PROJECT UDBHAV: INTEGRATION OF INDIA'S ANCIENT STRATEGIC ACUMEN INTO CONTEMPORARY MILITARY DOMAIN

After months of ground work the Project was formally launched during the USI held first Military Heritage Festival on 21 October 2023 by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the presence of General Manoj Pande the Army Chief, Air Marshal V.R. Chaudhari the Chief of the Indian Air Force Vice Admiral S.J. Singh the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Lieutenant General J.P. Matthews the CISC and Major General B.K. Sharma the Director General of USI in the presence of senior serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and scholars.

- MAJ GEN JAGATBIR SINGH, VSM RETD

Speaking at the inaugural event Lieutenant General Tarun Kumar Aich, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) highlighted that Project UDBHAV, is an endeavour to revisit the roots of India’s ancient military thoughts. He stated that the essence of the Project lay in synthesising the timeless wisdom of the past with contemporary military practices, thereby crafting a comprehensive approach to address modern security challenges.

He saw it as a visionary initiative aimed at integrating age-old wisdom into the modern military pedagogy. He said the legacy was characterised by a profound reverence for knowledge which was evident in the vast repository of intellectual texts and scholarship across diverse domains. He also mentioned that the groundwork for Project Udbhav had been laid through previous research initiatives by the Indian Army such as compilation of the 75 Stratagems by the Army Training Command and a study on the linkages between Indian culture and strategic thinking by the College of Defence Management.