Institutional military education and academic exchanges as a pillar of defense indigenization

Intellectual Foundations of Defense Indigenization

Military education, academic exchanges, and co-developed research form a critical but underexamined pillar of this transformation. With rising regional tensions and global realignments, capacity-building through defense education, both domestic and international, cements long-term trust and interoperability with partners like the United States. From a U.S. perspective, strengthening India’s defense education and leadership development is essential to building a capable, like-minded partner that can share the burden of regional security and deepen long-term strategic alignment. This commentary explores how institutional education efforts in India and abroad, particularly Indian military-academic partnerships with the U.S., shape strategic culture and build future-ready leadership.

A planned U.S. trade delegation visit to India in late August 2025 was called off after President Trump imposed tariffs on Indian imports over Russian oil and defense purchases, underscoring the ongoing trade disputes between the two countries. While some suggest that the U.S.-India relationship is reaching an unassailable impasse, these ties are unlikely to be defined solely by such disputes, indicated by the recent 2+2 intersessional dialogue. Defense cooperation, strategic education, and people-to-people exchanges can ensure that the partnership endures, helping both nations prioritize long-term alignment even when other negotiations stall.

For India, accelerating a country’s indigenous defense modernization requires not just importing advanced platforms but cultivating advanced minds. Relying excessively on foreign arms risks perpetuating dependency and undermining the long-term credibility of sovereign deterrence. Instead, importing minds, not arms, should be the strategic priority: attracting global talent, investing in domestic education, and retaining defense intellectuals are critical to building a self-reliant military ecosystem. Brain-drain remains a silent threat; when the best engineers, planners, and analysts leave for foreign labs and think tanks, the home front loses its capacity for adaptation and innovation. A stagnant intellectual space in defense, where ideas are recycled and dissent is sidelined, can lead to informational echo chambers and negative feedback loops, impairing both threat perception and decision-making. Intellectual nuance is not academic luxury; it is a battlefield necessity.

From developing robust tactical doctrine to shaping strategic posture, a diversity of thought fosters resilience. It also strengthens the defense-industrial base by encouraging cross-sector innovation, especially where military R&D intersects with civilian tech, critical infrastructure, and foreign policy. True modernization creates an environment where ideas move faster than adversaries, where defense is not just manufactured, but imagined. Scholarly literature on the subject notes that international academic exchanges in professional military education strengthen defense relations by fostering cultural interoperability, reducing stereotypes, and building long-term bonds among future senior leaders, which is integral to the U.S.-India partnership.

Building Strategic Culture through Education and Exchange

True self-reliance in defense includes developing intellectual capital (doctrines, strategy, and leadership) within national institutions. Spotlighted by the Air War College’s National Security Forum, a robust higher education system is foundational to national security, not just for technical skills, but for fostering critical thinking, ethical leadership, and adaptability. Collaborative efforts between universities, government, and industry help ensure that the workforce is equipped to meet modern security challenges such as advanced technologies, cybersecurity, and strategic innovation. War colleges, civilian-military think tanks, and university-military collaborations are sites where ideas, not just equipment, are indigenized.

The recent MoU between the University of Allahabad and the Indian Army marks a significant step in bridging India’s internal divide between academic research and operational policymaking. By reserving five postgraduate and four PhD seats specifically for military-academic integration, the initiative encourages joint publications, research projects, and strategic conferences. This collaboration aims to cultivate the next generation of Indian strategic thinkers, align academic rigor with defense priorities, and tie together theory and practice in national security. More broadly, it reflects a growing trend across Indian universities and defense services to institutionalize collaboration and strengthen intellectual foundations of defense policy.

India can also engage with international defense education models like the U.S. Army War College’s International Fellows Program. Located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the IFP offers a 10-month resident or two-year distance program that annually educates around 80 senior international officers, including from India. The curriculum emphasizes strategic leadership, joint operations, and campaign planning, supported by electives, research papers, and staff rides to sites like Gettysburg and Washington, D.C. Designed to foster strategic alignment and mutual trust, the program has produced successful alumni such as General Vijay K. Singh and former Army Chief Gen. Bikram Singh, both inducted into the International Fellows Hall of Fame. By cultivating elite global networks and enhancing interoperability, the IFP remains an asset for strengthening long-term India-U.S. defense ties.

U.S.-India collaboration in strategic research is a growing pillar of defense innovation. The Rising Center at Rice University exemplifies science-technology-defense diplomacy, advancing joint work in critical and emerging technologies like nanotech and AI. The FTAS program connects the U.S. Army’s DEVCOM Lab with India’s NewSpace Research & Technologies, reflecting deeper battlefield innovation and knowledge exchange. Meanwhile, the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF, based in Washington and New Delhi, advances bilateral ties through focused work on defense, education, supply chains, and innovation diplomacy. Together, these efforts strengthen a tech-enabled, future-facing strategic partnership.

Toward a Shared U.S.-India Strategic Future

The 21st edition of Exercise Yudh Abhyas, a long-running annual training practice between the United States Army and Indian Army, will be held in Alaska from 1-14 September 2025, underscoring the value of joint strategic education even as trade talks face hurdles. Past editions have included counter-terrorism drills, artillery and helicopter operations, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) training. By expanding troop participation, testing new capabilities like the amphibious Stryker, and emphasizing joint counter-terrorism operations in extreme conditions, the exercise highlights how U.S.-India defense ties continue to mature through shared learning and operational cooperation.

Building a shared U.S.-India strategic culture relies on more than military ties, it requires aligned doctrines, leadership development, and institutional exchange. These connections reinforce mutual norms and support frameworks like the U.S.-India COMPACT initiative. As highlighted by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi, over 300,000 Indian students contribute $8 billion annually to the U.S. economy, strengthening innovation and job creation. Both leaders committed to expanding academic collaborations and streamlining legal mobility to build a future-ready and deepening strategic compatibility through people-to-people ties.

Defense indigenization must be intellectual as well as industrial. Institutional military education, from co-taught Indian postgraduate programs to the U.S. Army War College’s international fellowships, plays a quiet but transformative role. Interoperability is known as a force multiplier, capable of enhancing defense potential through parts that are synergized together. These types of cross-cultural exchanges can enhance desired interoperability outcomes like Art of Command (AoC) interoperability and procedural interoperability, which cultivate shared purposes, command styles, and strategic procedures. To build a future-ready Indian strategic community, New Delhi should deepen its investment in these educational linkages, recognizing them not as soft adjuncts, but as core tools of strategic power within the larger U.S. partnership.

Author: Tyler Lissy is a Motwani-Jadeja U.S.-India Fellow at the Pacific Forum, researching India’s defense modernization and U.S.-India strategic cooperation. A Dickinson College graduate and 2025 class commencement speaker, he has worked with the U.S. Army War College, Diamond6 Leadership, and U.S. Congressman Ryan Mackenzie’s office. He will pursue a Global Policy M.A. at the University of Maine.