Operation Sindoor Displayed Our Defence Manufacturing Muscle: Retired Lt General V K Ahluwalia

“It is non-kinetic, non-contact... And therefore, a great amount of work has to be done to increase technology-enabled weapons systems in our country,” Lt Gen (retd) Ahluwalia said, adding that with the rising cyber threats, New Delhi must look at being cyber-resilient as well.

The retired Lt General, who has recently written a book titled — A General’s Odyssey: Giving Up Is Not An Option — depicting his tenacity and perseverance in overcoming a personal accident and becoming a commissioned officer in Indian Army, said, “… during Operation Sindoor, our indigenous weapons systems — like Akash, the air defence surface-to-air missile — proved to be very effective.”

Fillip To Domestic Weapons Industry

Besides the indigenously developed new-generation Akash, he said, “We now have Akashteer, an advanced (automated), Indian air defence control reporting system. It gives a real-time aerial picture to facilitate coordination, detection, and engagement. We now have other loiter munitions that we have designed.”

The Akash medium-range, surface-to-air missile system has been developed jointly by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other defence PSUs like Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited.

“It marks a major step forward for the nation's missile development programmes, which are now gaining increasing attention in the global defence market,” a government release said.

Lt Gen (retd) Ahluwalia noted that it is important to have a distinct edge over adversaries in loiter munitions, drones, counter-drone measures, air defence systems, counter-air defence systems and beyond visual range missile systems. “Also, precision guided munitions, which can go and hit with great accuracy at a much greater range,” he added.

The former Lt General, however, contended that along with a tech-enabled weaponry system, “there is a greater amount of requirement to ensure that we look at intelligence and surveillance. That is one area that we must be able to pinpoint the location that we want to hit”.

Further talking about the rules of modern warfare, Lt General (retd) Ahluwalia said, “Besides intelligence and surveillance, there is another area on which we need to work on. All the weapons systems that we develop should be cyber-resilient, as cyber-attacks can take place anywhere and at any time.”

Internal Threat: Left Wing Extremism

Talking about left-wing extremism, one of the major internal security challenges that the country has been facing for long, Lt General (retd) Ahluwalia said, though the number of incidents related to Naxalite violence has come down significantly, the problem is not yet over, as it continues even today.     

“Naxal violence has had its ups and downs. When I was leading the Army’s Central Command, I had the seven states as a part of my territorial jurisdiction. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.”

At the time — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, as well as parts of Odisha, Telangana and Maharashtra — were hugely affected, he said, adding that 2009-10 were the bloodiest years of the Naxalite movement. “But today, after 15 years, the security environment seems to have improved to a large extent,” he noted.

The former soldier said, “But is that enough to eliminate or neutralise rebels? Will that bring stability in the region? The answer is no. We need to look at the root causes of the problem.”

He added, “We must have a roadmap in two formats: One that shows actions being taken to meet the aspirations of the entire Naxal-affected regions, with timelimes; the other that shows each different region (along with the different centres of gravity of Naxalite activity in each) to meet the critical requirements of each region, also with timelines."