India’s next Chief of Defence Staff assumes office at a defining moment in the nation’s strategic journey. The character of warfare has evolved faster than the warfighter’s ability to adapt. Conflict is no longer confined to the battlefield; it now plays out across cyber networks, space systems, the electromagnetic spectrum, financial channels, supply chains, data networks, and the cognitive domain. This is an era of multidomain battlespace. In this environment, the real contest is about information advantage, faster decisions, technological adaptability, industrial strength, and national resilience. The national security agenda must therefore move beyond conventional force modernisation towards an integrated, multidomain national security architecture.
