World cooling down from Ukraine, Gaza conflicts: Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi

He also pointed out a "subtle" shift from democracy to "authoritarianism," which feeds into the turmoil in the world.

"The world is just cooling down from two major conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, wherein the majority of nations took sides based on realism, idealism or religion. The turmoil is also interspersed with ongoing subnational conflicts and common threats to global peace like terrorism, radicalisation, mass cyber-attacks, and a subtle shift from democracy to authoritarianism," Dwivedi said while speaking at the fourth General Bipin Rawat Memorial Lecture here.

Highlighting that the security dynamics are constantly changing and have become unpredictable, the Army Chief said that the world has been facing new challenges, which led to the fall of regimes in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, and recently in Bangladesh.

"The world has been facing new challenges, which led to the fall of regimes in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and many more. The security parameter is like shifting sands, where high tides and low tides can't be predicted," Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Dwivedi said.

He added that the nation-states were indulging in forming part-time friendships, also known as 'friends by compulsion', which was a new phenomenon.

"The idealists are becoming realists, and vice versa. Part-time friendship is a new emerging phenomenon, also referred to as 'friends by compulsion'. The duration of an elected government or the fall of an elected leader is changing the entire approach of a nation. We see what's happening in the US, Canada, or Bangladesh," Dwivedi added.

He also highlighted the importance of emerging technologies in national security, saying that technological prowess has become the new currency of deterrence and data has become the new capital of trade and security. (ANI)