Army’s top brass deliberates on roadmap for Viksit Bharat 2047

New Delhi: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi on Monday chaired a meeting of the army’s top brass to discuss the future course of the Indian Army during the Amrit Kaal, aligning with the government’s vision to make India a developed country, a significant global player and one of the most desirable countries by 2047.

The discussions were centred around ongoing transformational initiatives by the Indian Army and its contribution towards achieving the objective of Viksit Bharat 2047.

The meeting, which will continue on August 20, is being attended by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chiefs (GOC-in-Cs) of the Indian Army's seven commands.

The COAS exhorted all stakeholders to promote Atmanirbharta, strive to achieve self-reliance in the Indigenisation of equipment, platforms, and weapons, and support Indian Defence Industries in not only developing world-class equipment but also facilitating becoming a leading defence exporter.

The forum provided an opportunity for the Indian Army’s top brass to brainstorm on strategic issues and set the direction for the Indian Army’s transformation over the next two decades.

The senior leadership engaged in interactive discussions to define the Army's role in the national vision and articulated the Indian Army’s Vision 2047 as: "To transform into a modern, agile, adaptive, technology-enabled, and self-reliant future-ready force, capable of deterring and winning wars in a multi-domain environment across the spectrum of operations, to protect our national interests in synergy with the other Services."

The Ministry of Defence said that the Indian Army spearheaded the decade of transformation by declaring the year 2023 as the ‘Year of Transformation’ and 2024 as the ‘Year of Technology Absorption’ to align its rank and file towards the transformative initiatives being undertaken.

The senior leadership outlined several broad goals to be pursued in the next decade, including, theaterisation, reorganisation of Army and Command Headquarters, and realignment of Command, Corps and Area HQ boundaries. Other discussion agendas included world-class infrastructure development, and enhancing multi-domain and cross-domain operational capabilities to include land, air, cyber and space.

The conduct of Data-Centric Operations by leveraging technology was deliberated to enhance the existing capabilities. In addition, a roadmap for capability development for the upgradation of Mechanised Forces, Artillery, Combat aviation, Air Defence and Infantry was discussed along with options for enhancement of logistics, ammunition infrastructure, requirement of new structures to support multi-domain operations and framework for expediting automation and networking of systems, processes and functions were discussed.

Actions to enhance jointness and integration in armed forces were also discussed for strengthening joint service structures and organisations besides the need to establish common military stations and units for logistics, communication, and other essential services. Human Resource Development initiatives aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of personnel across the ranks were also deliberated upon.