Army chief tells soldiers to remain vigilant along border

Army chief General MM Naravane on Tuesday asked soldiers deployed along the India-China border to display “steadfastness and resilience.”

In an address broadcast on All India Radio on the eve of Army Day, the army chief asked soldiers posted in Siachen and along the India-Pakistan border to remain vigilant at all times.

“I have no doubt that you shall ensure necessary operational ascendancy with respect to our western adversary (Pakistan), while displaying steadfastness and resilience along the northern borders,” he said, assuring the soldiers that their operational and logistics needs would be met at all costs.

Last week, Naravane cautioned against a collusive threat to Siachen glacier from Pakistan and China and also explained how India would deal with a possible two-front war scenario.

He said the army was “balancing out” its deployments to cater for threats from both the west and the north.

He said significant capacity building was happening along the northern borders with China as part of the re-balancing exercise, including the deployment of advanced weapons in the country’s east.

He said on Tuesday that in its quest to remain “sharp and contemporary,” the army had analysed the geo-strategic landscape and the evolving character of war as relevant to the Indian context.

He said the government’s decision to create a department of military affairs under the chief of defence staff was “a seminal step” and would created civil-military synergy, enhance productivity in strategic outcomes and enable greater integration among the three services. Speaking at a Veterans’ Day function, Naravane said the army was pushing a case for the granting special pensions to emergency commissioned officers and short-service commissioned officers who fought in the 1956 and 1971 wars with Pakistan.

He said the proposal had been sent to the defence ministry. Such officers are not entitled to pension for which they need to complete 20 years of service.