Legal Preparedness and Governance of Ai-Driven Warfare: A Doctrinal Study on India’s Legal and Strategic Readiness

The amalgamation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), autonomous weapon systems (AWS), and cyber capabilities is revolutionizing contemporary combat, reshaping doctrines of command, control, and accountability. India’s defence modernization has progressively adopted these technologies to improve strategic deterrence and operational efficacy. Nonetheless, this swift acceptance has surpassed the evolution of appropriate legal and institutional protections. The lack of legal acknowledgement of AI-related harm, ambiguous liability criteria, and disjointed collaboration among cybersecurity, data protection, and AI governance frameworks has resulted in a regulatory void. This article does a doctrinal and comparative review of India’s readiness to address AI-driven conflict, scrutinizing the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and pertinent to various international or foreign frameworks. India’s capacity to guarantee accountability and adherence to international humanitarian law is compromised by significant legal and regulatory inadequacies, according to the study. In order to maintain accountability, openness, and the rule of law in the era of intelligent warfare, it closes by suggesting a single legal and institutional framework that integrates cyber governance, AI ethics, and defence policy.