File photo of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today pressed on the need for using cyberspace to enhance military capabilities and warned the Indian Army against an "information blackout."
"The future of wars might be fought in the cyberspace," Mr Parrikar said at a seminar in Delhi.
The minister emphatically cited the example of the terrorist organization ISIS's use of technology in increasing their influence.
"The Daish or ISIS use the internet to ensure a lot of recruitment or support, and they are one of the best users of internet technology for promoting their cause," Mr Parrikar said.
The Defence minister said a resurgent India will increasingly play a dominant role in the world affairs.
"The world that we as a nation will be interacting with is increasingly fraught with turbulence and will call for dominant military might. We need to develop technology and system appropriate to evolve the military doctrine," Mr Parrikar.
Mr Parrikar, however, maintained that boots on the ground could not be replaced.
"Ultimately conventional armies cannot be replaced but they can be equipped with equipment which will provide them with all the information to fight with a well decided and well planned way without getting interrupted," he said.
He said his worry was information blackout which can be caused by various destructive mechanisms.
"Information corruption can be another danger to the platform which we use," he said adding that information overload is also a problem.
"Because of Information Technology, you can get so much information that getting vital information out of that becomes something like finding a needle in a haystack," the minister said.
He said while we progress through IT and make a more digitalised army, the danger is of disruption through cyber attacks by the enemy. "We need to enhance our capabilities to ensure that they are protected from such disruptive cyber attacks or cyber manipulations," he said.
Mr Parrikar said the Indian Army should not only use the digital advantage but also protect itself against destructive technology of adversaries. Noting that India has been at the forefront of software development, he said one needs better hardware designing and integration in our system.