Transformation of armed forces a prerequisite to stay relevant: Bipin Rawat

Chief of Defence Staff General

Bipin Rawat on Thursday said transformation of Indian armed forces has become a prerequisite to stay relevant in the fast changing geopolitical environment.

In his address to a webinar on Transformation: Imperatives for the Indian Armed Forces, he emphasised India was facing a complex and challenging security environment which calls for enhancement of military capabilities and requires addressing voids in national War-fighting ability.

"He outlined that transformation for Indian armed forces has become a prerequisite to stay relevant in the fast changing geopolitical environment and highlighted that a key strategic management competency is the ability to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to change," a Defence release said here.

The two-day webinar is being organised by the College of Defence Management (CDM) at Secunderabad here from Thursday.

He also stressed the significance of evolving doctrine, force structures, technology and sustenance to create a future-ready military.

The first day of the webinar included two major sessions on Organisational Imperatives and Structural Imperatives which were addressed by senior serving and veteran officers from the three Services, the release said.

As part of "Organisational Imperatives" for transformation, the speakers focused on the desired changes being sought in the Armed Forces, through promotion of jointness in training, staffing and procurement, it said.

The importance of restructuring of military commands into Joint Theatre Commands was also highlighted to achieve desired level of jointness in operations.

Various models of transformation were discussed to derive key concepts as applicable in Indian context, it said.

The afternoon session focused on issues pertaining to Structural Imperatives highlighting a conceptual framework on Theaterisation, for building a future-ready force.

The day's proceedings concluded with deliberations on a suggested model for Oceanic Theatre Command (OTC), the release added.