House panel to deliberate on India’s readiness to deal with ‘non-kinetic warfare’

News: Indian armed forces’ preparedness to deal with ‘hybrid warfare’ is one of the 17 subjects that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has narrowed down for deliberations for the year.

1. Non-Kinetic Warfare is an evolving concept. It tends to go beyond the conventional military tactics to employ methods such as psychological operations, economic manipulations, information warfare, cyber-attacks.

2. It can also involve non-military stakeholders. Many believe that given the technological progress, it can turn out to be deadlier than the conventional military methods.

3. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Palestine conflict, the recent pager blasts in Lebanon have brought the spotlight on the non-kinetic warfare.

4. While Kinetic Warfare refers to traditional military operations that involve use of physical force and weaponry to achieve strategic goals.

5. Hybrid Warfare refers to a military strategy that combines conventional and non-conventional methods to achieve strategic goals. It involves fusion of kinetic and non-kinetic warfare to inflict damage in an optimal manner.