There can be no adequate soft power without adequate hard power, and in order to project soft power, we must simultaneously develop our hard power capabilities, said Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal (ACM) V.R. Chaudhari on Tuesday, while stating that there were important lessons from the Ukraine war and highlighting some of them, including achieving self-sufficiency in manufacturing arms.
“Regardless of international treaties, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Quad, Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), or the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), friendship between countries will always come second to a nation’s security and self-interest, as evidenced by the way European countries have acted in the ongoing conflict.” “There is obviously less enthusiasm for the international rules-based system,” ACM Chaudhari stated at a United Services Institution of India conference.
“Arms manufacturing self-sufficiency is an absolute necessity… We cannot continue to rely on other countries to defend our country indefinitely. “We must promote and encourage our indigenous industries and innovations,” he stated.
What’s more, ACM Chaudhari stated that anything can be weaponized. As we can see today, the banking protocol, SWIFT transaction, has blocked us from moving funds to Russian accounts.
Officials have stated that after Russia was kicked out of the SWIFT system, payments have grown more difficult. While smaller payments have resumed, larger payments remain a problem, and attempts are being made to find a solution.
Civilian airspace is being controlled, social media-based enterprises are being controlled, and even international athletic organisations are being weaponized in some way, he claimed, listing other areas of effect. What we need to take up from all of this is that strong narratives can develop global influence. And the narratives that we see emerging from the battle have transformed the world order as we see it, as we have seen it over the previous two decades or more,” he added.
