Army chief shares 'biggest lesson' for India from Russia-Ukraine conflict

 Army Chief General MM Naravane, on Tuesday said that the Russia-Ukraine war has in it some of the biggest lessons for the Indian armed forces. Naravane said that among others, the Ukraine conflict has shown that future wars would be fought with every nation's own weapon systems. Naravane said that the biggest lesson of the Russia-Ukraine war is that 'we have to be ready with indigenous weapons' to fight future wars.

"The biggest lesson is we have to be ready to fight future wars with indigenous weapons. Steps towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat in defence have to be taken more urgently. Wars of future should be fought with own weapon systems," Army Chief General MM Naravane told news agency ANI.

Adding that the Russia-Ukraine crisis shows that wars can happen any time, Naravane said that wars of the future would not just be non-kinetic, but would also be fought in the physical domain.

"There are many lessons that can be learnt from the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war. The crisis shows that wars can happen at any time and we have to remain prepared for them. The wars wouldn't just be non-kinetic and would be fought in a physical domain also," Naravane said.

Naravane's comments may be viewed against the massive mobilisation of troops by Ukraine as well as Russia. Russia's hardcore military actions are being countered by the Ukrainian forces on the ground in a visibly conventional war. More significantly, Ukraine's allies have imposed massive sanctions on Russia, compelling Moscow to rely on its own firepower and weapon systems.

While India has made significant progress in defence manufacturing under the government's flagship Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme that imparts special importance to make in India in defence, India remains one of the largest importers of arms with the US as well as Russia as its arms suppliers.