NEW DELHI: With the Army, Navy and Air Force yet to resolve their differences over the creation of integrated theatre commands, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the armed forces must break their old institutional silos and move together towards “jointness” to deal with adversaries and challenges across all domains, including cyber & information warfare.The evolving character of warfare, combined with the complex interplay of traditional and non-traditional threats, makes jointness “a core operational necessity” and a fundamental requirement for national security rather than a matter of choice, Singh said.“While each of our Services possesses the capacity to respond independently, the interconnected nature of land, sea, air, space & cyberspace makes collaborative strength the true guarantor of victory,” he said, speaking at a seminar organised by IAF.“Our govt’s objective is to further promote jointness & integration among the three Services. This is not only a matter of policy but a matter of survival in the fast-changing security environment.”

Prepare to deal with biothreats, says CDS

India must step-up preparedness to deal with biothreats as well as radiological contamination from nuclear weapons in the future, even though the possibility of the latter is low, CDS General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday. Noting that the world has been through a period of intense trials and tribulations during Covid-19 pandemic, the CDS said biothreats — man-made, accidental or natural — are likely to increase in future. “While possibility of use of nuclear weapons in our context is low, it is prudent to take this into our security calculus,” he said.