Border dispute with China, Pakistan proxy war among six challenges faced by India: CDS Chauhan

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Friday outlined six key national security challenges confronting India, stressing that the country must be prepared for future wars that will not be confined to land, air, or sea.

Speaking in Gorakhpur, General Chauhan said India’s challenges are “not momentary but persistent,” requiring constant preparedness and strategic cohesion. He identified the unresolved border dispute with China as India’s “biggest challenge.”

The second challenge, he said, stems from Pakistan’s proxy war strategy of “bleeding India by a thousand cuts.” The third lies in regional instability, with almost all neighbouring countries grappling with social, political, and economic turbulence, creating openings for external interference.

The fourth challenge is the changing nature of warfare, which now extends to space, cyberspace, and other new domains. “Future wars will be multi-domain, and we must achieve cohesion across all forces,” he said.

Pakistan and China’s nuclear capabilities form the fifth challenge, complicating the calculus of conventional warfare. The sixth, General Chauhan added, is technological, as wars become increasingly driven by rapid advancements in military technology and artificial intelligence.

Referring to Operation Sindoor, General Chauhan said that the armed forces were granted “full operational freedom” during the mission. “The aim was not revenge, but to draw a red line of our patience,” he said, while highlighting the crucial role played by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval in target selection, de-escalation, and diplomacy.

His remarks assume significance days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the SCO summit in China. In recent months, India and China have witnessed an easing of tensions, including an agreement last October to reduce border friction after a Modi–Xi meeting at the BRICS Summit in Russia’s Kazan.

Despite this thaw, the CDS underlined that the border issue with China remains a major challenge, reflecting continuing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
(With IANS inputs)