Ran Samwad 2025
“Ran” (battle) and “Samwad” (dialogue) are complementary. Organised by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), and the Army Training Command, the ‘Ran Samwad’ forum, saw Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh emphasise dialogue as a cornerstone of conflict resolution while stressing hard-power credibility.
General Anil Chauhan CDS introduced RANSAMWAD 2025 where serving Commanders lead conversations on the Realities of warfare. As conflict evolves across land, sea, air, cyber & space domains, our response demands unified, swift and decisive action. Future battlefields don’t recognise service boundaries. Jointmanship isn’t aspirational – it’s foundational to our transformation through theaterisation, integrated logistics and joint training.
RAN SAMWAD 2025 shapes clarity of purpose, unity of effort and shared operational understanding across services.
General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff delivers the Keynote Address at RANSAMWAD 2025, themed ‘Impact of Technology on Warfare’ where CDS highlighted the acendancy of technology over strategy, elucidating that the future battlefields will not recognise service boundaries; calls for swift and decisive joint responses across domains, enabled by #Atmanirbharta in Defence and integrated logistics. He underscores the need to institutionalise joint training, absorption of AI, Cyber and Quantum to enhance operational capability. The CDS reaffirms that jointmanship is foundational to India’s transformation.
Emphasising upon Sudarshan Chakra for robust civil-military integration, CDS underscores developing capabilities in multiple domains for attaining victory in Future Wars.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
At the first Ran Samvad, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India is rapidly adapting to the new age of warfare where technology, intelligence, economy, and diplomacy play equal roles. Drawing parallels with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he stressed the importance of modernisation, highlighting new formations like the Rudra Brigade and Drone Platoon. Singh announced the Sudarshan Chakra Mission announced by PM Modi is in progress that will shield India’s critical sites with indigenous tech, praised platforms like Tejas and Akash, and revealed India’s next leap—developing fifth-generation fighter aircraft and jet engines at home.
Important Quotes from his speech:
We are moving fast in making indigenous fighter engine.
Drone training by ARTRAC to all Army jawans by 2027.
If any War stretched for 2 months – 4 months – a year, or even 5 years we should have the capability to fight the war with full preparedness which requires a Whole of Nation Approach.
Jointness played a great role in the success of Op Sindoor. Hence, the Joint Strategic Communication Doctrine needs to be there.
Indian Army
Lt. Gen. Devendra Sharma GOC-in-ARTRAC delivers the inaugural address at RANSAMWAD 2025, underlining how the forces must adapt swiftly to evolving threats across land, sea, air, cyber and space.
Emphasising joint training, integrated logistics and Atmanir Bharat innovations as the foundations for theatre-level preparedness, the Army Commander reinforced India’s vision of clarity of purpose, unity of efforts and shared operational understanding to ensure Future ready warfighting capability.
He further emphasised upon evolution of warfare from stones to rocketry providing a deep understanding of the evolution of warfare since stone-age to the age of Missiles. He further emphasised that the structural resilience of the armed forces towards preparing for future conflicts needs to be addressed and it was day-2 of the Ransamwad 2025 where talks where held focusing on doctrinal shift to redefine Basic Military Training to include Drones, Cyber Security, Defensive EW, and Information Warfare, emphasising on the fact that Training Establishments should become Technology Training hubs.
Indian Air Force
Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal A P Singh proposed establishing a joint planning and coordination centre in Delhi, comprising the three service chiefs and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), to enhance tri-service synergy and oversee joint operations at the fireside chat session organised by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), and the Army Training Command. The CAS also called for a measured approach to the proposed theatrisation initiative and cautioned against introducing new organisational structures that could cause disruption.
He proposed establishing a joint planning and coordination centre in Delhi. Speaking three-and-a-half months after India carried out Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal Singh reiterated the need for a joint planning and coordination centre in Delhi, which would function under the Chiefs of Staff Committee. With the CDS in the audience, he said that such a centre would allow centralised decision-making with decentralised execution. Describing even the May 7–10 Operation Sindoor as “yesterday’s war”, Singh emphasised the need to prepare for tomorrow’s wars.
He warned against structural changes that lengthen the OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) loop. “We will not take a hasty decision on this. My approach and suggestion have been that let’s take a stepwise approach. Let’s not implement everything together in one go and shake up [things]. Let’s see how it benefits us,” he quoted at the fireside chat.
The IAF plans its operations centrally, and assets are moved from one command to the other at ease depending on operational requirements, feels that splitting up air assets into three or more Theatre Commands is futile and tying up critical systems. While the final contours are not known, the plan could involve two integrated theatre commands to counter Pakistan and China, along with a third maritime theatre command.
Indian Navy
The Navy is committed to synergising its command control, communications and combat capability with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force with the ultimate goal of theaterisation. Another area where significant efforts are being progressed is jointness and integration. We are committed to synergising our command control communications and combat capability with the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. Full stop, period,” Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi said addressing the Ran Samvad seminar here at the Army War College (AWC).
The Navy has always been on board the theaterisation plan because it will head the Maritime Theatre Command that will oversee both the Eastern and Western maritime boundaries.With theatrisation as the ultimate goal, we are propelling ahead with the goal of unified planning, common picture and integrated operations; while gaining skills, competence and teamwork for this cohesion, it is the leadership that transforms both into decisive outcomes.
The Navy Chief also cautioned about grey area of Conflict at seas he stressed upon fishing fleets fitted with satellite communication and long range sensors now act as extension of national strategy, remaining at sea for once while relaying positional and surveillance intelligence in real time. He added that technology has advanced to the point where small autonomous boats can now launch, for example, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, making it conceivable that seemingly innocuous fishing vessels could carry out major offensive actions in the near future.
Inauguration of Joint Doctrines
– Joint Doctrine for Special Forces Operations
– Joint Doctrine for Airborne and Heliborne Operations
– Joint Doctrine for Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)
Hon’ble Raksha Mantri released the Joint Doctrine for ‘Multi Domain Operations’ (MDO) and the ‘Technology Perspective & Capability Roadmap 2025’ (TPCR) at the Ransamwad 2025.
The MDO Doctrine charts the way forward for integrated & synergised employment of the Indian Armed Forces across land, sea, air, space, cyber & Cognitive domains – strengthening jointness & future readiness.
TPCR outlines the long-term modernisation plans over a 10 year period, focusing on bridging capability gaps and building technologically advanced Armed Forces. It provides guidance to Indian Defence Industry and R&D institutions in aligning their innovation and production efforts with national defence needs, fostering Atmanir bharta, reducing dependence on imports and ensuring that the armed forces are optimally structured and equipped for future security challenges. In order to enhance accessibility and wider dissemination, the Doctrines can be accessed at the IDS website.
Another release of two joint doctrines on ‘Special Forces Operations’ and
‘Airborne & Heliborne Operations were declassified at Ransamwd 2025 by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) and Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCAS).
Formulated under the aegis of Doctrine Directorate, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff with active participation from the three Services, these doctrines lay down the guiding principles, operational concepts and interoperabillty frameworks for conduct of Special Forces missions and Airborne Operations.
These doctrines would serve as pivotal references for planners, commanders and operators in the evolving battlespace.
The release of these doctrines is a significant stride in enhancing joint operational capability, fostering synergy across the Services and ensuring readiness to meet emerging security challenges with precision and resolve.
Ran Samwad and Leadership of CENJOWS, IDS HQ
Ran Samvaad will be conducted by each service—Army, Navy, Air Force—in rotation, with the tri-services think-tank Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) being a permanent feature. It is widely acclaimed across the military fraternity that the CENJOWS’s role as a formal partner to the Ransamwad 2025 event, right from the event’s conceptualisation to its execution ensures an all-around focus on tri-service highest dialogue exchange, comparable to those of international reach. The Ran Samwad 2026 will be conducted at the Air Force Training Command in Agra.
“Unlike conventional dialogues…Ran Samvad stands apart by giving the centre stage exclusively to serving soldiers,” Maj Gen Ashok Kumar (Retd), DG CENJOWS shared his insight to fellow media persons into the vision of Ran Samwad 2025.
General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff concluded the two-day Seminar RANSAMWAD 2025, at Army War College with his Closing Address, encapsulating the Military Practitioners’ dialogue on War, Warfare & Warfighting.
CDS articulated the imperatives of the evolving domains of warfare, including developments in Maritime space and the expanding dimensions of the Aerospace domain, ranging from traditional airspace to near-space, hypersonics and lower earth orbit, while also stressing upon the importance of electromagnetic spectrum awareness.
Highlighting the complex nature of present day warfare, CDS noted that multi-protagonist wars bring unique characteristics and dimensions, while alluding to the critical role of citizens in Cyber Warfare, underscoring the necessity to adapt and adopt the changing dynamics of modern conflict.
He affirmed that the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force will continue to operate in close coordination to serve the National Security interests. CDS announced that the next annual edition of RAN SAMWAD 2026, will focus on ‘Multi Domain Operations’, expressing that future engagements would see increased participation from middle-level officers, who will be a modern military professional, a scholar-warrior, a master of the Art, Science & Strategy of Warfare, capable of harnessing emerging technologies and integrated architectures. CDS extended his gratitude to officers, veterans, dignitaries and Media for their valuable participation.
