The Indian Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi, on Tuesday, gave a fresh twist to the concept of smart power.
Speaking at a seminar, titled 'Security to Prosperity: Smart Power for Sustained National Growth', hosted by defence think-tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), the Indian Army chief said the "world around us is sending a more complex signal— disorder, distrust, and dichotomy in alliances".
"We were promised a world where prosperity would make power politics obsolete... instead, we have a world where power politics is being used to reorganise prosperity," he argued.
So in this world, fractured, fast-moving, and unforgiving, what must be the architecture of India's smart power, he asked the audience.
The Indian Army chief cited Joseph Nye, who came up with the concept of smart power.
Nye described “smart power” as a strategy that combines both hard power and soft power to achieve foreign policy goals effectively. He argued that while military force and economic pressure remain important, attraction and the ability to shape preferences can reduce dependence on coercion, making a balanced mix of both approaches essential for successful statecraft.
For India, Gen Dwivedi said, it means using national strength with strategic wisdom to secure peace, accelerate growth, and shape the global environment in the country's favour.
The Army chief offered a moniker of 'SMART' and explained what each component of it stood for, and how it can help as a strategic design to navigate the present geostrategic landscape.
"I use the word 'SMART', the acronym not as a management construct, but a living framework for how we must think, prepare, and act in the world we now confront under the umbrella of the new normal of hard power," Gen Dwivedi said.
"The first is 'S' or statecraft. In a world that rewards those who simultaneously operate across the DIME (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic) construct, we must master the art of deploying each instrument of national power with precision and coherence," he underlined.
The second is 'M' or manufacturing depth. As supply chains get fragmented and technology gets leveraged, if not weaponised, a nation that cannot produce what it needs will eventually lose the ability to decide what it wants, the general officer cautioned.
The third one is 'A' or accelerating innovation as part of the prime minister's clarion call of JAI (jointenes, atmanirbharta and innovation), and the fourth is 'R' that is resilience, the Army chief said.
"And, the last one is 'T' that is technology primacy. Whoever commands the technology stack in the next decade, will take to command the conflict outcomes. We must not merely absorb emerging technologies. We must indigenise, operationalise, and lead in them," he asserted.
He said Operation Sindoor reflected "smart power" in its most complete expression.
