“We also know that non-traditional threats such as acts of terror can quickly spiral into a wider conflagration and conflict,” he said in his address at the CII Summit here.
His remarks come in the backdrop of the recent four-day military confrontation between India and Pakistan after the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack.
“While the nature of warfare has remained the same over centuries, character of warfare has changed rapidly and continues to do so. The lines between war and peace are increasingly blurred,” Admiral Tripathi said in his address.
“The commercial technologies are democratising warfare, making it available to non-state actors, and we are moving into an era of mass precision, where highly accurate capabilities, and in large numbers, both remain important for us,” he added.
The Navy chief said the use of non-contact warfare along with “space and cyber domains to wage a conflict with no ceasefires is a reality”. “In this new paradigm, the industry has to see itself at the frontlines of national defence,” he added. The Navy chief further said, “Our ability to absorb technologies at a rapid pace, translate them into combat capabilities, build at scale when called upon… and constantly innovate and adapt will define our collective security.”
“So, one may not be wrong in saying that national security no longer begins only at borders, but it also begins in R&D labs, factories and “in our firewalls,” he added.
The Navy chief also underlined that the maritime domain shall remain critical and central to India’s journey towards becoming a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.
Earlier in his address, he said as India aspires to become the third largest economy in the world, the seas will remain “our engines for growth”.
India’s economy will remain dependent upon the seas and by corollary, “our future prosperity will be driven by at and from the seas”, he added.
Emphasising India’s maritime legacy, Admiral Tripathi emphatically stated that “India was, India is and India will always be a maritime nation”, not just by design in terms of geography, which all of you are aware, but also by destiny, in terms of our future growth.
“Today India is again realising its rich maritime potential and the apex level vision and policymakers are aware and their statements are reflective of this broader maritime renaissance,” he said.