GREY ZONE WARFARE
A VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
THE INDUS INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INDIA, in association with Amity Institute of International Studies, Amity University, is organising a virtual conference on Grey Zone Warfare (GZW) on Thursday, 09 December and Friday,10 December 2021.
CONCEPT NOTE
Warfare, arguably the oldest of profession practiced by man has been constantly reinventing itself. Rapid technological advances has only accelerated the process of this evolution. Even as conventional warfare continues to dominate most war zones, military strategists and planners are tirelessly experimenting novel methods of waging wars that are not only cost effective, less damaging collaterally, saving human lives, but also mostly through indirect means, a new form of war is now taking shape.
It is not only a combination of non-invasive methods of attacking ones adversary but also weakening its social fabric and destroy his will to wage a war.
While the contours of this new type of war is yet to develop the concept is still emerging. known by various names like hybrid warfare or cognitive warfare. There is no unanimity on a definite nomenclature. However, in recent years, there appears a broad consensus on calling it grey-zone warfare, at least in the Indian context. This type of warfare is an umbrella concept that encapsulates many other types of coercive tools that has the potential to enervate the nation’s will to defend its sovereignty. It covers a gamut of instruments like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Psychological warfare (Psywar), economic sanctions, information warfare, through soft power etc.
GZW defies any definition largely due its vast scope. short of waging actual conventional war (at one end of the spectrum), to guaranteed peace at the other extreme end. All methods to achieve total domination appears acceptable to the civilized world. GZW is gaining acceptance gradually as adversaries’ experiment on each other. In recent years, China seems to have tried this concept over its rivals, particularly against India.
It is a cost-effective warfare which is technology driven and aimed at destabilising elected governments by causing confusion and misleading people. As stated earlier china is reportedly very advanced and adept at planning and managing grey-zone warfare.
Where does India stand in this new form of warfare? How does it insure itself against the threat from its immediate neighbourhood? What are the practical ways for a country like India do to neutralise its adversaries from this diabolical threat?
To explain to us the concept and principles of GZW we have identified a number of national and international experts on cyber security, artificial intelligence, psy ops, information warfare etc., to discuss these issues threadbare. We hope to create an awareness among the public and put across our views to lawmakers to take steps to protect our national interests.
Format for Conduct
The Event will be conducted in two parts as follows: –
-
Presentation of Papers.
-
Panel Discussion.
MEETING LINKS
Meeting link 09 Dec 2021:
https://indusresearch.webex.com/indusresearch/j.php?MTID=m1b63eb003e1df22a5ba06a9b72d538d5
Meeting number: 2514 969 0855
Meeting password: greyzonemeeting
Meeting link 10 Dec 2021:
https://indusresearch.webex.com/indusresearch/j.php?MTID=m2213ed43c7b59d67a1e35bc29c4be23c
Meeting number: 2518 512 0926
Meeting password: meetinggreyzone
All sessions will also be live streamed on Youtube as GZW – Day 1 and GZW – Day 2. Since these links have to be copied and pasted, final links will be forwarded by mail to enable click to open.
SPEAKERS
Col (Dr) Vijay Chenji
President, IIRF
Col (Dr) Vijay Chenji is an alumnus of NDA Khadakvasla, Pune. During the 1971 Indo Pak War, he saw action on the Western front. He has served in the North-East, in Ladakh, in Sikkim Heights and in the Rajasthan desert. He participated in joint exercises with the Navy while commanding an Amphibious Battalion.He was awarded the COAS Commendation Card while fighting insurgency. He is a Sanskrit scholar and has an M Phil degree in addition to his PhD. He has an additional masters degree in Advaita Vedanta. Widely travelled, he has visited over two dozen countries including the US, UK, and prominent European countries. He has authored a few books and published many researched papers. He is the Founder President of INDUS INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION, an independent Think Tank, based in Delhi, with one of its Directors in the USA.
He is a keen environmentalist.
Dr Divya Anand
AIIS, Amity University, Noida
Pavithran Rajan
Pavithran Rajan is an alumnus of the NDA and was commissioned into the SIKH LI Regt. Quite early in his career, he did some pioneering work in Cyber Intelligence and Information Warfare. Later he took voluntary retirement and served with the Govt of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, as an advisor. Pavithran Rajan is an Adjunct Faculty at the Cyber Security Research Centre; Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh and on the Board of Advisors of the Cyber Peace Foundation. He is considered a thought leader in Information Warfare and a Strategic Thinker of the Information Age in India. He is associated with numerous Think Tanks in the country. He serves on the Board of two private limited companies and advises various central and state government agencies including the Armed Forces on cyber security
Maj Gen PM Mallick, VSM
Maj Gen PM Mallick, is a B.E, M Tech, M Sc (Defence Studies), M Phil, and MMS. He has wide experience in CI Ops in J&K, Assam, and Punjab. He has worked in EW, SIGINT, Cyber, IT and Comn fields. He was an Instructor at MCTE, Mhow. He has been on Staff tenures at Division, Corps, Command HQs and HQ IDS. He commanded a Divisional Signal Regiment. Has been Senior Directing Staff (Army) in National Defence College. He has published more than 60 papers. He has participated in Talks/Panel Discussion at NSCS, IDSA, USI, CLAWS, CAPS, CENJOWS, Army War College, MCTE, Intelligence School, CDM, Computer Society of India (Bangalore), IETE (Lucknow)and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Col KPM Das
KPM Das is the National Cybersecurity and Trust Officer for Cisco driving the emerging cyber security initiatives in India and Asia Pacific. He joined CISCO twelve years ago after six years of business leadership in the IT services industry, first with Persistent Systems and later with MindTree, during which time he built a team of sales and operations and software services leadership. Before he joined Cisco, he was the Head of Global Operations for MindTree. KPM served in the Indian Army for 25 years after he graduated from the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla. He had a one year stint with the United Nations in Angola as a Military Observer, overseeing post-elections political processes in 1994.KPM is also a graduate of the DSSC, Wellington and a post graduate in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. As a University topper, he is a Young Outstanding Scholar awardee from Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1987. He led the team which conceptualized and developed SATHI (Situation Awareness Tactical Handheld Information- a mobile platform/device) in 2001 for use by infantry soldiers in counter-terrorist Operations. An author and contributor in areas of Information and Non-Lethal Warfare to journals like USI and Telematics , eGov, and Mint newspaper, KPM is also a keen follower of Wargame theory and development, and developer of First Battle BC, a Battalion to Corps Wargame.
Mr Kundana Kumar Lal
Kundana, a global AI thought leader, is an AI evangelists, and AI influencer. A well-known global IT Delivery & Technology Professional and early M.Tech in computational intelligence is prominent in AI & emerging technologies such as computer vision, natural language processing, predictive analytics, anomaly detection, information retrieval, and robotics. A global leader in AI Research & Implementation, he strongly believes that AI may impose an existential risk for India, and he’s doing his best to not only propel but also democratize AI by establishing R&D oriented AI Innovation Hubs & Exchanges in collaboration with industry & academia but also designing & delivering innovative easy-to-grasp practical programs on multiple platforms. Having worked at global IT leadership level for more than 30 years, Kundana is not only an AI evangelist but doubles up also a well-respected Coach & A Guru at Vitti AI. He explores the societal and economic implications of AI & ML adoption, as well as looks into the possibilities of AI’s synthesis with humans. As a head of Vitti Research Foundation he is driving AI adaptation for public benefit and ensuring level playing field for India in upcoming AI disruption. He believes India has been a trail blazer in digital transformation and good candidate for AI Leadership & Global Dominance. As we have the data, to train and implement a number of cognitive programs and launch numerous productive application with humongous societal impact. As a pioneer, he has been creating, thinking through, sharing unique ways, continually testing constructively disruptive ideas and ideals to ensure India’s place on upcoming AI pedestal as global leader. This is what makes Kundana an AI thought leader.
V Adm MP Muralidharan AVSM *NM
Vice Admiral M P Muralidharan, retired in Feb 2013 as the 19th Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. A specialist in Navigation and Direction and a Post Graduate in Defence Studies, the Admiral in a career of close to four decades in the Indian Navy, has held several key Operational and Staff appointments including command of three warships. As Flag Officer he commanded Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area, was the first Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy and Chief of Personnel of the Navy. Post retirement, the Admiral was appointed as a Member of the Armed Forces Tribunal at its Regional Bench at Kochi. A keen student of Strategic and Defence related Issues with special focus on Maritime affairs, he is a member of various strategic study societies and institutions. He is a regular contributor to professional journals and a speaker and panellist at various Seminars and Conferences.
Lt Gen (Dr) RS Panwar AVSM, SM, VSM
Lt Gen (Dr) R S Panwar retired after 40 years in the Corps of Signals in Apr 2016. His last appointment was Commandant Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow. He has commanded a wide range of formations and units, including two major logistic formations, an electronic warfare brigade and an armoured division communication regiment. He is a graduate of the National Defence College. As a service officer, he has the unique distinction of being awarded a Ph D Degree in Computer Science and also to be conferred the coveted Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Bombay, the first defence officer to hold such an honour. He is presently a Distinguished Fellow at the USI and is engaged in evolving strategic thought in the areas of information operations, network centric warfare and emerging disruptive technologies.
Lt Gen PG Kamath PVSM AVSM YSM SM
Lt Gen PG Kamath served in the Madras Regiment (Infantry), Indian Army for four decades and has active experience in all the frontiers of the country. His last appointment was the Commandant of Army War College, MHOW. He also served as the Defence Adviser to High Commission of India at Malaysia and Brunei. He has also served in the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan. After his retirement from the Army, he served as the ‘Special Rapporteur of the ‘National Human Rights Commission’ for the South Zone from 2015 till 2018. He is an alumnus of some the most prestigious institutions like ‘NationalDefence College’, New Delhi; Army War College, Mhow; Defence Services Staff College, Wellington; National Defence Academy Pune; and Sainik School Bijapur. He holds M Phil degree from Indore University. He is a prolific writer on LinkedIn and other publications. He has read and written extensively on Tibet, China and other contemporary issues. He is also a motivational speaker with a nationalist and apolitical mind-set. He talks on Motivation, Leadership, Ethics and International Issues.
Cmde Anil Jai Singh
Cmde Jai Singh is the Vice President of the Indian Maritime Foundation and heads its Delhi branch. He was commissioned in the Navy in Jan 1981 and took premature retirement in March 2011. In his career spanning three decades, he had the distinction of commanding four submarines and a Fleet ship. He also served in the Directorates of Naval Plans and Submarine Acquisition at Naval Headquarters. He has been a Directing Staff at the College of Naval Warfare, Senior Instructor(Navy) at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Defence and Naval Adviser at the Indian High Commission in London. His last appointment was as Deputy Assistant Chief (Maritime) in the Perspective Planning and Force Development branch of the Integrated Defence Staff in the MoD. A post-graduate in Defence and Strategic Studies, he is an alumnus of the NDA, Defence Services Staff College and the College of Naval Warfare. Keenly interested in matters maritime, he speaks and writes on the subject regularly in India and abroad and is also involved with the Indian industry associations on defence procurement and indigenization issues.
Col Utkarsh Singh Rathore
Colonel Utkarsh Singh Rathore was commissioned into Maratha Light Infantry of Indian Army in 1980. He is an alumni of Officers Training Academy, Chennai. Colonel has served in active operations in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Punjab. Colonel writes about defence and security issue, risk and threats and nature and environment. He is a familiar face on national TV channels too. Colonel Rathore has also drafted national occupational standards on security, equine, canine and zoo animals. He commanded 17 th Battalion of Maratha Light Infantry during Operation Rakshak and Parakram. Presently Colonel Rathore is Director at Quantum Resource Consultants and Equine Farriery Foundation.
Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla PVSM AVSM SM VSM
Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla was commissioned into the JAT Regt in Jun 76. He has varied operational/administrative experiences with tenures at Training institutions including Bhutan and Army Headquarters in Important assignments. A career spanning nearly 40 years, he has held a number of prestigious appointments to include Commander HC Wing, DGMT and Military Secretary. A graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, he has done important professional courses to include Strategic Level Courses at South African Defence College and Royal College of Defence Studies, UK, besides the Higher Command Course at Army War College, Mhow. He has served in counter insurgency operational areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Island territories of Andaman and Nicobar Island and Commanded Formations in High Altitude Area of Kargil (J&K). The Officer had been appointed Colonel of the JAT Regt from 01 Jan 2011 for five years. He headed the Military Training and Military Secretary Branches.
Lt Gen VG Kandhare PVSM AVSM SM
Lieutenant General Vinod G. Khandare, PVSM, AVSM, SM an alumni of OTA Chennai, he was commissioned into the Garhwal Rifles. He has served in all operational Areas in India and was a Brigade Commander of a CI Ops Brigade in the North East. Indian Army. He retired from active military service on 31 January 2018 and was the Military Advisor to the National Security Council Secretariat at the Secretary level. In his final active military appointent, he served as both, the Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency and the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff for Intelligence from November 2015 to January 2018.
Lt Gen Dushyant Singh PVSM AVSM
Lt Gen Dushyanth Singh was commissioned into 9 MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY REGIMENT’ in Dec 81. An alumni of NDC, DSSC, CDM and Naval Post Graduate School California, USA, he has attended the Regional Defence Counter Terrorism Programme with specialisation in Terrorist Operations and Financing in US. He has served in varied terrains and theatre of operations in India and in UN as a Military Observer. He has been an instructor of Human Resource Development in CDM, Secunderabad. He commanded an Infantry Battalion, Brigade and a Division in J & K . He has served twice in the elite National Security Guards, as the DIG (Ops) and the IG (Ops). He was the BGS Corps in in the East and COS Eastern Command. After commanding a Corps he headed the Army War College. Besides contributing regularly in various defence journals and newspapers, he has also written chapters in two books on Counter Terrorism A prolific reader, writer and a keen sportsman, he writes extensively in leading newspapers and military magazines on contemporary issues. He is Professor Emeritus at Rashtriya Raksha University and also delivers talks on Security and defence matters in other leading Universities and Security
Lt Gen PR Shankar PVSM AVSM VSM
Lt Gen P R Shankar is a retired Director General of Artillery. He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy Khadakvasala, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Army War College, Mhow, Naval Post Graduate School, Monterrey and National Defence College, New Delhi. He has held many important command, staff and instructional appointments in the Army. He has vast operational experience having served in all kinds of terrain and operational situations which has confronted the Indian Army in the past four decades. He gave great impetus to the modernization of Artillery through indigenization. He has deep knowledge, understanding and experience in successful defense planning and acquisition, spanning over a decade. Major 155mm Gun projects like the Dhanush, M777 ULH and K9 Vajra, Rocket and Missile projects related to Pinaka, Brahmos and Grad BM21, surveillance projects like Swati WLR and few ammunition projects came to fructification due to his relentless efforts. The General Officer is now a Professor in the Aerospace Department of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras., Chennai. He is actively involved in applied research.
Ambassador Anil Trigunayat
Mr. Anil Trigunayat, (IFS Retd) is a Former Ambassador to Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Libya and Malta. As a career diplomat, Ambassador Anil Trigunayat has served in the Indian Missions in Cote d’ Ivoire; Bangladesh; Mongolia; USA ;Russia ;Sweden ;and Nigeria . He served in Moscow as Deputy Chief of Mission in the rank of Ambassador. He was also India’s Ambassador to Libya, Jordan, and High Commissioner to Malta. He superannuated in 2016. And innumerable other He is a postgraduate in Physics from the Agra/Kumaon University and studied Russian History, Culture and Language at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As a visiting fellow he conducted research work at the Oxford University. He is a regular contributor and commentator on foreign and economic policy and education and interfaith Dialogue related issues. West Asia, Africa and Russia and Managing India’s interests in conflict zones are his special areas of interest. He is associated with several Think Tanks and Chambers of Commerce. He has published papers in books and periodicals. He is a Distinguished Fellow and Head of West Asia Experts Group at the Vivekananda International Foundation (www.vifindia.org ); and many other organisations. Amb Trigunayat knows French, Russian, and Spanish languages.
Mr Priyan R. Naik
Priyan R. Naik has more than four decades of experience in Media, Academics and Industry. A Columnist, he runs a bi weekly column for Ceylon Today , a Colombo based Sri Lankan daily and a monthly column for Bangalore’s daily newspaper Deccan Herald. He regularly appears in the Hindu , Hindusthan Times The Daily Star of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Times of India, Hindu Business Line, The Navhind Times, Construction Times, ET, PowerGen Asia, Outsourcing2India, IT Asia, Singapore, Construction World, and Asian Electricity, United Kingdom. A Mechanical Engineering graduate from BITS Pilani , he is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, (IIM) Calcutta. A keynote speaker at CII conferences, consultative workshops and at IT conventions and seminars, he teaches MBA students at St Joseph’s College, Bangalore and at the HAL Management Academy, Marathahalli. He has been the Director (Defence), on the Board of Directors of BEML Limited and was the In-charge Mg. Director for the Defence Business of BEML. He has also worked in Larsen & Toubro, L&T Infotech and at Sargent & Lundy LLC, a Chicago, USA based Power consultancy Organization.
Mr Sunil Pant
Mr Sunil Pant is a senior banker, who has been the Independent Member on the Board of Supervision of a Bank in Kabul and Member of the Banking and Finance Committee of the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce. Earlier he had retired as the Chief General Manager of the State Bank of India. He has had extensive experience in Banking Operations in Moscow, Mauritius, Indonesia, Nepal and Bhutan. He has trained at Harvard Business School, Michigan University, IIFT, IIM Ahmedabad, Duke University, Asia Money and College of Agricultural Banking. A truly banking intellectual, he has been a guest speaker at various Fora and has participated extensively in phone in broadcasts on AIR, TV Shows, Webcasts, and so on. He also writes extensively.
PROGRAMME
| Time | Event |
| 09 Dec 2021, Thursday | |
| 09:00 am – 09:05 am | Lamp Lighting (Saraswati Vandana) |
| 09:05 am – 09:15 am | Welcome Address by Col (Dr) Vijay Chenji |
| 09:15 am – 09:25 am | Opening Remarks by Dr DIvya Anand |
| 09:25 am – 09:30 am | A brief introduction to IIRF by Group Capt Raj shekhar Mehta, SC, General Secretary, IIRF. |
| 09:30 am – 0940 am | Inaugural Address by Chief Guest. Mr Anil Trigunayat, IFS |
| 09:40 am- 12:00 pm | Technical Papers to be called for. Presentation of Papers by Scholars |
|
09:40 am
10:10 am
10:40 am
|
Col Shrikumar, MADRAS : Media Management in Grey Zone Warfare Abhigyan Guha: Student Jadavpur University Decrypting the Chinese Cyberspace Menace: Emerging Dynamics of India’s Cybersecurity Challenges in an Age of Grey-Zone Warfare Chirag Sharma: Cyberspace Aggression by State Actors as a tool of Grey Zone Warfare in the Indian context. |
|
11:10 am – 11:30 am 11:30 pm – 11:50 am |
Q&A Tea Break |
| Plenary Session – 1 : Technology and its Management in Grey Zone Warfare | |
| 11:50 pm – 1:30 pm | Chair : Mr Pavithran Rajan |
| Panelists: | |
| 12:00 pm – 12:20 pm | Maj Gen PM Mullick : Use of Emerging Technologies by State and Non State Actors |
| 12:25 pm -12:45 pm | Col KPM Das: Space, Cyber and Electro Magnetic activities (CEMA) in Grey Zone Warfare |
| 12:50 pm – 1:10 pm | Mr Kundana Kumar Lal : Use of AI and IOT in GreyZone Warfare |
| 1:10 pm – 1:30 pm | Q&A
|
| 1:30 pm -2:00 pm | Lunch Break |
| Plenary Session 2 : | Information Operations, Perception Management and Maritime Operations in GZW. |
| 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm | Chair : V Adm MP Muralidharan, AVSM*, NM |
| 2;10 pm – 2:35 pm
2:40pm – 3:00 pm |
Lt Gen (Dr) RS Panwar: Information Operations in the Context of Grey Zone Warfare
Lt Gen PG Kamath: Perception Management as a Force Multiplier in Grey Zone Warfare. |
| 3:05 pm – 3:25 pm | Cmde Anil Jai Singh : Maritime Aspects of Grey Zone Warfare |
|
3:25pm – 3:50 pm
3:50 pm – 4:00 pm
|
Q&A
Review of the Day by Professor, Amity University /Chair : V Adm MP Muralidharan, AVSM*, NM |
| Day 2 – 10 Dec 21, Friday
9:00am |
Welcome Address :Col (Dr) VK Chenji, President IIRF |
| Plenary Session 3 | Political Management in Grey Zone Warfare |
| 09:10 am – 11:20 pm | Chair :Col US Rathore |
| 09:20 am – 09:40 am
09:45 am – 10:10am |
Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla: Challenges in Grey Zone Warfare
Lt Gen VG Khandare Political Interference by China and Pakistan |
| 10:15am – 10:40 am | Lt Gen Dushyant Singh: Organisational Aspects and Doctrinal Needs to counter influences in Grey Zone Warfare. |
| 10:40 am – 11:15 am
Plenary Session 4:
11:15 am – 1:10 pm
11:25 pm – 11:45 pm
11:50 pm – 12:10 pm
12:15 pm – 12:35 pm
12:35 pm – 1:05 pm
1:10 pm-1:25 pm
|
Q& A
Conduct of Diplomacy, Information and Economy in Grey Zone Warfare
Chair : Lt Gen PR Shankar
Mr Anil Trigunayat, IFS : Diplomatic Influences in Grey Zone Warfare
Mr Priyan R. Naik: Media as an Influencer in Grey Zone Warfare.
Mr Sunil Pant: Economic Aspects of Grey Zone Warfare with particular reference to India and its Neighbours
Q & A
Col (Dr ) Vijay Chenji : Scope and Role of Soft Power on Grey Zone Warfare: A Talk |
| Concluding Remarks | |
| 01:30 pm – 01:40 pm | Concluding Remarks by Col (Dr)Vijay Chenji, President IIRF |
| 01:40 pm – 01:50pm | Closing Remarks by Dr Divya Anand, Amity University |
| 01:50 pm – 01:55pm | Vote of Thanks by Mr Athreya Rishi |
