<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">Army Chief General Manoj Pande has said that the Indian Armed Forces are at a transformational phase. He stated that the forces are growing their operational efficiency, while being aware of the threat from Pakistan and China and maintaining a high level of operational readiness.</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">Speaking at a Conclave organised by a private media house in New Delhi on Friday, the Army Chief said, Indian military is taking a number of measures to modernize itself by exploiting the potential of niche technology. He said the roll out of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a game changer in warfare. General Pande noted, this transformation is to enable us to become a more modern, more agile and more battle-ready force to prepare us to meet all future challenges in an effective manner. He said the government's push for self-reliance, especially in the defence manufacturing sector, is a positive step.</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">Army Chief said, unless countries are self-reliant and have secure supply chains, it will be very difficult for them to address security concerns and move forward in the future. He said, the armed forces are complementing the overall effort to go atmanirbhar by being facilitators of government policy and providing a viable market. General Pande said, in recent years, the military's use of indigenous products has grown. He also stressed the need to wean the Indian armed forces off its dependence on defence exports from superpowers like US, Russia and France.</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">The Army chief said the Agnipath recruitment scheme, introduced by the Centre last year, is a win-win policy not just for the military but for the society and country at large. Calling Agnipath a transformational reform, he acknowledged that getting its implementation right is the key. General Pande said, issues like training the recruits in a short frame of time is critical.</p>