Guided by the Honourable Prime Minister’s JAI matra -The JAI Se VIJAY Seminar 2026 Concluded at Southern Command -Focus on Jointness, Aatmanirbharta, Innovation and Military–Civil Fusion to Build Future-Ready Armed Forces

Pune : The two-day JAI Se Vijay Seminar 2026 concluded at Southern Command, Pune, as a focused professional forum to advance the vision of JAI – Jointness, Aatmanirbharta and Innovation towards building an integrated, future-ready and technologically empowered force. The seminar brought together senior military leadership, veterans, scientists, industry leaders, start-ups and academic experts to align thought and action for multi-domain readiness and a Viksit Bharat–aligned security framework.

The seminar commenced with the Opening Address by Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, #SouthernCommand, who emphasised, “the changing character of warfare necessitates truly integrated, innovation-driven and self-reliant forces to retain operational advantage and strategic relevance in future conflicts.” He also said that ‘JAI’ is not just a framework, but a pathway to success: ‘JAI se Vijai’. He concluded his address by saying that the pillars of Jointness, Aatmanirbharta, and Innovation define how we train, equip, and employ our Armed Forces to meet the challenges of today and anticipate those of tomorrow.

In his Keynote Address, Gen Anil Chauhan, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, Chief of Defence Staff, highlighted the three pillars of JAI – Jointness, Aatmanirbharta and Innovation, as the pathway to VIJAI, stressing on technology absorption and institutional transformation as critical to future force readiness.

The seminar featured three thematic sessions addressing core pillars of JAI transformation:

The first session of the seminar titled “Atmashakti: Joint Synergy for Combat Strength and Self-Reliance (सांझी शक्ति, सशक्त भारत)” conducted on 13 Feb 2026, was moderated by Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, PVSM, AVSM, SM (Retd), and focused on joint operational integration, convergence of capabilities and innovation-led combat strength, highlighting the need for institutionalised jointness and faster cross-domain integration to deliver decisive and coordinated operational outcomes.

The second session of the seminar conducted today deliberated on “Aatmanirbharta: Building Defence Capability through Indigenous Ecosystems (आत्मनिर्भरता से रक्षा सामर्थ्य)”, was moderated by Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd). The discussions were centred on strengthening indigenous defence capability through research, innovation and industrial ecosystems, with emphasis on self-reliant design, development and production, resilient supply chains, and deeper collaboration between the Armed Forces, DRDO, industry and start-ups to achieve strategic autonomy.

The final session titled, “Military–Civil Fusion: Driving Defence Innovation for Jointness and Aatmanirbharta (सैन्य नागरिक संलयन: एक रणनीतिक मार्ग)”, moderated by Lt Gen Raj Shukla, PVSM, YSM, SM (Retd) examined Military–Civil Fusion as a critical force multiplier, underscoring Whole-of-Nation synergy across government, industry, academia and technology sectors to accelerate defence innovation, capability integration and multi-domain readiness.

The seminar witnessed wide participation from industry stalwarts, defence manufacturers, start-ups, innovators, academic researchers and policy practitioners. The sessions were interactive, with thoughtful questions, candid practitioner inputs and experience-based perspectives generating meaningful insights and practical ideas towards strengthening joint capability, deepening self-reliant defence ecosystems and accelerating innovation-led force transformation.

The seminar achieved its intended objectives by developing a shared understanding of JAI as a force transformation framework and generating actionable recommendations to strengthen joint structures, advance self-reliant capability, accelerate innovation adoption and deepen military–civil fusion. Discussions emphasised interoperable systems, integrated planning, indigenous technology absorption and ecosystem partnerships as key enablers of future readiness.

Southern Command reaffirmed its commitment to advancing professional military dialogue and integrated capability development to ensure that India’s Armed Forces remain resilient, adaptive and prepared for emerging multi-domain security challenges.