Forces First Conclave 2025 – co-hosted by Republic Media Network and Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), -Context and Strategic Significance

 

The Forces First Conclave 2025 came at a defining moment in India’s national security narrative — shortly after the decisive success of Operation Sindoor, India’s largest joint military operation since Kargil. The event, co-hosted by Republic Media Network and Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), symbolised a unique partnership between the armed forces, the strategic community, and the media — aimed at shaping both domestic and international perception about the new face of Indian warfare.

Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi’s keynote set the tone by describing the world as being in an era of “profound flux,” marked by a triad of competition, contestation, and conflict. With over 56 active global conflicts involving 90 nations, the General’s message was clear — India is prepared to fight, adapt, and win in this new environment.

 

Communicating the Victory of Operation Sindoor to Pakistan and Adversaries

Strategic Signalling

By allowing senior Indian Army officers in uniform to speak openly about Operation Sindoor — its planning, execution, and aftermath — India was sending a strategic message to Pakistan and its patrons. The message was twofold:

·       India’s military response is no longer reactive but proactive.
Operation Sindoor demonstrated India’s ability to deliver calibrated punitive strikes without escalating into a full-scale war.

·       India’s precision warfare capabilities have matured.
The discussion on networked intelligence, joint operations, drone warfare, and indigenous systems like BrahMos and Akash-Teer showcased India’s growing technological edge.

Psychological Impact on Pakistan

Publicly discussing Operation Sindoor in a high-visibility forum also carried a psychological warfare (PsyOps) element. It reminded Pakistan that:

• India possesses dominance in both kinetic and information domains.
• The Indian Army has the political backing, technological means, and operational confidence to repeat Sindoor-type actions if provoked again.
• Pakistan’s narrative of being a nuclear deterrent power no longer shields it from Indian military precision responses.

Thus, the conclave served as a controlled display of capability and intent, a subtle deterrent message designed for both Rawalpindi and Beijing.

 

 Shaping Global (Especially Western) Media Narratives

Breaking the Western Media Bias

Western media narratives often portray India–Pakistan hostilities through a “nuclear South Asia” lens, equating both countries as unstable rivals. By holding the Forces First Conclave under a media partnership, India effectively bypassed traditional Western gatekeepers of security discourse.

The Republic Media–CLAWS format:

• Amplified the Indian narrative globally through televised coverage and digital clips accessible to global think tanks, defence analysts, and journalists.
• Reframed Operation Sindoor not as a “border skirmish” but as a legitimate counter-terrorism campaign conducted under international law and with restraint.
• Highlighted India’s commitment to rules-based warfare while exposing Pakistan’s continued reliance on terrorist proxies.

Narrative Ownership

Instead of letting external media speculate or distort, India took ownership of the narrative.

• The seminar’s structured messaging and expert moderation ensured that operational details were shared responsibly, without breaching security.
• The emphasis was on concepts of modern warfighting — jointness, adaptability, and technological convergence — thus projecting India as a modern, professional, and ethical military power.

In short, the conclave served as a strategic communication tool that positioned India as a responsible power, countering Pakistan’s and China’s attempts to manipulate global opinion.

 

Strengthening Domestic Confidence and Public–Military Bond

Reinforcing National Morale

For the Indian public, Operation Sindoor was both a moment of pride and curiosity. However, in the age of social media and disinformation, the military’s achievements often get distorted or underreported.
By speaking directly through a televised national platform:

• Senior officers could explain the operation’s objectives, challenges, and outcomes in relatable terms.
• The public got a clear sense of how modern Indian warfare operates — using indigenous systems, intelligence integration, and precision targeting.

This enhanced public trust in the Army’s professionalism and leadership, transforming abstract “military success” into tangible national pride.

Civil–Military Integration

The event also reflected the maturing relationship between the military establishment and civil society. It showcased:

• How academia (CLAWS), media (Republic), and the military can collaborate to educate the nation on security challenges.
• A new model of defence communication where military thought is not confined to cantonments but shared with citizens in an informed, credible manner.

Such outreach strengthens the democratic foundation of India’s military ethos — an Army of the people, for the people.

 

Why Republic Media Network — and Not the Army — Hosted It

Media as a Strategic Multiplier

If the Indian Army had organised the conclave entirely by itself, it would likely have been seen as an internal military symposium with limited public reach. By partnering with a mass media network, the Army achieved mass penetration of its message without compromising professionalism.

Republic Media Network, known for its strong focus on national security and defence issues, offered:

• High visibility and broadcast reach across India’s urban and rural audiences.
• Media expertise in framing the narrative in a way that resonates with both citizens and policymakers.
• A platform that allows uniformed officers to speak without appearing propagandistic — because the event was nominally a media–think tank initiative, not an official military event.

Civil–Military–Media Synergy

This hybrid approach — military expertise, think-tank framing, and media amplification — represents a new model of strategic communication in the information age.
It allowed the Army to:

• Maintain operational confidentiality,
• Shape narratives effectively, and
• Avoid bureaucratic or political constraints that might limit an official Army event.

 

 Relevance of General Dwivedi’s Message: The “Age of Constant Conflict”

The Army Chief’s speech was the intellectual anchor of the conclave. His articulation of modern war through four lenses — Comprehensive Conflict, Cycle of Adaptation, Convergence of Capability, and Composition of Conflict — is deeply relevant to India’s evolving threat matrix.

• Comprehensive Conflict: Future wars are not fought only by armies but through information, economy, cyber, and diplomacy.
• Cycle of Adaptation: Success depends on how fast a force adapts to new realities — AI, drones, hybrid warfare, and grey-zone tactics.
• Convergence of Capability: Integration of services (Army, Navy, Air Force) and indigenous technology is the key to sustained advantage.
• Composition of Conflict: Wars are now multi-domain — blending conventional and unconventional means.

By framing Operation Sindhoor as an example of this new warfare model, Gen Dwivedi subtly communicated that India is no longer a reactive power but an adaptive one — capable of shaping the battlefield and the narrative simultaneously.

 

Broader Strategic Takeaways

·       Information Warfare as a Core Doctrine:
Operation Sindhoor proved that controlling the information domain is as critical as battlefield dominance. The conclave reinforced that doctrine in the public mind.

·       Defence Diplomacy through Public Engagement:
The event also served India’s defence diplomacy, as foreign military attachés and global think tanks followed it closely, taking cues about India’s operational doctrines.

·       Encouraging National Security Awareness:
The public exposure to strategic thinking nurtures a more informed citizenry, countering misinformation and improving resilience to psychological operations by adversaries.

·       Boost to Indigenous Defence Industry:
Highlighting indigenous systems in Operation Sindoor served as a soft endorsement of Make in India, boosting confidence in domestic R&D and defence production.

Summary Of General Upendra Dwivedi's Address

·       Across the world today, we have approximately 56 conflicts, which are raging on with approximately 90 Nations directly or indirectly. It keeps changing every day, keeps increasing, it's not decreasing by any chance. 

·       In today's war, four distinct trends stand out - Comprehensive Conflict, Cycle of Adaptation, Convergence of Capability, and Composition of Conflict

·       Operation Sindhoor reflected transformation in warfare, where diplomacy, deterrence and decisive force fused into a single expression of national resolve. 

·       In our case, the first and the fifth generations of warfare, i.e. trench warfare to AI and Quantum co-exist. That's a compulsion for us by virtue of our long land borders. They also compete with each other for same existing space.

·       Technology is leap-frogging beyond the speed of Moore's Law and has become the great battle-space equaliser transcending through various domains.

·       The face of war itself has changed as much as its form. Wars today are not just waged by soldiers but also by terrorist groups, militias like the Wagner Group, citizen-soldiers like the Ukrainians. 

·       Land remains the currency of victory. Unlike other domains where destruction may suffice, land warfare demands destruction, eviction, occupation and control that is physical, political and psychological. 

·       If land remains the currency of victory, then time remains the true test. We are seeing it in almost every ongoing conflict.

·       Self-reliant defence industrial capabilities are no longer optional. They form the foundation of integrating civilian infrastructure, technology and emerging concepts. If you believe in Aatmanirbhata, you have the flexibility to change the tenor and the pace of the war by flexibility in your modifications, adaptation and implementation of the latest technology.

·       Strategic autonomy, once seen as an end in itself, may increasingly evolve into strategic convenience or strategic hedging, where partnerships are shaped not by permanence but by pragmatism, even opportunism, few call it ‘constructivism’.

·       Conflicts in future war would be multidimensional but we would do well to remember that all other forms of modern warfare thrive only when backed by potent, precise and punitive conventional forces. 

·       Operation Sindoor was the first time armed forces were given 100 per cent freedom. Never ever I have seen this kind of a freedom given anywhere in the world. That is the kind of a synergy, politico-military fusion that makes India so great country today. 

·       The balance between legacy and leap is what will define success in the era of constant change.

·       How much is India prepared or responded? The answer lies in Operation Sindhoor. Every facet of modern warfare we discussed was evident in its planning and execution.

·       Operation Sindhoor was like a rhythmic orchestra where in all sounds played together in various decibels. Riflemen to Rashtra, Jawaan to Jahaan, all worked in harmony. In just 88 hours, a new chapter was written in the history of warfare. Pakistan was compelled to seek a cessation of hostilities as the operation shattered its illusion of impunity, struck deep into its heartland including Punjab and Rawalpindi and punctured the nuclear bogey that had long constrained conventional response. 

·       What we achieved through Operation Sindhoor was by deliberate design driven by foresight, preparation and organizational transformation and the tri-service synergy which became the strong point and which actually shook up the others that how can we be so closely working together and in unison. 

·       The Indian Army's decade of transformation commenced in 2023 during General Pandey's time to align its structures, doctrines and mindset with evolving warfare. 2024 and 2025 were declared as the years of technology absorption and the Defence Minister designated 2025 as the year of reforms, affirming that transformation is not an event but a continuum. 

·       Operation Sindoor also revealed a deeper truth about the changing character of war - Modern conflicts can no longer be confined to single domains. The same integration of land, air, cyber, space, information, electronic spectrum and even the academy and industry and on special request now the narrative management system by the media pointed to the future of warfare - that is multi-domain operations. 

·       As for India’s immediate neighbor hood is concerned, India’s civilizational vision of Vishwabandhu and Vishwamitra - these are the two aspects which guide us, seeking peace through equilibrium, friendship through strength and inclusivity through preparedness. 

·       Currently our immediate and extended neighborhood are experiencing some turbulence. Traditional rivalries, new alignments, internal transitions, everything is ongoing across South Asia, internal volatility, migration pressures and external influence. 

·       India and its armed forces will always remain a significant security provider in not only the immediate but also the extended neighbourhood. We need to remain pivotal to any whole-of-nation approach towards this assurance endeavour. 

·       We live in age of constant conflict and change. Our task  to stay prepared, to stay purposeful and stay ahead in the evolution of warfare. The Indian military stands ready, lethal in capability, resolute in character and united in cause. 

 

Conclusion

The Forces First Conclave 2025 was far more than a post-war debriefing — it was a strategic communication event of national significance.
By partnering with Republic Media Network and CLAWS, the Indian Army achieved three major objectives:

·       Deterrence Messaging to Pakistan and China — showcasing India’s readiness and capability.

·       Narrative Reclaiming from Western media — projecting India’s lawful and sophisticated military operations.

·       Public Empowerment — strengthening trust, morale, and understanding among citizens.

Allowing a media network to lead ensured reach, relatability, and realism — something an official Army seminar could not have matched. It was a masterstroke in modern strategic communication — where information dominance is the new battlefield