India stands at a pivotal point where the merging of multi-domain technologies, artificial intelligence, space assets, and next-generation communication networks will shape how the country defends itself amidst increasing global rivalries. Recent debates in the US, sharply intensified by Amy McGrath’s viral critique of politically appointed defence secretaries, serve as a warning for India, where military strategy has traditionally been crafted and guided from the top by bureaucrats and intelligence professionals rather than combat-tested warriors.
As exemplified by the roles of Brajesh Mishra, Shiv Shankar Menon, and Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor (NSA) has typically been an experienced diplomat or intelligence officer, not a commissioned military officer with battlefield experience.
With the US military having to confront showy, politicised leadership disconnected from real operational knowledge, Indian defence planners must ask: Is there a cost to not having a soldier-statesman guiding India’s leap into MDO, AI, space warfare, and the integration of 6G and beyond?
The answer is overwhelmingly yes. India’s ability to shape its geopolitical destiny depends on learning from both American mistakes and its own institutional blind spots.
India’s NSA: Bureaucratic Roots, Strategic Stature
Since its creation in 1998, India’s NSA position has gained significant influence, often shaping the strategic, operational, and intelligence frameworks of national security policy. Brajesh Mishra, Shivshankar Menon, and Ajit Doval advanced India’s interests through shrewd diplomacy and intelligence expertise, coordinating responses from RAW, IB, NTRO, MI, DIA, NIA, and representing the Prime Minister in critical negotiations with China, Pakistan, and other stakeholders.
As the global military landscape shifts towards AI-enabled, sensor-driven, and cyber-physical multi-domain operations, India’s security leadership faces unique challenges. It remains characterised by compartmentalised thinking rooted in classical diplomacy and intelligence, rather than operational warfighting. This divide is significant because the US can involve uniformed four-star generals in the political arena (despite its flaws).
In contrast, India still rarely recognises operational experience as a qualification for national command authority. Consequently, strategic doctrines and procurement priorities lack the vital input of battlefield experience and the integrated technological vision that a warrior-leader can provide.
The Case for Competent Military Leadership: Lessons for India
The US spectacle in Quantico, where generals were lambasted for “not meeting male standards” and forced to listen to a war reporter playing the role of the Secretary of War, may seem absurdly distant, but the implications are universal.
When defence leadership becomes a performance for political legitimacy, it erodes institutional integrity and warfighting capability.
India’s civil-military relations are inverted on paper: generals may draft operational plans, but strategic policy and all-of-government coordination reside firmly with foreign service or police veterans as NSA.
What India must recognise is the need to appoint leaders who understand the complexity and future of integrated warfighting. In the era of multidomain operations, a military leader in charge is more likely to understand not only technological possibilities but also the force structure, operational tempo, and risks involved in deploying next-generation capabilities in real-world scenarios.
While India has highly respected, intellectually capable generals, they are rarely consulted on strategic posture, networked warfare, or systems integration as key architects. The benefits of having such leaders are immense, and their absence would be a significant loss for India’s strategic future.
Multi-Domain Operations: India’s Strategic Imperative
Multi-domain operations (MDO) represent the forefront of 21st-century conflict: the synchronised use of assets across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace to achieve decisive dominance. For India, facing adversaries armed with hybrid threats and layered technological capabilities from China and Pakistan, adopting MDO is not merely a strategic choice but an existential necessity. This involves integrating sensors, shooters, commanders, and decision-makers through real-time, AI-driven digital architectures.
The Chief of Defence Staff and leading generals acknowledge this: in 2024, Gen. Anil Chauhan emphasised jointness and integration as essential for developing multi-domain, response-capable armed forces, which require complete alignment of technology, doctrine, and human resources. However, progress remains slow because top leadership often comes from bureaucrats whose experience may lack exposure to the “fog of war,” technological challenges, and decision-making under fire that military personnel face on a daily basis.
The Need for Networked, Tech-Savvy Leadership
Advances in 5G are shaping India’s future, and more importantly, 6G telecommunications, AI-enabled C3I systems, and autonomous platforms for surveillance, targeting, and logistics. The Indian Army has made significant progress, developing military-grade 5G and establishing institutional testbeds for 6G at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering. These networks will support the next generation of unmanned platforms, including drones, UGVs, and UCAVs, as well as predictive analytics, joint warfighting, and tactical decision-making. However, to fully leverage these developments, India needs networked, tech-savvy leadership at the highest levels of strategic decision-making.
6G’s unique promise is the rapid, real-time exchange of extensive sensor data, allowing commanders to coordinate joint operations with unparalleled efficiency and foresight. It supports net-centric warfare, the integration of hypersonic weapons, and autonomous robots guided by brain-machine interfaces. For India, 6G will be crucial in establishing theatre commands capable of monitoring adversaries, executing effect-based operations, and enabling rapid mobilisation during crises.
This transformation cannot be led by leaders unfamiliar with the battlefield, the rhythm of operations, or the creative adaptation required by combat. It calls for a future NSA or national security council structure that provides the ‘command voice’ of a general, not merely the management jargon of an administrator. India’s strategic future depends on this structural shift, which will guarantee decision-making based on a comprehensive understanding of operational constraints and opportunities.
Atmanirbharta and Operational Innovation
India’s Future Force 2030 vision aims to develop agile, technology-enabled armed forces through jointness, Atmanirbharta (self-reliance), and innovation. Senior defence leaders, industry partners, and technology experts regularly meet to review progress. However, these discussions are often led by retired generals, who moderate sessions, rather than sitting service members who are at the top of the strategic hierarchy.
As platforms, doctrines, and data pipelines become more complex, operational innovation must be driven by those capable of testing, stressing, and exploiting these systems in both simulated and real-world environments.
A general who has experienced operational constraints and opportunities at all levels—from counter-insurgency in the Northeast, air-land battles in the Himalayas, blue-water naval operations in the Indian Ocean, to real-time ISR fusion from space platforms—is best positioned to guide both procurement and doctrine. Only such leadership can unify Atmanirbharta with operational innovation and foster a culture of disciplined risk-taking and adaptation.
The Risks of Status Quo
India’s NSA remains a Cabinet-ranked advisor overseeing intelligence, diplomatic engagement, and strategic policy formulation. The structure and stature are formidable, but the lived experience is bureaucratic. The officer’s ability to access multiple agencies, represent India in international forums, and oversee crisis management is undisputed. However, these rarely lead to catalytic innovation in multi-domain wars, net-centric doctrines, or technological leapfrogging unless operationally seasoned officers are empowered at decision-making nodes.
China has already started integrating autonomous military systems with 6G, utilising AI and local platforms for extended, high-intensity multi-domain conflicts along India’s northern borders. The PLA’s military-technological vision is directed by operational leaders with firsthand command experience of these systems. By 2050, China plans to deploy AI-enabled AWS for cross-domain operations, and India’s response will necessitate a corresponding elevation of military leadership to the highest levels of strategic policymaking.
India’s Military Leadership: Untapped Potential
India’s armed forces have developed some of the region’s most knowledgeable and experienced generals, many of whom possess in-depth expertise in traditional and emerging military theories, modern technological advancements, and strategic analysis. However, they remain on the margins of critical strategic decision-making, shaping theater-level doctrine but not national or international strategy.
The model the US once used to balance professional military advice and civilian oversight needs updating in India, but with a new approach: Indian militaries should have a leading role, not just a seat at the table. Today, technology-driven, multi-domain joint warfighting requires leaders who can manage the complexity of AI, space-based ISR, and autonomous platforms with the clarity that comes from command experience.
Technology-Driven Joint Warfighting: MDO, AI, Space, Autonomous Platforms
The Indian military is shifting from platform-centric warfare to a focus on information fusion, adaptive networks, and autonomous teaming. MDO in the Indian context involves synchronising national power—military, informational, economic, and diplomatic—across all warfighting domains. Success will depend on: –
– Real-time networked command frameworks utilising AI and 6G, connecting ground, air, naval, and space platforms.
– Autonomous robots and vehicles for ISR, logistics, and fire support, guided by machine learning and brain-machine interfaces.
– Space assets delivering persistent surveillance, strategic communication, and integrated response capabilities.
– Maintain doctrinal flexibility to combat grey zone challenges—cyber, information warfare, and hybrid threats—while utilising lethal kinetic force.
– High-trust culture, where innovation thrives but discipline and unity of command are maintained.
A military-led strategic council is best suited to conceptualise, test, and implement this multidomain synergy.
Indian Exceptionalism and Strategic Choices
India’s civil-military relationship is unique, rooted in a deep democratic tradition and respect for constitutional boundaries. There are legitimate concerns about politicisation, historic divisions, and the protection of democratic oversight. However, the world is now dominated by technology, and those who overlook operational expertise will fall behind.
India’s added challenge is to avoid both the American pitfall of populist military showmanship and the inertia of its own bureaucratic dominance. Instead, the future involves equipping a “soldier-strategist,” a general who understands war, technology, and diplomatic realities—giving them the responsibility to drive innovation, joint efforts, and national preparedness.
Conclusion: Leadership for a Tech-Driven Future
India’s strategic future will depend on how it adapts its leadership structures to meet the demands of tomorrow’s warfare: a multi-domain, AI-enabled, space-networked, and data-driven conflict powered by the data flows of 6G and beyond. The lessons from the US highlight the cost of showmanship and inexperience. Indian exceptionalism should focus on empowering operational leaders with the vision, discipline, and technological literacy necessary to secure the nation across all frontiers —physical, digital, space, and cognitive.
Only when India recognises and leverages the untapped potential in its military leadership will it gain the competitive edge necessary to match and outmanoeuvre adversaries in the global battlespace. For the era of multi-domain operations, interconnected with AI and autonomous platforms, a well-informed general at the strategic helm is no longer a luxury; it is essential.