Ran Samwaad

Overview

Ran Samwaad: Ran Samwaad-2025 is India’s first-ever tri-services seminar focused exclusively on war, warfare, and warfighting. Hosted by the Ministry of Defence, it took place on 26–27 August 2025 at the Army War College, Mhow (Dr Ambedkar Nagar), Madhya Pradesh. The two-day event brings together serving officers—and no veterans—to deliberate on real-world military practice.

Static GK fact: The Army War College at Mhow was originally established as the College of Combat on 1 April 1971, and was renamed in 2003.

Themes

Technology in Warfare

A core focus was the impact of emerging technologies—including cyber, space, information warfare, unmanned systems, and the electromagnetic spectrum—on modern combat.

Training Reform

The seminar highlighted the urgent need to reform institutional training to integrate new technologies effectively into military doctrine and culture.

Objectives and Participants

The objective is to make Ran Samwaad an annual, flagship event similar to the Raisina Dialogue—but focused strictly on active military practitioners, not veterans. Planning involves rotational hosting, with future seminars to be led by the Navy and Air Force, coordinated by Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS). The inaugural event was spearheaded by Army Training Command (ARTRAC).

The seminar gathered serving officers from all three branches, top military leadership, defence industry figures, academia, experts, and foreign defence attaches from countries including France, Australia, South Korea, and others.

Highlights

• Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan opened the seminar, emphasizing that India must remain peace-loving but not pacifist.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh delivered the plenary address, reaffirming India’s historical commitment to peace but underscoring the necessity of strength and preparedness in a changing warfare landscape.
• A set of joint doctrines and a new Technology Perspective & Capability Roadmap—signalling India’s defence modernization roadmap—were released during the event.

Strategic Significance

Ran Samwaad-2025 marks a significant shift in India’s defence discourse—moving from theoretical and veteran-driven discussions to live, practitioner-led strategic exchange. It offers a ground-up operational understanding of warfare, rooted in current operational realities.

Its designation as a seminal annual event, with future editions hosted by different services in rotation, suggests a long-term institutional commitment to tri-service synergy, technology integration, and strategic autonomy.

Static Usthadian Current Affairs Table

Ran Samwaad: