To remain agile, self-reliant, and future-ready, the Indian Armed Forces are committed to undergo continual transformation, reiterated Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan on Wednesday, during his address on the last day of the three-day 16th Combined Commanders’ Conference (CCC) 2025, being held in Kolkata, West Bengal. An overall review of major reforms of the last two years and transformational steps was carried out by the CDS.
As cited in the official statement, the CDS underscored why there is a need to institutionalise reforms as an ongoing process, aimed at preparing the forces to effectively tackle challenges in an increasingly complex global environment. It said that the successful conduct of CCC 2025 marks a major step in transforming the Armed Forces into a more integrated, technologically advanced, and operationally agile force - "fully capable of addressing multi-domain threats, safeguarding national interests and contributing to nation building, global peace and stability".
"The CDS provided a detailed update on the year of reforms, elaborating on the action plans formulated in line with the Prime Minister’s and Raksha Mantri’s directions. The discussion then stressed enhancing jointness and integration across the services — fostering interoperability, streamlining decision-making, and reforming institutional structures for space, cyber, information, and special operations domains,” the statement added.
There is a critical need to adopt a tech-led approach to modern warfare, and this was further highlighted during the three-day CCC’25 conference, which was based on the theme 'Year of Reforms - Transforming for the Future', and reflected a focused agenda to prepare the forces for emerging challenges.
The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, who boosted the morale of the forces while emphasising jointness, self-reliance, and innovation for enhanced operational readiness between them. On the other hand, the Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, presided over a session where an in-depth performance review was made of current force readiness, capability development, and a strategic roadmap for future wars..
It focused on the "impact of the current geopolitical flux on India’s security environment, emphasising the need for agility, resilience and foresight in defence planning," the statement said.
Further discussions were held on how future warfare is evolving, examining the shifting paradigms of multi-domain operations in the context of rapid technological advancements. The changing security dynamics across the country’s borders and at the global level were also among the topics discussed during the sessions at the conference.
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