General Anil Chauhan authors book on India's military, Rajnath Singh at launch
The roots of this reform date back to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at the 2014 Combined Commanders' Conference, where he outlined the need for a modern, joint force capable of securing India's interests across both traditional and emerging domains. Acting on this vision, the government in 2020 established the Department of Military Affairs and appointed the first CDS to enhance synergy between the three services.advertisementGeneral Chauhan, who attended his first Combined Commanders' Conference as CDS in March 2023, drew inspiration from the event's theme - "Ready, Relevant, Resurgent" - for the title of the book. He said the terms encapsulate the direction India's military must take to remain effective in an increasingly complex global security landscape.Amid shifting geopolitical dynamics and the unpredictable nature of future conflicts, CDS Chauhan stressed the importance of developing India-specific solutions rooted in the country's strategic culture. Highlighting this, the book includes a piece on "Ancient Indian Wisdom and its Relevance in Modern Strategy and Statecraft", underlining how India's heritage continues to inform its global outlook and military thinking.Must Watch
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This Week in Explainers: Can India do without Russian oil amid Trump threats?
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First Post
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Why India is a spoke in the Trump-Xi wheel
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While Washington and Beijing are discomfited by a rising India, some commentators in India downplay the decline of the West that Acharya accurately portrays and underplay the rise of the Rest. For example, C Raja Mohan, distinguished fellow at the Council of Defence and Strategic Research, wrote in The Indian Express on July 30: 'Acharya's critique of Western dominance is compelling, but not all aspects of the Western legacy can or should be discarded. The Enlightenment ideals of the 17th and 18th centuries—reason, scepticism, science, individual liberty, and secularisation of society away from religious dominance—are at the very foundation of Western primacy in the last three centuries." 'If the East wishes to lead in shaping the world order, it must engage these ideals critically and constructively. Any notion that the East can rise by short-circuiting these values is an illusion. It only delays and derails the effort to rise. 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Acharya's conclusions of a 'multiplex' global order might be an old idea wrapped in a new cover, but it stays honest to the history of the West and the Rest. The rise of China, for example, is inevitable. So is India's over a longer period. The two Asian powers may meanwhile reach a modus vivendi over the next few critical years. By 2035, the combined GDP of China ($30 trillion) and India ($8 trillion) will equal the estimated US GDP at the time ($38 trillion). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The G2 could then morph into a G2+1 before becoming a full-fledged G3. It is not a prospect either Washington or Beijing relishes. The writer is an editor, author and publisher. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
