts, General Officer Commanding in Chief of Army Training Command (ARTRAC)Lt Gen Raj Shukla on Thursday said there is a need to go digital quickly and in a very big way.

Speaking at a seminar on “the future of conflicts” organized by Synergia Foundation as part of ongoing Aero India 2021, the senior Army officer said investment in technology and new-age skills will be very important. “We need to embrace multi-domain operations capacities,” he said.

“Skill and sagacity with which we partner with like-minded allies adds heft to our strategic partnerships and this may be critical as we have seen what new age challenges and their scale and magnitude are,” he said.

He pointed out that military burdens are only growing and they can be comprehensively addressed only through smart partnerships and sharing of geographical burdens.

“We will need to find innovative ways to add military heft to our partnerships, share assets and burdens, and show greater interoperability. There should be greater imagination in our joint training regimens, pursue initiatives like defence technologies and trade with greater diligence and sense of purpose. The lone ranger syndrome will need to be suitably circumscribed and calibrated; it is simply no longer wise,” he said.  

There has to be civil-military fusion to harness technologies. The officer said there is a need to find innovative ways to keep pace with the changing requirements and bring in a dynamic recruitment and talent management system.