CCC 2025 Sets Roadmap for Jointness, Tech-Driven Armed Forces

The Combined Commanders’ Conference (CCC) 2025 closed today with India’s top military leadership unveiling a decisive roadmap to transform the Armed Forces into a fully integrated, tech-driven, and reform-oriented force. Framed under the theme “Year of Reforms – Transforming for the Future”, the three-day conclave marked a pivotal step towards preparing for complex, multi-domain challenges in an increasingly volatile global order.

Bringing together the Prime Minister, Defence Minister, National Security Advisor, Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, and senior leadership from the Ministry of Defence, the forum underscored jointness, self-reliance, and institutionalised reform as the pillars of India’s military transformation.

Key Outcomes

• Joint Military Space Doctrine: For the first time, India formalised space as an operational domain, ensuring tri-service synergy in developing space-based capabilities.
• Technology-Driven Warfighting: The Services are committed to embedding AI, counter-drone systems, missile defence, and cyber resilience into operational doctrines to prepare for next-generation warfare.
• Jointness and Theatre Commands: Renewed emphasis was placed on interoperability, streamlined command structures, and accelerated rollout of theatre commands.
• Reforms Review and Roadmap: CDS General Anil Chauhan reviewed progress over the past two years and outlined actionable steps aligned with national leadership’s directives.
• Atmanirbharta in Defence: PM Modi and Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh pressed the Services to champion indigenous defence technologies, reducing reliance on imports and strengthening industrial ecosystems.
• Information Warfare Preparedness: The conference stressed the urgency of building strong capabilities in information, ideological, and biological warfare defence.
• Procurement and Finance Reform: Recommendations included simplifying acquisition procedures and streamlining financial delegations to improve efficiency and transparency.
• Strategic Neighbourhood Outlook: Discussions analysed regional flashpoints and global shifts, underscoring the importance of foresight and proactive posture.

Leadership Perspectives

In his keynote, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Armed Forces’ dedication and urged a “transformative leap” rooted in innovation, jointness, and resilience. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired sessions on force readiness, stressing the need for agility against unconventional and non-traditional threats. Closing the conference, CDS Gen. Chauhan asserted that transformation must be institutionalised as a continuous process to keep India’s Armed Forces future-ready and sovereign in an uncertain world.

Huma Siddiqui