"Operation Sindoor was an absolute, bold, and resolute military action" : Lt. Gen. Dhiraj Seth

Emphasising the essence of integrated military operations, Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, said jointness and synergy among the Indian Armed Forces have become the defining feature of India’s modern warfighting capability.

“Operation Sindoor was an absolute, bold, and resolute military action carried out by the Indian Armed Forces, defined truly by precision and executed with top speed,” Gen. Seth said during a recent interview. “We attained the political-military objectives in flat 88 hours from the time it started.”

Highlighting how jointness was the key to success, he added, “We had a clear political intent and aim. With that given, as also maximum freedom given to our armed forces, we found the armed forces acting in absolute synergy and jointness to achieve laid-down mandates and objectives.”

The Southern Army Commander described how the evolving nature of warfare demands seamless integration. “Character of warfare is never constant it keeps evolving, and at present times, it’s evolving faster than ever before. The traditional domains of land, air, and sea have become largely passé because they’ve got overextended, and now we have new domains of warfare coming in cyber, space, AI, and autonomous systems.”

Speaking about Southern Command’s pioneering role, Gen. Seth said, “Southern Command, based at Pune, has jointness ingrained in its DNA. My area of responsibility covers 11 southern states, which brings in four of the seven Air Force Commands and all three Naval Commands. I am uniquely endowed in Southern Command to make jointness happen.”

He added that a major tri-services exercise will soon take place off the Gujarat coast to validate joint doctrines covering amphibious, cyber, and electronic warfare operations. “We’ve been doing this in the past, but now that the strategic guidance is clearly defined, there is no turning back as far as jointness is concerned,” he asserted.

Lt .Gen Seth also spoke about the need for homegrown strategic solutions tailored to India’s unique challenges.

“We’ve taken major strides toward jointness to make multi-domain operations happen,” he said. “We’ve brought out joint doctrines, created central agencies for space and cyber, established joint logistic nodes, and common defence stations. But now the time has come to move beyond those strides to take that big leap toward creation of integrated theatre commands.”

However, he cautioned that India’s model must remain rooted in national realities. “That integrated theatre command must be a homegrown solution. Atmanirbharta must permeate our strategic thinking understanding our own nuances, strategic imperatives, and compulsions. We must arrive at a model that suits our requirement of a twin threat on both borders, covering everything from grey-zone to full-spectrum conflict.”