Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, speaking at the "Ran Samvad" forum in Bangalore, characterised Operation Sindoor as a landmark demonstration of India’s advancement towards "domain jointness."

The military offensive, conducted within Pakistani territory following the tragic Pahalgam terror attack in April 2022 that claimed the lives of 26 tourists, was described by the General as a defining case study of integrated operational significance.

He noted that while the operation proved India's capacity for jointness, the ultimate goal remains the achievement of total domain integration and fusion.

The General highlighted that Operation Sindoor was unique because no single domain dictated the outcome. Instead, it was the result of a ground intelligence network bolstered by cyber and electronic warfare inputs, which allowed for joint army-air force targeting. Simultaneously, the strategic calculus was shaped by the Navy’s repositioning, creating a mutually enabling environment.

This orchestration across the battle space represents the essence of Multi-Domain Operations, which the Army Chief visualises not as parallel lines of effort, but as a dynamic interaction where leadership and weight shift constantly between domains.

Following the operation, the Indian military has taken concrete steps to institutionalise these lessons, including the creation of an information warfare organisation and a psychological defence division. General Dwivedi revealed that managing disinformation campaigns accounted for 15 per cent of the total effort during the operation.

He cautioned that modern conflict has evolved into a dispersed, undeclared, and multi-theatre reality where non-kinetic operations often take precedence. The primary challenge now lies in synchronising these efforts across strategic, operational, and tactical levels, particularly when facing hybrid or grey-zone warfare designed to exploit vulnerabilities below the conventional threshold.

Distinguishing between "land domain" and "land forces," the General explained that land forces now act as players across all six domains: land, air, maritime, cyber, space, and cognitive. He described the modern battlefield as a three-dimensional construct where space assets cue targets, electronic warfare contests frequencies, and cyber effects shape the cognitive space. To navigate this, he called for the rise of "techno-commanders" who possess cross-domain situational awareness and can lead a force where the boundaries between different domains are effectively invisible.

The transition from concept to execution is already underway through a structured transformation roadmap. This includes the operationalisation of integrated battle groups, Rudra brigades, drone units, and cyber operations nodes.

Milestones such as MDO war-gaming exercises since 2024 and the joint doctrine issued in August 2025 have provided the services with a unified framework for the first time. The General emphasised the "three Is" of integration, informatisation, and intelligentisation, while insisting that human judgement must remain central to the process.

Looking toward the future, the Army Chief identified "six Ds"—including dispersion, democratisation, and diffusion—as the forces shaping the Multi-Domain Operations environment. These factors necessitate a shift toward the diversification of assets and the delegation of command.

Finally, he outlined a six-stage progression intended to move the Indian military away from traditional domain silos and toward a state of complete domain fusion, ensuring a distributed and agile response to modern threats.

PTI