Army Commanders to meet, focus on security scenario along borders with Pakistan, China

The commanders of the Indian Army will discuss the security situation along the country’s disputed boundaries with China and Pakistan during a four-day conference beginning on Monday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat will address the commanders of the Indian Army during the conference. The Chief of Army Staff, Gen M M Naravane, will lead the discussion on current and emerging security scenarios around the nation, particularly along the disputed boundaries with China and Pakistan.

The commanders will discuss administrative aspects to chart the future course for the Indian Army. They will also discuss the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a press-release issued by the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi.

The biannual Army Commanders’ Conference is held in April and October every year. The conference is an institutional platform for conceptual level deliberations, culminating in making important policy decisions for the Indian Army. The conference is also a formal forum for the senior leadership of the Indian Army to interact with the senior officials of the Department of Military Affairs and Department of Defence.

The chiefs of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force will also address the senior leadership of Indian Army on avenues for promoting tri-service synergy.

The conference is being held at a time when the soldiers of the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are still engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. Though the two sides mutually withdrew front-line troops from the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso in February and from the Gogra Post in August, the talks for disengagement from other remaining face-off points along the LAC hit an impasse.

The continued build-up by the Chinese PLA and the recent incursions in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh of India fuelled speculation about tension escalating again, not only in the western sector, but also in the middle and eastern sectors of the disputed boundary between the two nations.

The Pakistan Army too of late restarted flouting ceasefire along the Line of Control and infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir of India also resumed.

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