On 27 August 2025, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released India’s first-ever Joint Doctrine on Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) at Ran-Samvad 2025 at the Army War College in Mhow. Issued by the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), this 47-page doctrine represents a key turning point in Indian military thought. For the first time, India’s armed forces have officially recognised that future battlefields will extend beyond trenches and seas to satellites, networks, and narratives.
Why This Doctrine Matters
The importance of the MDO doctrine lies not only in its recognition that wars now occur in cyberspace and the cognitive domain (which encompasses the use of information, perception, and decision-making in warfare) but also in its public accessibility, a significant move toward transparency and strategic cooperation with policymakers, industry, academia, and civil society. As Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan states, it is “the first step by the Indian Armed Forces to define and understand this new way of conducting operations, conceptualising how the three Services will organise, plan, and fight to defeat the adversary in any domain, at any level of war.”
India’s doctrine reflects allied models, which define MDO as a joint-force, combined arms effort across domains, aimed at achieving objectives and consolidating gains for joint commanders. The key is jointness: wars today may be fought as much through narrative disruption and cyber sabotage as by artillery or stealth jets.
Core Features of India’s MDO Doctrine
The document outlines ten key characteristics for Multi-Domain Operations, including cross-domain integration, simultaneity of effects, public-private collaboration, mission command, data centrality, decision superiority, and more. It extends the battlespace to six domains: land, sea, air, space, cyber, and cognitive and proposes the development of a Common All-Domain Operational Picture (CADOP) and a Multi-Domain Operations Room (MDOR) for real-time cross-force command and control. It advocates for a Whole-of-Nation Approach (WONA), integrating the armed forces with agencies such as ISRO, DRDO, NIC, research organisations, and private industry. Emphasising AI, big data, and disruptive technologies, the doctrine recognises both the risks of disinformation and the need for coordinated, national responses.
However, the doctrine is just the beginning. It is not enough to be a mere rhetorical gesture; it must be the catalyst for a genuine and profound transformation. The need for these reforms is not only important, but also urgent.
International Benchmarks: From Plan to Practice
The US military launched Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTFs) in 2018, integrating cyber, space, EW, and long-range fires into operational units already deployed and tested through multinational exercises like Talisman Sabre. Integration is enabled by platforms like the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), which links sensors and shooters across domains in real-time.
China’s ‘Intelligentsia Warfare’ considers AI, cyber, and information operations as key to conflict, blurring the lines between civilian and military assets, and making cognitive operations (disinformation, influence) fundamental to campaign planning. Russia has demonstrated live MDO in Ukraine, using cyberattacks and psychological operations to weaken adversary resilience before kinetic fighting even starts.
India’s recent initiatives, such as Exercise Prachand Prahaar (Arunachal) and Divya Drishti (Sikkim), demonstrate creative tri-service integration using drones, space surveillance, and AI-powered sensors. However, they remain experimental, border-focused, and lack the scale and operational realism seen in NATO or US deployments.
Critical Gaps: Moving Beyond the Paper Tiger
While the doctrine sets the right tone, implementation challenges stand out.
No Concrete Timelines. The doctrine remains silent on when theatre commands, AI-enabled planning, or the promised MDOR will actually be created or become operational. Delays, rivalries, and a lack of political clarity have dogged past reforms.
Funding priorities. Allocations do not align with the doctrine’s technology-heavy vision; most spending still goes to procurement, rather than R&D, indigenous technology, or disruptive capabilities.
Whole-of-Nation Shortfalls: While it calls for partnerships with start-ups, IITs, ISRO, and DRDO, there’s no mechanism outlined for integrating these actors into force planning, procurement, or wargaming. Lessons from contemporary conflicts where civilian hackers, drone-makers, and social media users shaped outcomes are not yet institutionalised.
Feedback Mechanisms: Exercises and simulations are mentioned, but there is no explicit feedback loop to ensure “lessons learned” translate into fundamental doctrinal reforms.
Organisational Inertia: Command structures remain service-centric. The transition to integrated theatre commands is the most significant reform since independence. Still, it remains slowed by internal debates, lack of consensus among the three services, and incomplete legal backing.
Resource Sharing and Talent Management. Scarce cross-domain talent, weak data-sharing frameworks, and restrictive approval processes for capital procurement also stall transformation.
What Must Change: Roadmap for Real Transformation
To make India’s MDO doctrine operational, several urgent, actionable steps are needed. A clear, Time-Bound Implementation Plan is not just a suggestion; it is a necessity. The Government, led by the CDS, should publish a phased rollout plan that provides a clear roadmap for the future.
Year 1. Finalise CADOP design, operationalise MDOR pilots, and begin recruitment of cross-domain experts.
Year 2. Establish Multi-Domain Task Forces, initiate joint training programs, and build civilian tech partnerships.
Year 3-5. Achieve full operational capability for MDOR, expand integrated theatre commands, and conduct large-scale live MDO exercises.
Funding and Resource Allocation
Earmark specific budgets for indigenous AI, cyber, space technologies, and joint training. Fast-track procurement for critical enabling systems; incentivise startups and academia through military R&D grants.
Ecosystem Integration
Institutionalise partnerships with ISRO, DRDO, IITs, and private defence technology firms through memoranda of understanding, joint laboratories, shared wargaming platforms, and exchange fellowships.
Create “Civil-Military Fusion Cells” at strategic headquarters to integrate civilian expertise in data science, cybersecurity, and drone operations.
Cognitive and Information Warfare Doctrine
Develop offensive cognitive frameworks, not just counter-disinformation, but also proactive shaping of public opinion, training specialists in psychological operations, influence campaigns, and information resilience.
Feedback and Learning Loops
Mandate after-action reviews and lessons-learned processes for every exercise and operation, with findings integrated into doctrine and training curricula.
Publish regular public reports on progress, transparent enough for scrutiny by media and strategic research organisations.
Legal and Policy Overhaul
Push enabling legislation for integrated command, cross-sector resource sharing, and talent lateral entry. Empower CDS with statutory authority for enforcing jointness and doctrine compliance.
Conclusion: From Rhetoric to Reality
The release of India’s MDO doctrine is a significant milestone. But the accurate measure of military reform is not the eloquence of manuals, but the grit to translate them into operational reality. India must rise to this challenge—building cohesive Multi-Domain Task Forces, making command rooms (MDOR, CADOP) function in real-time, and integrating its vibrant tech economy with the needs of national security. It must move urgently, with timelines, funding, cooperative frameworks, and legislative muscle.
A whole-of-nation approach must not be a slogan, but a system—drawing on civilian volunteers, tech startups, and academia in real-world operations. Contemporary conflicts and global MDO trends suggest that narrative, networks, and resilience are as crucial to winning wars today as are guns and jets.
India’s doctrine will matter only if it leads to a visible transformation, not another paper exercise. The real test is: Can India move from paper tiger to operational reality, ensuring strategic dominance in every domain?