New Delhi, May 29 -- Wars are no longer fought only with tanks, missiles, and fighter aircraft. Increasingly, they are being shaped by invisible systems of data, algorithms, autonomous drones, cyber networks, and artificial intelligence. The character of warfare is undergoing a profound transformation, and the nations that fail to adapt risk strategic irrelevance in an increasingly volatile global order. For India, situated in one of the world's most contested geopolitical environments, the rise of artificial intelligence in warfare is not a distant technological question. It is an urgent national security challenge.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas war have already demonstrated how artificial intelligence is reshaping mo...