Pune: ‘Joint Training Doctrine Indian Armed Forces–2017’, a keystone document promulgated for the first time in the history of the Indian Armed Forces, states, “As a responsible world leader, India would need to meet its international obligation of supporting other nations, whenever such assistance is sought and decided/directed by the political leadership. These efforts mandate an 'integrated application of national power’ even far away from our shores if so warranted/directed.”
Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee & Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba released the document on November 14 in New Delhi. The aim of the doctrine is to promote ‘synergy’ and ‘integration’ amongst the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force)and other stakeholders leading to enhanced efficiency and optimum utilisation of resources. Besides numerous advantages of the doctrines, this document will go a long way in ‘fostering initiative’ and ‘stimulating creativity’ for promoting ‘integration’ between the three services. The doctrine brings out the critical necessity to operate 'jointly' and continuously evolve the capability to do so.
The doctrine states that increased globalisation and environmental pressures will bring changes to the international strategic landscape based on the rise of new powers, population shifts, competition for natural resources, a pervasive sense of global insecurity amidst evolving partnerships and new actors in today’s world of asymmetric warfare. As new capabilities are developed, the conduct of warfare changes with the contours of security and dynamics of conflicts, placing a high premium on 'training'. The new dimensions of security, which include nuclear and sub-conventional warfare, cyber-security, air, space, oceans, global communication networks etc require a common understanding of such issues by military leaders. India’s security environment is challenged by threats arising from regional instability, rise of fundamentalism and extremism, intense competition for securing energy resources to support economic growth etc.
It states that modern 'force multipliers’ such as space-based surveillance and communications, command, control, communication, computers, inter-operability, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4I2SR) networks are 'capital intensive’ and shared utilisation of such resources amongst the three services is necessary to maximise such capabilities with minimal cost. Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) has brought increased technological sophistication across the entire spectrum of war fighting. Thus, the conduct of future warfare will include combinations of conventional and unconventional, lethal and non-lethal, and military and non-military actions and operations, all of which add to the increasing complexity of the future security environment. The complex requirements of an increased pace of battle have led to the need for enhanced levels of synergy in training among the services to achieve success, cost-effectively.
“Irrespective of the advances in technology, the 'man behind the machine' will always retain primacy. Our officers and men will have to be trained to handle ambiguity in order to exploit situations in a fluid and fast-paced battlefield,” the document reveals.
The doctrine brings out our approach to joint training at macro-level, fundamentals, objectives, joint structures, planning, organisation amongst other aspects in existence and in use in the Armed Forces which have matured over 15 years of the existence of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), which was established after the Kargil conflict. This keystone doctrine will basically serve as a ‘foundation’ and ‘knowledge base’ from which specific directives and strategies will be issued by the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee to the HQ IDS and Service HQs to consolidate proven concepts, structures, mechanisms, capacities and capabilities.
Consequent to consolidation of joint training, this maiden doctrine will be further developed in due course as doctrines are always ‘unfinished products’ being ‘evolving in nature’, for ready reference as ‘distilled wisdom’ and a ‘referral document’ for the policymakers, armed forces personnel and academia.
Principles of Joint Training
- Inter-service camaraderie
- Cost effectiveness/resource management
- Integration/synergy
- Operational orientation
- Sense of collective ownership
- Pattern of foreign training
