Top commanders of the Army will carry out a comprehensive assessment of India’s combat readiness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh at a four-day conference beginning Monday, government sources said. The commanders will also deliberate on a series of long-pending reforms such as cutting down on ceremonial practices and non-military activities to ensure a rational distribution of resources, they said.
Chief of Army Staff Gen M.M. Naravane will chair the Army Commanders’ Conference (ACC), which will be attended by all Army Commanders, Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) of the Army headquarters and other senior officers. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria will address the commanders on Tuesday, the sources said.
“The Army Commanders will carry out a comprehensive review of the security challenges facing the nation including the situation in eastern Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir,” news agency PTI reported quoting a source.
The situation in eastern Ladakh remains tense as both Indian and Chinese armies deployed over 50,000 troops each along the LAC following escalation of standoff that began in early May.
The sources said the commanders will deliberate on matters relating to human resource management in the Army on Monday while they will carry out an in-depth discussion on Wednesday on various agenda points highlighted by the top Army Commanders. There will be a discussion, PTI reported, on issues flagged by the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, which is India’s only tri-services command.
Besides reviewing the security challenges facing the nation, the commanders will look at various reform measures recommended by separate internal committees in utilisation of limited resources while at the same time focusing on enhancing operational capability of the 1.3-million strong force, the sources told PTI.
Some of the proposals to be on the table at the conference include discontinuing or at least bringing down the scale of the Army Day and Territorial Army Day parades, cutting down on various ceremonial practices and reducing the number of officers’ mess within individual peace stations, the sources said.
Similarly, the top Army brass will also examine a proposal to bring down the number of guards at official residences of senior officials and another one on reducing the number of CSD canteens if several such facilities are operating within one station, they said.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS