The Combined Operational Review and Evaluation Programme 2026 concluded in New Delhi, bringing senior military leaders and civil bureaucrats together to review modern warfare and civil-military coordination.

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• Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff organised the Combined Operational Review and Evaluation (CORE) Programme 2026 from September 14 to 18 at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi.
• CORE was instituted in September 2025 as a permanent, high-level civil-military interface on contemporary warfare and national security challenges.
• The five-day programme brought together senior officers of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force alongside bureaucrats from Defence, External Affairs and Home Affairs.
• Participants included officers up to the level of the Chief of Defence Staff, service chiefs, and the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
• Sessions centred on the military integration of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced robotics, autonomous systems and modern defence manufacturing.
• The programme also ran scenario-based wargaming on non-kinetic warfare domains, including strategic communication and counter-disinformation.
• Organisers said the format is designed to build inter-service jointness and civil-military trust as India works toward Integrated Theatre Commands.
• Subject-matter experts from academia, defence think tanks and intelligence agencies joined serving officers to examine hybrid and gray-zone conflict trends.
• The inaugural CORE edition ran from September 22 to 26, 2025, at the United Service Institution of India in New Delhi.
• HQ IDS said the programme aims to equip senior leaders with fresh strategic perspectives for pragmatic, well-informed decisions in future leadership roles.
• Organisers described CORE as strengthening the intellectual foundations of India's senior defence and civil leadership through structured, cross-agency dialogue.
• The programme reflects a broader push toward whole-of-nation security responses that integrate military, diplomatic and internal-security tools.

Tags: COREProgramme2026, CivilMilitarySynergy, IntegratedDefenceStaff