Battlefield of 2035 to be shaped by niche tech, to be different from 1971, 1999 wars: Lt Gen Sahi

Mhow, Nov 24 (PTI) The battlefield of 2035 will not resemble that of the (Indo-Pak) 1971 war or the (Kargil) 1999 war and will be shaped by cyber, space, orbital constellations, drone swarms and niche technologies, a top military officer said on Monday.

Lieutenant General Harjeet Singh Sahi, Commandant of Army War College, also said China was restructuring its People's Liberation Army into a modern joint force, guided by its doctrine on "intelligentized warfare", while advances in hypersonics, artificial intelligence & space-based surveillance are altering the nature of conflict.

"Intelligentized warfare" is a modern military concept associated with China that involves extensive use of AI and other advanced technologies.

"The battlefield of 2035 will not resemble that of 1971 or 1999. It will be shaped by cyber, space, orbital constellations, drone swarms and niche technologies," Lt Gen Sahi said on the first day of the two-day Doctrine and Strategy Seminar 2025 here.

A statement quoted him as saying that Pakistan will continue with its fail-win strategy, seeking to offset India's conventional superiority through proxies, hybrid warfare and tactical nuclear posturing.

From Uri to Pulwama and most recently Pahalgam, the neighbouring country's reliance on terror as state policy remains unchanged, the top military officer emphasised.

Operation Sindoor demonstrated that it was possible to turn the tables on hybrid coercion through precision strikes, speed and strategic surprise, he added.

Lt Gen Sahi summed up his address by affirming that Indian Army's future leaders possessed the courage to innovate, adapt and fight against all odds.

"With clarity of vision, unity of purpose and the warrior ethos of its soldiers, the Indian Army will continue to remain the decisive instrument of national power today, in 2035 and beyond," Lt Gen Sahi asserted.

Lt Gen Devendra Sharma, General- Officer-Commanding (GOC) Army Training Command, in his plenary address, touched upon important aspects related to the evolving world order, changing character of war as witnessed during ongoing conflicts as well as the regional neighbourhood impacting India's security concerns.

"If India has to be future-ready, it needs to evolve new concepts of war fighting aligned with the current battlefield milieu and advent of technology. Atmanirbharta, harnessing human resource potential and reviewing doctrine and strategies are crucial to gear up for future conflicts," he said.

Lt Gen Sharma concluded his address by highlighting the requirement to challenge assumptions, learn from each other's experiences and emerge with concrete ideas.

Insights from DSS-2025 would act as valuable inputs to refine Indian Army's doctrine and training roadmap, the officer stressed.

The first session with the theme 'Future Battlefield Milieu 2035-Indian Context' had eminent speakers like Brigadier Sanjay Kannoth, Ambassador TCA Raghavan, Lt Gen SL Narasimhan (Retd) Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai talk on "Chinese Strategic Culture", "Pakistan's Fabian Strategy", "Future Multi Domain Collusive Threat" and "Lessons Learnt from Op Sindoor", respectively. PTI COR LAL BNM