Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces

The document examines India's military integration of AI, driven by the 'intelligentized warfare' capabilities of China and the acquisition of AI-enabled systems by Pakistan. It details India's shift toward 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliance) in producing UAVs and robotics, while maintaining a defensive strategic posture rooted in the 'dharmayuddha' (just war) philosophy. The authors highlight a tension between official policies of restraint and military calls for offensive cyber capabilities, as well as an ethical consensus on maintaining human primacy over lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS).

• India perceives China as a more potent threat than Pakistan due to its significant investment in AI research and the pursuit of 'intelligentization' in its command structure and weapon systems.
• India's military AI strategy is heavily influenced by the 'dharmayuddha' (just war) philosophy, which emphasizes restraint, defensive action, and the use of force only as a last resort.
• There is an internal conflict between the government's official defensive cyber policy and the views of military officers who argue for the development of offensive cyber capabilities to enable preemptive strikes on enemy C4ISR infrastructure.
• India is pursuing a policy of self-reliance ('Atmanirbhar Bharat') in AI-enabled weaponry, developing indigenous systems like the Rustom-II and AURA (Ghatak) stealth UCAVs, and utilizing the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) for military robotics.
• The Indian military is concerned about 'cluster warfare'—the use of autonomous or semi-autonomous drone swarms by China—and recognizes the need for counter-swarming tactics and UAV swarm countermeasures.
• India maintains a strict ethical stance against complete autonomy for Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS), insisting on 'human-machine teaming' where humans retain primacy in command decision-making.
• India has explicitly rejected the development of tactical nuclear weapons and maintains a 'No First Use' (NFU) policy, contrasting with the positions of China and Pakistan.
• There is a tendency within the Indian military to shift ethical and legal responsibility for the malfunction of autonomous weapon systems from the operators to the manufacturers and programmers.

APA

Roy, K., & Reichberg, G. M. (2024). Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/c5558629-aa43-4a6a-84da-b7f28a196aa5/Final PDF_Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Roy, Kaushik, and Gregory M. Reichberg. Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2024. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/c5558629-aa43-4a6a-84da-b7f28a196aa5/Final PDF_Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Roy |first1=Kaushik |last2=Reichberg |first2=Gregory M. |title=Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2024 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/c5558629-aa43-4a6a-84da-b7f28a196aa5/Final PDF_Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{roy2024artificial, author = {Roy, Kaushik and Reichberg, Gregory M.}, title = {{Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2024}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/c5558629-aa43-4a6a-84da-b7f28a196aa5/Final PDF_Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Armed Forces.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }