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Need to formalise a comprehensive integrated roadmap based on lessons learnt in West Asia conflict: Rajnath

March 25, 2026 5 min read Internal Security International Relations GS2 GS3
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What Happened

  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh convened a high-level review meeting on 24 March 2026 with the Chief of Defence Staff, all three Service Chiefs, the Defence Secretary, Secretary (Defence Production), and the Chairman of DRDO to assess the West Asia conflict's implications for India's security preparedness.
  • The meeting examined the global and regional security scenario, the potential impact of further conflict escalation on India, and the challenges and opportunities the geopolitical situation presents.
  • Singh directed the military leadership to continuously study the "operational and technological lessons" of the ongoing West Asia conflict and institutionalize those findings into India's preparedness framework.
  • He specifically called for formalizing a "comprehensive integrated roadmap for the next decade" that factors in lessons learned, challenges, and opportunities while ensuring Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) and operational readiness across all fronts.
  • The meeting examined the impact of the conflict on supply chain management for procurement and production of defence equipment, including the maintenance and serviceability of existing equipment — flagging vulnerabilities in import-dependent systems.
  • The direction to study supply chain resilience reflects India's recognition that modern conflicts expose hidden dependencies in critical equipment and components.

Static Topic Bridges

Aatmanirbharta in Defence: India's Self-Reliance Push

Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) was launched on 12 May 2020 as a comprehensive economic and industrial policy framework. In the defence sector, it translates into a multi-pronged push to reduce import dependence, build domestic manufacturing capacity, and develop India as a defence exporter.

  • The Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020 and the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 form the policy architecture for indigenization, giving highest procurement priority to items that are "Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured" (IDDM).
  • The Ministry of Defence has published three Positive Indigenisation Lists — cataloguing items that can no longer be imported after specified timelines. Over 310 items are on these lists, covering ammunition, helicopters, radars, transport aircraft, and more.
  • India's defence production reached a record ₹1.27 lakh crore in FY 2023-24; defence exports rose to ₹23,622 crore in FY 2024-25 — a dramatic jump from under ₹2,000 crore per year in 2014-15.
  • The Defence Industrial Base includes 16 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), over 430 licensed private companies, and approximately 16,000 MSMEs that form the supply chain.
  • Despite progress, India remains one of the world's largest arms importers — ranking 1st or 2nd globally for most of the past decade — with Russia historically supplying ~60-65% of its imported arms, a dependency that the Ukraine war and West Asia conflict have simultaneously revealed as a vulnerability.

Connection to this news: Singh's directive on supply chain resilience is a direct response to the lesson visible in the West Asia conflict — modern high-intensity warfare exposes critical dependencies in spare parts, ammunition, precision munitions, and electronic components within weeks of sustained operations.

Joint Theatre Commands and Integrated Defence Structure

One of the key institutional reforms India is pursuing — and directly relevant to Singh's call for an "integrated roadmap" — is the creation of integrated theatre commands that would unify Army, Navy, and Air Force operations under a single commander for each geographic theatre.

  • The position of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was created in December 2019 following the Kargil Review Committee (1999) recommendation to improve inter-services coordination. General Bipin Rawat was the first CDS (died in a helicopter crash in December 2021); General Anil Chauhan currently holds the post.
  • Theatre Commands would replace the current structure of 17 separate single-service commands with approximately 5-6 integrated commands — similar to the US Combatant Command structure (CENTCOM, INDOPACOM, etc.).
  • The jointness model is directly relevant to lessons from West Asia: the US-Israel coordinated strikes on Iran demonstrated the decisive advantage of joint air-sea-land-cyber operations under unified command.
  • India's proposed theatre commands include: Northern (China border), Western (Pakistan border), Peninsula (Indian Ocean), Air Defence Command, and Maritime Command.
  • The integration process faces institutional resistance from individual services unwilling to subordinate to a joint commander, and from complexities in combining different equipment, doctrines, and cultures.

Connection to this news: Singh's call for a "comprehensive integrated roadmap" is effectively an acceleration demand for the theatre command reforms — the West Asia conflict provides a live laboratory showing what integrated joint operations achieve and what siloed single-service structures cannot.

Grey Zone Warfare and Modern Conflict Lessons from West Asia

The West Asia conflict (2026) exhibits characteristics of "grey zone warfare" — a spectrum of state and non-state activities that blend conventional military operations, missile and drone warfare, maritime blockades, cyber operations, and proxy engagements below and above the threshold of declared war.

  • Key lessons visible from the West Asia conflict: (a) precision-guided munitions and drones have transformed the economics and tempo of strikes — any actor with sufficient stockpile can sustain high-optempo operations; (b) missile defence saturation (overwhelming Iron Dome-class systems with mass rocket/drone swarms) is an effective counter-strategy; (c) energy infrastructure is highly vulnerable and immediately decisive; (d) supply chain interruptions compound faster than predicted.
  • India's strategic environment features multiple grey zone challenges: Pakistan-based terror networks, Chinese salami-slicing tactics on the LAC, Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean, and Houthi-style potential disruption of Bab-el-Mandeb trade routes.
  • The "revolution in military affairs" concept — the idea that technology fundamentally transforms military doctrine — is a central framework for understanding why lessons from ongoing conflicts must be systematically studied and institutionalized.
  • DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation), established in 1958 under the Ministry of Defence, is India's primary agency for military R&D; its role in the integrated roadmap includes accelerating indigenization of critical technology gaps.

Connection to this news: Singh's instruction to study West Asia conflict lessons continuously — not as a one-time exercise but as an ongoing institutional process — reflects the reality that this conflict is rewriting the playbook for high-technology, multi-domain warfare in real time.

Key Facts & Data

  • The review meeting was held on 24 March 2026; attendees included CDS, all Service Chiefs, Defence Secretary, and DRDO Chairman.
  • India's defence production reached ₹1.27 lakh crore in FY 2023-24 (record high).
  • Defence exports rose to ₹23,622 crore in FY 2024-25 (from under ₹2,000 crore in 2014-15).
  • The CDS position was created in December 2019 (Kargil Review Committee recommendation from 1999).
  • DPEPP 2020 and DAP 2020 govern India's indigenization drive; over 310 items are on Positive Indigenisation Lists.
  • India ranks among the world's top 2-3 arms importers; Russia historically supplies ~60-65% of Indian arms imports.
  • DRDO was established in 1958; it operates 51 laboratories across India.