India, Jan. 7 -- Contemporary conflict between State actors is increasingly unfolding in the grey-zone arena, an ambiguous space that lies below the threshold of declared war yet delivers strategic effects traditionally associated with kinetic campaigns. The epicentre of this alteration lies in the cyber domain, which has emerged not merely as an adjunct to military power but as a decisive battlespace in its own right. The pattern of growth is distinctive, cyber operations are used to weaken, confuse, or paralyse an adversary's critical infrastructure even before conventional forces and tactics are employed.

Power grids, telecommunications networks, transport systems, and command-and-control architectures have become the first targets in...