‘Defence and Strategic Studies expert Maj Gen PK Mallick, VSM (Retd), in his August 25, 2025, issue brief India’s Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations: A Critical Review, praises the declassified Joint Doctrine released on August 7, 2025, as a comprehensive guide recognizing cyberspace as a vital warfare domain equal to land, sea, and air, emphasizing joint operations across services, offensive-defensive integration, resilience, and a “whole of nation” approach to threats like attribution and legal ambiguities. Spanning six chapters on overview, operations, organizations, ecosystem, human resources, and technology, it promotes transparency via declassification, marking a shift from service-centric models. However, Mallick critiques its overly general, declarative style, lacking prescriptive details on legal thresholds for cyber “armed attacks,” attribution methods, escalation controls, ethical guidelines, and rules of engagement. He notes misalignments with Western doctrines (e.g., separate cyber deterrence), gaps in cognitive operations, civil-military integration, public-private partnerships, supply chain security, AI integration, and talent strategies, deeming it basic “Lesson 101.” Urging tactical specificity, resource milestones, and updates to outdated doctrines, Mallick warns it risks being aspirational without operational blueprints and investments. For the full brief head to India’s Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations: A Critical Review‘