In a significant stride towards modernising India’s defence preparedness, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on August 7 publicly released the declassified versions of the Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations and the Joint Doctrine for Amphibious Operations in New Delhi.
The move reflects India’s push for greater transparency, interoperability, and alignment of its armed forces in tackling contemporary and emerging security threats, according to Ministry of Defence officials.
The release, during the Chiefs of Staff Committee meeting, underscores the importance of a shared warfighting vision across the Army, Navy, and Air Force. By declassifying these doctrines, the military leadership aims to ensure wider dissemination of operational principles to stakeholders, planners, and policymakers, fostering a cohesive understanding of integrated operations.
What do the two Joint Doctrines aim for?
The Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations establishes a unified framework for protecting national cyber interests. It integrates both defensive and offensive capabilities, focusing on threat-informed planning, resilience building, and real-time intelligence sharing.
With cyberspace now a recognised warfighting domain, the doctrine promotes synchronised operations across services, enabling rapid, coordinated responses to evolving cyber threats: from state-sponsored attacks to asymmetric digital warfare.
The Joint Doctrine for Amphibious Operations provides an operational blueprint for projecting power ashore through coordinated maritime, air, and land force actions. It emphasises interoperability, rapid deployment, and joint force application to influence battles on coastal and island territories. This comes at a time when the Indo-Pacific’s maritime environment demands enhanced expeditionary capabilities for both defence and humanitarian assistance missions.
Are more joint doctrines in the offing?
General Chauhan also announced work on additional joint doctrines covering Military Space Operations, Special Forces Operations, Airborne/Heliborne Operations, Integrated Logistics, and Multi-Domain Operations. This broader doctrinal framework will equip India’s armed forces with a common lexicon and guidelines for complex, cross-domain missions.
Strategically, these releases signal India’s recognition that future conflicts will be multi-domain, fast-paced, and technology-driven. By aligning cyber defence with amphibious readiness under a joint command philosophy, India is laying the foundation for credible deterrence and flexible response capabilities, ensuring its forces remain agile in both digital and physical battlefields.