Sushil Pandey

At 3 am, while India sleeps, over 1 crore people are awake at the gate of our data centres, mines, hospitals, industries and homes. No parade. No headlines. Rarely counted. They are India’s largest human sensor network: our first sensor. Yesterday, I spoke to them: The Security Warriors. For 42 years I spoke to soldiers. At CAPSI’s 21st Security Leadership Summit in New Delhi, I found 1 crore more to add to our Army family. National security is decided not only on the Line of Control, but also at the gate of a power plant at 3 am. Operation Sindoor showed that defence is won in layers; the Security Warrior is the outermost layer. Trained and connected, a strategic asset. Untrained, a strategic gap. My three thoughts for Private Security 2.0: Pride. Professionalism. Partnership. Pride: the new “Guarding Officer” title must carry a new standard: certified skill and a path from the gate to supervisor to manager. Professionalism: Detect. Report. Respond. Let technology do the task and the trained human make the judgement. Partnership: with first responders, with government and with citizens. Alertness must be about what a person does, never what a person is. Three commitments: Pay him fairly. Train him seriously. Respect and recognise him always. To young India: every smartphone is a front line. Be a soldier of truth. सच के सिपाही बनिए। वर्दी बदली है, फ़र्ज़ नहीं। जागते रहो। Thank you, Chairman Kunwar Vikram Singh and CAPSI, for the honour. It was great interacting with a large section of #ExServicemen associated with Private Security Industry. #ESM #JaagteRaho #CAPSI #PrivateSecurity

Silchar: Inaugurated an ICMR-backed proteomics facility at Cachar Cancer Hospital, led by Dr R Ravi Kannan, Padma Shri and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee. Full credit to him and his doctors: 80% of their patients are daily-wage earners, and each gets their devotion. The hospital began in 1992 as a people’s movement. Today it is a lifeline for southern Assam and the wider #NorthEast , where such care is scarce. My tribute to the patients, the doctors, and Dr S Krishnamurthi, who held that research must reach “the last man on the street”. At the memorial lecture in his name, my theme was protector and healer: one calling, two uniforms. Both learn, lead, serve. Both are needed for #ViksitBharat 2047. The questions on Op Sindoor and the North East were sharp. My message to the young: in future conflict no region is a bystander. Cyber, information, space and economic warfare reach every citizen. Be an enabler. Be the first village, not the last. Dhonnobad, Silchar. @DrRRaviKannan @CCHRCCancerCare

To every young Indian who dreams of the sea: this is where it begins. A memorable day at the Indian Naval Academy, #Ezhimala. Where hills meet the sea, India shapes its naval leaders. I put six questions on #OperationSindoor to the faculty and the passing-out term. The questions a young officer should be able to answer before they command: 1. Who decides, and how? Political aim first. Fifteen days from shock to action, with diplomacy and force moving together. 2. How do three Services act as one? Know each other, share one picture by design. Networks today, unified commands next. 3. Conventional or grey zone? Start from the effect on the citizen, not the instrument. End where the politico-military aim is met. 4. What is escalatory deterrence? Credible capacity, control of every step, and an off-ramp the other side can accept. 5. What sustains a campaign? Precision does not remove logistics; it makes them harder. Stocks, production lines, fused intelligence. 6. Where is victory won? In the minds or physical realms. A war ends when the adversary and the world accept the outcome. Warm thanks to Vice Adm Alok Ananda, the faculty and the trainees. The officers shaped here will command a joint, multi-domain, technology-led Navy. Officer trainees from friendly nations tell me its reputation travels well beyond our shores. I was most impressed by its state-of-the-art infrastructure and outstanding faculty. #IndianNavalAcademy is among the finest academies I have seen anywhere. My message to the next generation of naval officers: think joint, think technology, think strategy. Know the politico-military end-state before the plan. And remember, every officer is a narrator. Discipline on social media is operational security. I am sanguine that you will command the first truly joint, multi-domain Navy. @indiannavy