Talk

Topic BORDER MANAGEMENT - NEED FOR MACRO REFORMS
Speaker Lt Gen KJ Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar (Retd), former GOC-in-C Western Command and presently an Information Commissioner with the Govt of Haryana
At Gyan Chakra

1. A talk on the subject “Deterrence and Decision Making for War in the Indian Context” was delivered at Gyan Chakra Think Tank by Lt Gen JS Cheema, AVSM, VSM (Rted), former Deputy Chief of Army Staff (IS&T) on Thursday, 28 Mar 2019. It was attended by about 50 serving officers and veterans. The Army Commander also graced the occasion.

2. The Speaker highlighted the importance of Geography for any nation state and so it was for India. He covered the concepts of buffer states, no man’s land and frontiers. He went on to explain the process of change from a border to boundary which involved delimitation, delineation and finally the demarcation of the boundary of a nation state.

3. In the Indian context, the Speaker brought the following major issues duly illustrated by examples:-

4. The Speaker also highlighted the need to take action on the recommendations made by various committees appointed for border management from time to time. The Army ought to be in overall operational control where-ever the borders are disputed or unsettled. The leadership of border guarding also needs to be trained on the army pattern. In the interim, officers from the Army could be inducted, especially at senior levels to bring in army ethos and work culture. This would also facilitate their integration during active hostilities.

Seminar

Topic New Frontiers of Future conflicts
Speaker Lt Gen DS Hooda, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM and Bar (Retd) , Air Marshal KS Gill, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM (G) ADC (Retd) , Prof Rakesh Datta Chair General VP Malik, PVSM, AVSM (Retd)
Punjab Campus of Chitkara University (Rajpura Road)

1. Gyan Chakra Think Tank conducted its annual seminar jointly in collaboration with Chitkara University on 26 Apr 2019. The theme of the seminar was “New Frontiers of Future Conflicts” and it was held at the Punjab Campus of Chitkara University. The Seminar was attended by about 60 serving military officers from HQ Western Command and its formations, about 40 veterans from the tri-city, and about 200 faculty members and students of Chitkara University. Lieutenant General Surinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM **, VSM, ADC, GOC-in-C Western Command and Lieutenant General PM Bali, AVSM, VSM, Chief of Staff HQ Western Command also graced the occasion.

2. The Concept Note and the Program for the Seminar are attached. The panelists and their sub-themes were as under:-

Welcome Remarks

3. Colonel KK Sharma (retd), Prof and Dean of Management School in Chitkara University welcomed the Speakers and Defence Officers. An overview of Chitkara University ecosystem alongwith its global collaboration, exchange programmes and innovation, entrepreneurship opportunities in both the Campuses of Rajpura road Punjab and Baddi, Himachal Pradesh were brought out by Colonel Sharma.

4. Major General PJS Sandhu (Retd), Director Gyan Chakra welcomed all the panelists and participants for the Seminar. He also thanked Dr Ashok Chitkara, Chancellor and Dr Madhu Chitkara, Vice Chancellor of Chitkara University and their staff for the whole hearted support in making the joint seminar a reality. He also introduced the theme of the Seminar and briefly highlighted its importance. Thereafter, he introduced Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (retd), the Chairman and invited him to make his Opening Remarks and to conduct the proceedings.

Opening Remarks by the Chair

5. Lieutenant General Oberoi highlighted the changing nature of warfare due to several factors, such as: proliferation of technology, economic development, globalization, rise of religious fundamentalism and terrorism. Explaining Four Generations of warfare (4GW) to the audience, he brought out that the theory of 4GW was reinvented again after 9/11. He also pointed out that in the present times; the conflict was largely between the state and non-state actors who have access to political, economic and social media networks. He felt that globalization seemed to have helped non-state actors more than the States.

Non-Military aspects of Future Conflicts by Professor Rakesh Datta

6. Professor Datta began with a quote from Clausewitz “War is a continuation of politics by other means” and went on to explain the relationship between causes of conflicts and geo-politics. Further, future conflicts would be increasingly driven by geo-economics. Technology which steers war designs had shifted war from human centric to multi domain popularly called Unrestricted Warfare.

7. Elections, as a worldwide phenomenon are becoming biggest non- military aspect of future conflicts involving abductions, killings, violence, foreign manipulation, etc resulting in uprisings, coups, regime change and political upmanship.

8. He pointed out that while India had been good tactically, it had been poor strategically. He further emphasized that future conflicts would involve the whole nation and not only the military; hence it was important to sensitize the people about conflict situations that may arise and affect their lives.

Aero-Space, Cyber Warfare, Artificial Intelligence and Allied Technologies by Air Marshal JS Chauhan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd), former AOC-in-C Central Air Command

9. Air Marshal Chauhan very briefly recapitulated the conventional capabilities of the Indian Air Force, including the air defence systems. With the launch of dedicated Air Force Communication Satellite GSAT-7A, the Network Centric Warfare capabilities had expanded manifold. However, the strength of our fighter squadrons remained the main area of concern. He went on to highlight the requirement to develop weapons and technologies to tackle future conflict scenarios of non-conventional or hybrid warfare. With regard to Pakistan, he felt that there was a need to be pro-active to deter them from their policy of bleeding India by a thousand cuts.

10. He identified ‘Space’ as the new area of conflict. He stressed on the need for an Aerospace Command in the Indian context. The Integrated Space Cell which was formed under HQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) in 2010 has only a coordinating role with the three Services, and between the Armed Forces, the Department of Space and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and was not sufficient. He emphasized the need for establishing a full fledged Aerospace Command, sooner than later.

11. Another new frontier was the Cyber Warfare. The combination of an ongoing cyber warfare arms race and lack of clear rules of engagement governing online conflicts meant that small incidents could rapidly escalate out of control paralyzing an entire country. It has an inbuilt element of deniability. Cyber Warfare was emerging as a major threat to our fighting capabilities. The USA had in 2017 upgraded their Cyber Command to the status of a Unified Combat Command. India was in the process of setting up a Defence Cyber Agency under HQ IDS which was a welcome step. He stressed the need for training adequate number of people in cyber warfare activities, commensurate with our size and national interests.

12. Finally, he highlighted the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which was an emerging field and a critical part of modern warfare. He outlined various military applications where AI could be used; such as: weapon platforms, cyber security systems, target acquisition and recognition, simulations and wargames, threat monitoring and situational awareness, data information processing etc. He concluded by saying that India needed to invest heavily in developing technologies and organizations to address the emerging frontiers of future conflicts.

Maritime Dimensions of Future Conflicts by Commodore BR Singh

13. Commodore BR Singh gave an overview of the maritime challenges facing the Country and cautioned against the possibility of refugees or other undesirable elements from the Indian Ocean rim countries settling on some of India’s island territories. He also explained how anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean were driven by economic considerations rather than pure security requirements. He dwelt upon the Chinese strategy in the South China Sea to secure her claims by using hundreds of fishing boats under the shadow of PLA Navy and warned about the possibility of such tactics being extended to the Indian Ocean using their naval bases that they were in the process of setting up. India needed to develop capabilities to thwart such attempts at a future date.

Land Warfare, Information Warfare, Perception Management and Dilemmas of Decision Making in Future Conflicts by Lieutenant General DS Hooda, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM & Bar** (Retd), former GOC-in-C Northern Command

14. Lieutenant General Hooda began with a regional geo-political scan and identified threats to India’s security in the medium term. Thereafter, he dwelt upon the character of future wars as under:-

15. Thereafter, he dealt with Information warfare. The salient points were:-

16. While dealing with decision dilemmas, he highlighted the intrusion of politics in military decision making and influence of public perceptions which could drive decisions. He stressed the need for long term strategic planning and not resort to short term goals under the influence of public perceptions. He also highlighted the importance of military advice in arriving at strategic decisions.

17. The Chairman invited Lieutenant General Harbhajan Singh, PVSM (Retd), former SO-in-C Indian Army to make brief remarks on Information Warfare. General Harbhajan Singh while stressing the importance of Information Warfare in conflict situations made a reference to a book titled Cyber War 3.0 ‘Human Factors in Information Operations and Future Conflicts’ edited by Alan D Campen and Douglas H Dearth from compilation of AFCEA Fair Fax Virginia. He had also presented a paper on Information warfare in National Defence College and Higher Command College. He mentioned that Indian Army adopted the concept of net-centric warfare after the first US- Gulf War. It is an effective paradigm, which is required to be fully exploited in all future conflicts.

Interactive Session

18. The interactive session was most stimulating with active participation by the audience, including the faculty members and students of Chitkara University. A gist of the issues raised and responses by the panelists is given in the succeeding paras.

19. Issues Raised:-

20. Responses by Panelists:-

21. Issues Raised:-

22. Responses by Panelists:-

23. Issues raised:-

24. Responses by Panelists:-

Concluding Remarks by The Chair

25. Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd) thanked all the panelists for their excellent presentations. Thereafter, he presented the various facets of New Frontiers of Future Conflicts covering Network Centric Warfare, Information Warfare, Hybrid Warfare, Asymmetric Warfare, Unrestricted Warfare etc. Unrestricted War is continuous conflict wherein all dimensions of space are considered the battleground and it does not follow any rules. He stated that answers to fight in ‘New Frontiers of Future Conflicts’ lies within and brought out that in the Army we always follow ‘Back to Basics’ approach. He flashed the quote by Sun ¬¬¬¬¬¬Tzu to emphasise his point.

“ Water shapes its course according to the ground over which it flows, the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is fighting”. Closing Address by the GOC-in-C Western Command

26. The Army Commander stressed that the country with larger resources and excelling in innovations would emerge as the winner. He cited the example of the USA which maintains its superpower status based on these two ingredients. In the Indian context, he mentioned that our Country was lagging behind in food availability and infrastructure. Hence, there was a need to have a Grand Strategy and define long term goals to transform India into a developed country. If we focus on economic development, other problems like insurgencies or social unrest will over a period of time fade away. In the end, he complimented and thanked Chitkara University for having collaborated whole heartedly for making the joint seminar a great success.

Presentation of Mementoes and Honouring the Guests

27. Major General Sandhu requested the Army Commander to present a Gyan Chakra memento which was received by Dr Ashok Chitkara and Dr Madhu Chitkara on behalf of Chitkara University. Dr Ashok Citkara and Dr Madhu Chitkara also presented their University memento which was received by Major General Sandhu, the Director on behalf of Gyan Chakra. Thereafter, Dr Ashok Chitkara and Dr Madhu Chitkara honoured the Army Commander, the Chief of Staff, The Chair, all the panelists and Director Gyan Chakra with scarves and token gifts to convey their appreciation.

Vote of Thanks

28. Colonel KK Sharma (Retd), Professor and Dean of Chikara University delivered the Vote of Thanks and acknowledged the work done by all concerned for setting up and organizing the first joint effort between Gyan Chakra and Chitkara University. He invited all the serving officers and veterans attending the seminar to proceed for lunch which had been organized by kind courtesy Chitkara University.

Talk

Topic The Changing Spectrum of the UN Peace Operations - Is the UN Waging War to Establish Peace?
Speaker Lt Gen Jasbir Lidder, UYSM, AVSM (retd)
Gyan Chakra Lecture hall

General

1. A talk on the subject ‘The Changing Spectrum of the UN Peace Operations - Is the UN Waging War to Establish Peace?’ was delivered by Lt Gen Jasbir Lidder, UYSM, AVSM (retd) on Saturday, 11 May 2019 at Gyan Chakra Lecture hall. It was attended by approximately 60 serving officers and veterans. The GOC-in-C and the COS, Western Command graced the occasion.

Salient Points

2. The speaker introduced the concept of peace keeping and covered the traditional UN Peacekeeping, the mindset and the general understanding of the UN. He, then brought out the contemporary operations narrative wherein latest technologies and weapon systems, including surveillance and radar systems are being deployed for UN Peace operations.

3. General Lidder stressed on the question whether ‘UN is waging War to establish peace?’ and then he aptly clarified the statement in his talk by pointing out that the UN have always been using force to establish peace, if required. He quoted the deployment of Indian Army in Congo in year 1961, wherein Maj Salaria was awarded PVC posthumously. Subsequent, deployment of UN in Somalia, Sierra Leone, Iraq etc were listed out to the audience. Speaker brought out the ‘Emerging Hybrid Conflict Scenarios’ troubled countries where UN faces highly senstive, volatile and ambigous situations as routine. The UN is required to carry out robust peacekeeping with proactive profile and posture even though each deployment of UN is unique with different mandate according to understanding and acceptance of the host country.

4. The speaker brought out that generally it was perceived that the UN was becoming irrelevant in the present and emerging geo-political world order. All the UN missions have been either prolonged or ended up in unresolved situations. He brought out that the UN was reforming and evolving its structure by representation of troop contributory country in the UN Headquarters and impart responsibility on a mission to the contingent country.

Conclusion

5.Talk was followed by a very stimulating interactive session with the audience including serving officers. The speaker brought out that a lot of regional and global co-operations on economic and strategic issue are emerging. Although there is NO alternative to this global organisation which has 193 member states, whose annual budget is 7.3 billion USD and which has deployment of 1,12,000 field personnel in 15 peace keeping missions. The UN reforms have given a lot space to women representation. Countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh have more women representation than India. We need to deliberate and strengthen our status in this widely accepted global organization.

6. In this end, Major General PJS Sandhu, Director Gyan Chakra thanked the speaker and the audience. He, then requested the Army Commanders to present a small gift to Lt Gen Jasbir Lidder, UYSM, AVSM (retd) on behalf of Gyan Chakra as a token of appreciation.