3 'loud and clear' lessons for Indian Army from Russia-Ukraine war

Indian Army chief Gen Manoj Pande on Monday listed three lessons that could be learnt from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Responding to a query from media persons, General Pande said wars need not necessarily be short or swift and could prolong in a manner the current conflict is.

"...It has an important lesson for us. The relevance of conventional war still remains. We are seeing many platforms like air defence guns, artillery guns, missiles systems, rockets, and tanks being employed in this war in one way or the other," he said.

"It also tells us that wars need not necessarily be short and swift. It could prolong in a manner the current conflict is," he added. 

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The Army Chief further said, "The second important lesson would be for us to try and be self-reliant in terms of weapons, armaments, equipment and spares from outside." 

"Increasing self-reliance and decreasing our dependence on outside sources is an important lesson. We are dependent on certain weapon systems, especially in the areas of air defence, rockets, missiles and certain tanks from Russia and Ukraine," Gen Pande said, adding that "We have already started this in keeping with the 'Make in India' initiative as also to attain 'Aatmanirbharta'."

Talking about the immediate impact, the Indian Army chief said that the supply chain of certain spares and ammunition has got impacted to some extent. However, he maintained that 'we have adequate stocks to last for a reasonable period of time'.

He also said that the force is also looking at certain alternate mitigation measures and identifying alternate sources from friendly foreign countries. 

"This is also an opportunity -- In the long term -- for the private industry to step up production and meet the requirements," he said.

The third important issue is the aspect of non-contact or non-kinetic warfare. The lesson has come out loud and clear. 

"The cyber domain be it the information domain, we have seen the battle of narratives has been used to gain an advantage over the adversary. We need to increasingly focus on the new domains of warfare, focus on capability development," he added.

On Monday, the Ukrainian defence ministry said that Russian forces are attempting to 'storm' Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks.

On the World War II Victory Day parade at Moscow's Red Square, President Vladimir Putin said that Russian troops in eastern Ukraine are fighting for 'the motherland' as the Kremlin presses on with its offensive in the Donbas. Putin also said Moscow's invasion was a preemptive move to ward off aggression from the West.