Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday released the book, “Ready, Relevant and Resurgent: A Blueprint for the Transformation of India’s Military”, authored by chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan.

The book offers deep insights into the ongoing transformation of the Indian armed forces, driven by jointness, integration and self-reliance, to meet the demands of 21st century warfare and secure national interests, HQs Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) said.

The book is rare as it has been authored by a serving four-star officer.

It comes at a time when jointness among the three services, an essential prerequisite to the creation of theatre commands, is in sharp focus. The armed forces are charting a path towards theaterisation, a long-awaited reform for the best use of the military’s resources to fight future wars.

“It reflects marking a new era in India’s higher defence organisation,” HQs IDS wrote on X.

The theaterisation model being pursued involves raising the China-centric northern theatre command in Lucknow, the Pakistan-centric western theatre command in Jaipur, and the maritime theatre command in Thiruvananthapuram.

The concepts ideated in the book aim to focus on the long-term efficacy of military reforms to foster jointness and interoperability, facilitate optimisation and ensure credible modernisation of the armed forces to meet emerging challenges, Chauhan writes in the introduction.

Jointness was in focus during Operation Sindoor too; New Delhi’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. It triggered four days of strikes and counterstrikes with fighter jets, missiles, drones, long-range weapons and heavy artillery before the Indian and Pakistani forces reached an understanding on stopping all military action on May 10.

Ready, Relevant and Resurgent was the theme chosen for the Combined Commanders’ Conference held in March 2023, the first attended by Chauhan as CDS.

“The reforms in the armed forces need to be seen from a wider perspective. Today, war and warfare are continuously evolving at an increasingly rapid pace. As a result, the armed forces need to absorb new and emerging technologies as well as evolve new tactics to be future-ready. The future of warfare itself needs deliberation, diligent prognosis and an informed assimilation,” he wrote.

There is also a requirement for defence officers to understand the larger dynamics of national security without diluting the military preparedness aspect, read excerpts published by website StratNewsGlobal.

“The mosaic has to be filled with threats and challenges that we may face from our adversaries on the borders, in the Indian Ocean Region, in space and in cyber domains. From the rising threat of terrorism and radicalisation on one end to the weaponisation of sanctions and the use of information as a weapon are major challenges that need to be dealt with.”