NEW DELHI: The armed forces have come up with new joint doctrines for cyberspace and amphibious operations, with the former especially emerging as a key element of non-contact warfare and blurring the demarcation between war and peace. The “declassified versions” of the two doctrines were released during a meeting chaired by Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan with the three Service chiefs, Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, General Upendra Dwivedi and Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, here on Thursday.Cyberspace operations have become critical in modern-day warfare especially in the backdrop of China developing potent cyber-warfare and cyber-espionage capabilities. Potent cyberweapons can degrade or destroy an adversary’s military assets and strategic networks as well as energy, banking, transport and communication grids even before the actual kinetic war kicks off.“The armed forces are conscious of the pursuits in the cyberspace domain by our adversaries, including software and hardware initiatives, which are indicative of the increased threats of aggressive cyberspace exploitation,” the CDS said, in the doctrine’s foreword.“Operations in cyberspace can be equated to manoeuvre warfare, where speed and agility are of utmost importance in decision making…The armed forces, through a collaborative whole of nation approach, will befittingly respond to and face the challenges posed by our adversaries in cyberspace,” he added.The doctrine, on its part, outlines a unified approach to defend national cyberspace interests, integrating offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, and enabling synchronised operations across the three Services. “It emphasises threat-informed planning, resilience building, real-time intelligence integration and development of joint cyber capabilities,” an officer said.The doctrine on amphibious operations, in turn, defines the framework for planning and executing amphibious operations by integrating maritime, air and land forces. “It stresses interoperability, rapid response capability and joint force application to influence operations ashore,” he said.