Terming the spread of narcotics in Punjab as a serious concern, Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria said drugs were being used as a weapon to target the future generation and weakenthe country.Speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day Military Literature Festival in Chandigarh, Kataria said drugs were hollowing out Punjab’s rich heritage.“The enemy has understood that India cannot be defeated by weapons in a war, but it can be weakened by targeting its youth,” he said. Stating that arms and drugs were flowing into the country from Pakistan through drones, the Governor said Pakistan did not have the means and courage to carry out such activities on its own, which pointed towards a larger nexus of several powers working to destabilise India.He said while the soldiers stood at the frontiers to guard the borders, it was the duty of citizens in all spheres to work earnestly for the development and progress of the country.Commending the Armed Forces for their role in safeguarding the nation, the Governor said India had vast experience fighting wars dating back to Independence. “The 1962 India-China War was a learning experience for the nation and during the 1965 India-Pakistan War, the Armed Forces were better prepared and their capability and strength were there for all to see in the 1971 war. Even during Operation Sindoor, the world witnessed India’s prowess and strides in self-reliance,” he said.He added that a nation’s biggest strength was its literature and heritage, which must be nurtured and passed down the generations.Pointing out that there has been a revolution in the military with asymmetric warfare now becoming the norm rather than the exception, Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari said the Russia-Ukraine war, with Urkaine holding on against Russia, had set new benchmarks.“Similarly, during the conflict in West Asia, Iran had used asymmetry to its advantage and made its adversaries pay a price for the invasion,” he said.Flagging frontier dual-use technologies that have very sustainable military applications, Tiwari said for 69 of the 74 such technologies China needs, its only peer competitor was the US. “India needs to seriously deliberate about how technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, internet of things and genomics blend into the future of warfare,” he added.The MP also raised the issue of defence spending, pointing out that China spends more than the next 22 Asia-Pacific economies combined and this expenditure asymmetry needed to be considered given that China’s rise had been less than peaceful.Lt Gen TS Shergill (retd), chairperson of the Military Literature Festival Association, gave an overview of India’s military heritage and discussed contemporary geopolitical developments that have a profound impact on the existing world order.