'Even Trump doesn’t know what he’ll do tomorrow': Army Chief Dwivedi’s candid take on rising security threats

Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi on Sunday emphasised the unpredictability and uncertainty of future threats, remarking that even US President Donald Trump might not know what he will do tomorrow. Dwivedi's remarks came while addressing a gathering of students at the TRS College in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, on Saturday.

“Coming to what lies ahead, what the future holds and the challenges it will bring — in Hindi, we often describe this as asthirta (instability), anischitata (uncertainty), jatilta (complexity), and aspashtata (ambiguity). These four elements sum up what we can expect. Chaar kuch aisi cheez hain agar aapko simple words mein bolun toh aage aane wale din kaise honge yeh na aapko pata hai na mujhe. Kal kya hone wala hai, yeh bhi kisi ko nahi pata. Trump ji aaj kya kar rahe hain, mere khayal se Trump ji ko bhi nahi pata hoga kal kya karne ja rahe hain. (To put it simply, we don’t really know what the future will look like — what we should do, or what might happen tomorrow. Even Mr (Donald) Trump probably doesn’t know what he’s going to do tomorrow,” General Dwivedi said, the Indian Express reported.

Challenges that armed forces face

General Dwivedi pointed out that apart from border challenges, the armed forces also face evolving threats such as terrorism, natural disasters, cyber warfare, and the new frontiers, which involve satellite warfare and chemical, biological, and radiological threats.

“Then there’s information warfare… For instance, during Operation Sindoor, there were rumours that Karachi had been attacked. We, too, heard such reports and wondered where they came from and who started them. That’s how fast and confusing things can get,” he said.

Sharing the lessons learned from Operation Sindoor, General Dwivedi said, “First, Operation Sindoor wasn’t only about defeating the enemy — it was also about restoring sovereignty, integrity, and peace. When the Prime Minister told me that the operation would be named Sindoor, it reminded me how, during the Kargil war, the Army called its mission Operation Vijay, and the Air Force named its own Operation Safed Sagar. This time, the Prime Minister himself chose the name Operation Sindoor. And what was the biggest benefit of that? The entire nation united under a single name — Sindoor. It resonated emotionally across the country.”

Appealing to “Generation Z,” he said that with discipline and the right digital guidance, India has the potential to leap several generations ahead in progress. He also added that this generation will drive India forward in the coming days.

“Generation Z is digitally fluent, technologically advanced, socially aware, and globally connected. They have access to information from all over the world. If such a powerful generation receives discipline and proper guidance, India could advance by several generations in just a moment, leap ahead by many ages. So, it means that in the coming days, Generation Z will be the fuel that drives India forward,” he said.