NEW AGE WARFARE WAY FORWARD FOR INDIA

INVISIBLE NEW AGE WARFARE AND WAY FORWARD FOR INDIA

 

 

Extra ordinary times require extraordinary response.

 

BACKDROP

Directed Energy Attacks

Infrasound Generating Sonic Weapon attack on the ‘Havana Cohort’, the name given to the group of 26 Cuba-based USA diplomats who showed symptoms of dizziness, headaches, nausea, mild brain memory and hearing loss, in 2016.

Military Grade Laser Attacks on USAF Planes in Djibouti in East Africa and multiple incidents in South China Sea in 2019.

Publicised Deployment of Directed Energy Weapon systems by USA in West Asia in beginning 2020.

Drone Attacks

Drone and Missile attacks by Iran supported non-state rebel groups, on Aramco oilfields in Saudi Arabia in September 2019 disrupted 5 % world oil supply.

Cyber Attacks

‘Stuxnet’ cyber attack through USB flash drives on uranium-enrichment centrifuges in Iran in 2010, ‘WannaCry’ ransom ware encryptor in 2017, ‘ExPetr’ aka ‘NotPetya’ ransom ware encryptor also in 2017, series of cyber-attacks linked to botnet and coordinated through ‘Internet of Things’ enabled devices infected with ‘Mirai’ malware on Domain Name System (DNS) provider Dyn in 2016, are all forerunners of the Cyberspace warfare.

Biological Pandemics

Worldwide H1N1/09 Swine flu pandemic in 20009-10, MERS Coronavirus outbreak in 2012, Ebola Virus disease in 2013, and Zika Virus in 2015 were the precursor to the Covid 19 pandemic of 2020.

While the outbreak carries the foot print of Chinese involvement in the pandemic through acts of omission and commission, the jury is still out on it being a biological attack or an accidental spread.

It is, however, undeniable that Covid 19 heralds a paradigm shift in the concept of new age warfare.

The virus demonstrates the characteristic signatures of a futuristic military grade bio weapon designed, not to achieve instant kills, but to target the population and the economic infrastructure of a nation, to degrade the combat potential and will to fight of the country as a whole and its armed forces.

A concept on this scale has not been attempted before in recorded history, and the non-state terrorist organisations too are bound to notice the impact and relative ease of acquiring and harnessing this technology to further their heinous aims.

 

                                                      NEW AGE WARFARE THREATS TO INDIA

 

Security Environment

The new age invisible spectrum warfare is here to stay and wars shall never be the same again.

An attack by employing a combination of Cyber resources, Directed Energy weapons, AI Embedded Nano Technology Swarms & Mites, and Biological warfare gives plausible deniability alibi to hostile countries and organisations. 

It also has added advantage of bringing the target country to a grinding halt with minimum deployment of resources and infrastructure and degrade its will to fight.

India and its neighbours China, Bangladesh and Pakistan are one of the most densely populated region of the world and account for forty one percent of the world population.

India has hostile borders to its North and West and open seas to its South, enabling relatively easy access and support to hostile interests.

The neighbourhood is unstable and is flush with terrorist organisations.

A strong Central Government does not suit the modus operandi of large MNCs with deep commercial interests in Indian market. Hence they are prone to fund centrifugal forces within India for safeguarding their own commercial interests.

Dissatisfied internal social, religious and political groups with fundamentalist and extremist ideologies are amenable to join common cause with inimical external forces, making India highly susceptible to the invisible spectrum of new age warfare.

 

 Environment Scan of Indian Polity

 

Extremist and religious fringe groups exist in the country with ideology inimical to national interest.

Central Government and States are often at loggerheads over critical security issues jeopardising national security.

Judicial activism and overreach in matters lying in Executive domain has frequently emboldened fringe groups to take recourse to violent means of protest with impunity.

Indian economic and banking infrastructure is currently in the vulnerable phase of restructuring owing to collapse of weak corporate groups kept afloat by their earlier favoured access to public funds.

‘Make in India’ campaign in the industrial sector is against the interest of specific foreign MNCs and their informal support structure embedded in Indian state.

India’s domestic market, home to largest middle income group in the world, is a magnet to foreign MNCs.

 ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign being undertaken for last more than five years is the largest ever attempted voluntary social behavioural change in the world, and is upsetting established social mores creating temporary fissures in the society.

Enactment of laws to bring in greater social and religious equality is creating dissatisfaction in socio-religious groups favoured in the earlier dispensation.

India has the advantage of demographic dividend with the largest working age and skilled multi-cultural demographic profile in the world.

The ‘generalist’ expertise in higher bureaucratic organisation is lacking technical depth to assess the opportunities and threats of the new age technologies and needs to be finely infused with technical domain experts.

 

New Age Threats

Surreptitious decapitating strike against National Command Authority leadership.

Nano swarms and mites on electrical power grids.

Cyber attack on mass communication cyberspace links.

Cyber attack on Banking and finance infrastructure.

Biological contamination of food stocks.

Biological pandemic

Cyber and/or Biological attack on legislative/ judicial/executive infrastructure.

 

WAY FORWARD

 

Geographically dispersed capacity building, with proactive control protocols, is the need of the hour and for future as well.

 

-        Role of the Pillars of the Constitution

-        Safeguarding Critical Authorities and Institutions

-        Capacity Building 

-        Dispersion

-        Proactive Control Protocols

 

ROLE OF THE PILLARS OF THE CONSTITUTION

 

In these extraordinary times the Pillars of the Indian Constitution - the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary - need to redefine their responsibilities and address lacunas.

 

Executive

 

The seats of National Security Council and Strategic Think Tanks need to be cleared of yester year’s experts, posted to it as a sinecure, and replaced with young domain experts knowledgeable with the latest technological trends and implications.

The ongoing bureaucracy reforms need to be speeded up. Domain experts need to be inducted in higher echelons. The generalist cadre should be put through domain specialisation training and undergo career progression in assigned vertical only.

The Disaster Management organisation needs to be recalibrated based on learnings from the Covid 19 response. TA Medical Battalions, on lines of TA Ecological Battalions, may be considered to be raised for the states.

Law and Order machinery revamp is to be given priority and trained on new age technology threats. Clear cut directives to law enforcement agencies on dealing with delinquents and violators.

Actions of a few endangering the life, liberty and income of the mass of citizens, needs to be curbed ruthlessly. Unified Law, formulation of rules, and their implementation is to be managed.

Loopholes in control measures against fake news and paid news, to circumvent censorship laws, need to be studied and closed.

 

Legislature

 

Enact statutory protocols to avoid delayed response to Central Government advisories by States.

Enactment of suitable laws enabling proactive control protocols.

Maintain public visibility in times of crisis.

Manage “collective consciousness” and fringe groups in their constituency.

 

Judiciary

 

For the first time in the history of independent India the Judiciary was forced to distance itself from the common citizens, ipso facto limiting the right of the latter to seek constitutional and legal remedies.

The Supreme Court needs to take due concern of the devastating impact of ill-conceived actions of a few on the life and livelihood of the overwhelming majority of citizens. The primacy of doctrine of “Right to Freedom” needs to be reinterpreted for the cause of “Greater Good”.

The choice is stark and a tough one for The Lordships of the Supreme Court, restrictions on “reasonable freedoms” for enhanced security, or “reasonable freedoms” to live with constant fear, for the prolonged informal, undeclared, all-out war in the invisible spectrum.

 

Media

 

Paid news is a well-known, though unwelcome part, of news coverage. The recent trend is to plant paid news in foreign media. Thereafter, quote foreign media as the source, plant paid news within the domestic media. This subterfuge is being employed to circumvent censorship laws and needs to be curbed.

 

SAFEGUARDING CRITICAL AUTHORITIES AND INSTITUTIONS

 

Measures for safeguarding national assets required to be reviewed for:-

 

-        National Command Authority

-        Reserve Bank of India

-        Public Sector Banks

-        Supreme Court of India

-        Energy Infrastructure

-        Defence Forces

 

CAPACITY BUILDING

 

Medical Infrastructure

 

Hospitals

Medics and Paramedics

Casualty Evacuation

Personal Protective Equipment

Care for sick and infirm

TA Medical Battalions (should be introduced)

 

Mass Communication Network

 

Operations of mass communication network needs to be ensured to counter rumours and fake news.

 

Critical Manufacturing & Production

 

Availability of labour to ensure continuing production in agriculture sector and identified critical industrial manufacturing units.

 

Stocking and Distribution Essential Commodities

 

Central Stock Holding Depots (Three Months Stock)

State Stock Holding Depots (Two Months Stock)

District Level (One Month Stock)

Security of Stock

Civil Distribution Network for Essential Supplies down to village/localities/societies.

 

Second Line of Volunteers & Reporting

 

Ex-servicemen Network down to village level (Punjab model may be looked at with suitable modification)

Co-opting Socio-religious organisations with their dedicated volunteer base

NSS and NCC (Senior Division)

 

DISPERSION

 

Diversification of sources of procurement.

Geographical dispersion of critical assets, to include, National Command Authority, medical infrastructure, research and development, production facilities, contingency stocks, disaster management resources.

 

PROACTIVE CONTROL MEASURES

 

Intelligence

 

Introduce domain experts in intelligence organisations.

Introduce Artificial Intelligence enabled predictive analysis platforms.

 

Monitoring

 

Routine biological monitoring protocols to be established at international transit points for human and goods traffic.

Movement of Foreigners, fringe groups, public law and order.

Organising Citizen Groups down to village level.

Security of food stocks.

 

Law Enforcement

 

Monitoring of foreign passport holders to ensure they adhere to Visa rules.

Protocols for sealing of entry and exit points for and to foreign travel at instant notice.

Checking protocols for identifying vectors on mass transportation transit points need to be factored, for passenger and goods traffic.

Powers of lockdown, search and arrest.

Powers to coerce compliance and action against collective disobedience.

Forcible testing and quarantine powers.

Availability of training and equipment.

CPOs to strengthen State Civil Police for maintenance of public law and order.

Civil Defence Network to be co-opted in policing.

Community elders need to be co-opted down to village/mohallas/society levels, for proactive support, mitigation of difficulties and combating rumours and fake news.

 

Postscript

 

By restricting Chinese investments in its economy, India has joined the invisible spectrum war forced onto it, and joined it with finesse. The battle for supremacy is going to be complex and costly and it shall be a long haul. The State and its citizen shall have to exercise the difficult choice of, “life with reasonable restrictions on freedoms for enhanced security”, or “freedom to live with constant fear”. There shall be impassioned, and at times acrimonious, debates on “what is life without freedom”, but the Hobson’s choice will have to be executed. In the ultimate analysis, there is a certain inevitability of “police state” control measures being the new normal.