On 18th December 2025, India Foundation, in collaboration with the India Habitat Centre, organised a book discussion on the book ‘Civil-Military Fusion as a Metric of National Power and Comprehensive Security’ by Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla, Author and Member, UPSC at the India Habitat Centre. Shri R.K. Mathur, Former Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh and Former Defence Secretary, Government of India; Lt. Gen. Rakesh Sharma, Former Adjutant General, Indian Army; and Shri Nitin Gokhale, Founder, BharatShakti.in and StratNewsGlobal.com, discussed the book with the author. The session was moderated by Capt. Alok Bansal, Executive Vice President, India Foundation.
The panelists emphasised how dominant nations, especially China, have utilised Civilian-Military Fusion (CMF) to attain swift progress in defence innovation, technological autonomy, and overall competitiveness. The Chinese model, it was pointed out, characterised by the synergistic convergence of the military, private sector, academics, and industry, serves as a benchmark that allows the PLA to surpass numerous democracies. Conversely, it was noted that India’s conventional methodology has frequently upheld a division between civil and military domains, constraining synergy, innovation, and talent retention. The panelists pointed out that the book has promoted a fundamental transformation in thinking, transitioning from control and isolation to collaboration, a common goal, and mutual empowerment. The author in his book has highlighted upcoming technologies such AI, quantum computing, biotechnology, semiconductors, autonomy, and the advent of “dronery” as revolutionary military disciplines that have restructured conventional warfare hierarchies.
The panelists emphasised that author has framed CMF not just as a defence reform but as a comprehensive national transformation initiative that integrates security, economy, governance, and self-reliance (Aatmanirbharta in defence). The book advocates for leveraging India’s corporate sector, start-ups, think tanks, and scientific community to strengthen the armed forces in response to hybrid threats, evolving warfare, and global power dynamics.
They argued that the book, acclaimed for its intellectual profundity and visionary perspectives, must be described as a clarion call and blueprint for India, identifying CMF as the “secret sauce” for ensuring the nation’s ascent as a worldwide power. It provides insights for military leaders, policymakers, industry, and academics, fostering enhanced cross-sector collaboration to establish a robust, technologically independent future. The session ended with a Q&A session in which several questions were raised about changing technologies, military preparedness of India vis-à-vis China, issues about the functioning of bureaucracy etc.
