Army’s Project Udbhav gets under way; aims to integrate ancient wisdom with modern military pedagogy

Project Udbhav, a collaboration between the Army and the United Service Institution of India, was launched at the first Indian Military Heritage Festival organised by the USI.

An ambitious effort for the integration of India’s “ancient strategic acumen” into the contemporary military domain and develop an “indigenous strategic vocabulary”, rooted in India’s “philosophy and culture” was launched under ‘Project Udbhav’, by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on October 21.

The project’s objective is to synthesise ancient wisdom with contemporary military practices, forging a unique and holistic approach to address modern security challenges, said Lt. Gen. Tarun Kumar Aich, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) giving an overview.

Project Udbhav, a collaboration between the Army and the United Service Institution of India (USI), was launched at the first Indian Military Heritage Festival (IMHF) being organised by USI.

“It aims to effectively integrate ancient wisdom with modern military pedagogy through interdisciplinary research, workshops and leadership seminars... It will facilitate emergence of previously under-explored thoughts and theories related to strategic thinking, statecraft and warfare, foster deeper understanding and contribute to enriching military training curricula,” Lt Gen Aich said.

“Going forward, a series of events and workshops, will dwell on various facets of our strategic culture and culminate in Jan next year, with a publication, to document and institutionalise such knowledge.”

Elaborating, he said an initiative in this research was earlier taken by the Army Training Command, who after delving into the ancient Indian Scriptures such as Arthashastra, Nitisara by Kamandaki and Mahabharata compiled the ‘compendium of 75 stratagems’. Similarly the College of Defence Management conducted a study to establish linkages between Indian Culture and art of strategic thinking and these, will also provide valuable inputs for the project, he said.