INDIA FACES LEGACY CHALLENGES; COAS MANOJ PANDE

India's armed forces need to be alive to the maxim of "expect the unexpected", Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande said recently, underlining the need for the military to remain cognisant of the contours of the evolving geopolitical landscape and security challenges.

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In an address at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Nagpur, the Army chief also talked about India's "legacy challenges" of unsettled borders and that those will "continue to engage us", in comments that came amid a lingering border row with China in eastern Ladakh.

Delving into various regional and global security challenges, General Pande said there has been an increasing contestation in traditional and non-traditional domains in the Indo Pacific and the "key markers" include the assertion of sharp and aggressive power with a shift in the centre of gravity of economic heft.

"Expect the unexpected is a maxim that we need to be alive to," he said.

"Black Swan events can add turbulence in the dynamic global security canvas. The outcome of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts will itself redefine relations, linkages and hierarchy amongst nations, giving a new shade to world politics in the coming decades," he added.

In an oblique reference to China and Pakistan, General Pande said the region is witnessing "cartographic manipulation", leveraging of politico-economic heft and increasing military footprints as well as religious radicalisation as part of proxy-war pursuits.