Special lecture on hybrid warfare organised at HPU

Col (Dr) Arun Sharma, an Army veteran, delivered a special lecture on ‘Hybrid Warfare and Grey Zone Conflict in the 21st Century: Strategic Lessons for India from the Iran-Israel War’ organised by the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) in Shimla on Thursday. He provided a comprehensive overview of the international strategic landscape, delving into the concept of hybrid warfare. He explained how contemporary conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Iran-Israel confrontation, which initially began as conventional wars, were increasingly transitioning into hybrid forms of warfare. He is at present leading the Army Heritage Museum at Annadale, Shimla.

Col Sharma elaborated on how this transformation was reshaping the nature of global conflicts and influencing ongoing geopolitical scenarios across the world.

Col Sharma highlighted the shift in warfare from traditional kinetic means to technology-driven domains and emphasised modern warfare was increasingly moving “from bullets to algorithms”. He also discussed the growing importance of cyber preparedness in national security and strategic planning.

Prof Harish Thakur shared his insights into the evolving nature of the world order and its implications for India in the contemporary strategic environment.

The participants included 85 students from the Departments of Defence and Strategic Studies, Political Science and Public Administration. The session was highly interactive, with students actively engaging with the speaker during the question-and-answer segment.