After taking charge on Sunday, new Army Chief General Manoj Pande said that Indian Army along with its sister services will unitedly deal with national security challenges and conflict situations.
Pande received a guard of honour at South Block in Delhi on Sunday. The Chief of Army Staff appreciated the guard for an impeccable turnout and impressive parade. After that the new Army Chief said, “It is a matter of immense pride and honour for me that I have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading the Indian Army, which I accept with all humility. Indian Army is fully committed to the values of liberty, equality, fraternity.”
“Army along with its sister services will unitedly deal with national security challenges and conflict situations. I would like to focus on ongoing reforms, restructuring and transformtion so as to enhance the Army’s operational and functional efficiency. My aim would be to enhance inter-services cooperation and synergy,” he said.
Asserting that the Indian Army had adequately responded to the Chinese efforts to change the status quo by force on the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh, Gen Pande made it clear that the force would not allow any loss of territory in that area. In an exclusive interview to ANI, the new Indian Army chief said the situation at the LAC is normal at the moment where “unilateral and provocative actions by our adversary to change the status quo by force had been adequately dealt with”.
General Pande said that in the last two years “we have carried out threat assessment and realigned and reoriented our forces”.
“As far as LAC situation is concerned, our troops are present in a very firm and resolute manner ensuring that there is no change in the status quo,” he said.
The new Army Chief said that Indian Army troops are “holding important physical positions and in all this, we are very clear that we will not permit any change in status quo and any loss of territory”.
General Pande said that “our focus has also been infrastructure development especially habitat to match the operational and logistics requirement”.
“In the end, our aim is to reduce the tension along the LAC and restoration of status quo as it was earlier,” he said.
The Army Chief suggested the narco-terror nexus was being pushed by India’s western adversary through dropping of drugs and weapons in Jammu and Kashmir and other states but the force was ready to answer these threats in a resolute manner. He said, “As far as the situation with Pakistan is concerned, the DGMOs arrived at an understanding a year ago that helped us in improving the situation for the civilian population at the ground level on both sides of the LoC.”
“However, I must admit that in terms of reduction in terrorist infrastructure and terrorist training camps, neither is there any evidence nor are there any signs of that happening,” Gen Pande said on Pakistan issue.
“On the contrary, we find that the number of terrorists operating has increased. Whilst on the LoC, the infiltration and violence levels have gone down, in the hinterland, there is no indication to that effect,” he added.
“Significantly, due to the success of our counter infiltration grid, from the other side, there is exploitation of the narco-terror nexus. In this nexus, you see cases of smuggling contraband items and weapons which is happening across the border in both Jammu Kashmir and further south,” he said.
The Army Chief asserted, “We are clear that if we see any act of terror or any hybrid threat in terms of infiltration, radicalisation through social media, then we are resolute to counter these threats and we are sure that we will succeed.”
He also said that the Russia-Ukraine war has taught India to be prepared to fight conventional wars besides building capacity using indigenous weapon systems: “The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has taught the Indian Army that it should be prepared to fight conventional wars too and that capacity should be built using indigenous weapon systems. The ongoing conflict has brought out that the conventional wars are there to stay and we need to continue to focus on our capability development to fight a conventional war.”
Citing the use of modern technology in the over two-month-long conflict between the two countries, the Army Chief stressed on the continuation of India’s focus on capability development to fight a conventional war.
“In the over two months-long conflict going on between Russia and Ukraine, we have seen the use of artillery guns, tanks, air defence guns and anti-tank guided missiles, drones and counter-drone systems. What we need to derive from it is that we need to continue to focus on capability development to fight a conventional war… We need to rely on our indigenous weapon systems and equipment and develop that capacity,” the Army Chief said.
Talking about the dimensions of war in the modern era exposed by the Russia-Ukraine war, Gen Pande said that it has brought to the fore the “importance of non-kinetic means of warfare, such as information and cyber warfare”.
“To that extent, we are aligned with self-reliance and Make In India initiatives. We need to build our capabilities as we prepare ourselves for future conflict,” the Army Chief added.
General Manoj Pande said that his utmost priority would be to ensure very high standards of operational preparedness to face security challenges.