CDS-General Anil Chauhan calls for self-reliance and creativity in defence to "win today's battles with tomorrow's technology"

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], September 19 (ANI): Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Friday said that India needs to be self-reliant in the defence sector and called for indigenous development of weapons systems, platforms, and networks.
Speaking at EastTech 2025, he highlighted the need for investment in research and innovation to ensure the armed forces remain equipped with "tomorrow's technology" and urged creativity across soldiers, scientists, and industrialists to strengthen the nation's defence capabilities.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan at EastTech 2025 said, "We have to develop self-reliance not only in platforms, but also in weapons systems and also in networks. We may not have done so well in the case of platforms, but I think we have done reasonably well in weapons systems... I think we need to invest in research and development. Then only we'll be able to win or fight today's battles with tomorrow's technology..."
"We can't remain slaves to Western concepts of war, war fighting, and warfare. War is a science and an art. A warrior must be creative. We cannot lead the defence sector unless we are creative," he added further,
Quoting a poem of hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, highlighting self-reliance and creativity, CDS General Anil Chauhan said, "If you want to remain contemporary in warfare, you have to be imaginative, you have to promote something new and innovative daily. This statement by Ramdhari Singh is not only applicable to soldiers, but also to scientists and industrialists. A soldier in his tactics and strategy, a scientist in his weapon designing and an industrialist in making the delivery timeline and cost efficiency."
Earlier, General Anil Chauhan on Thursday said that the Indian forces carried out a planned strike on terrorist targets between 1:00 and 1:30 AM on May 7 during Operation Sindoor to avoid civilian casualties.
He explained that the timing was chosen because it was the darkest hour, making satellite imaging difficult; however, the forces had full confidence in their capabilities.
During interaction with students at Jharkhand Raj Bhavan's Birsa Mandap under 'Operation Sindoor,' General Anil Chauhan said, "On the 7th (of May), the terrorist targets we had chosen, we struck them between 1:00 and 1:30 at night... Why did we strike at 1:30 at night? That is the darkest time, it would be the most difficult to get satellite images, photographs, and collect evidence. Yet, we struck at 1 or 1:30 at night. Why was that? It was for two reasons. First, we had confidence in our capabilities that even at night we would be able to get imagery. And the second important reason was that we wanted to avoid civilian casualties. The best time would have been 5:30-6:00 AM, but at that time, the first Azaan or the first prayer takes place, and in Bahawalpur and Muridke, there might be a lot of civilian movement at that time, so many civilians could have been killed... We wanted to avoid that, which is why we chose the time between 1:00 and 1:30..." (ANI)