Indian Army gets battle ready to face border challenges

The explanation given for the use of the products being bought by the Army reinforces India’s newfound strategic method of entering enemy territory and even establishing command and control elements.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

The Indian Army is gearing up for a possible two-front aggression along India's borders, with reports suggesting that Chinese troops along the northern borders are likely to make challenging movements in the coming months, something that will be matched by the non-state actors who operate from India's traditional military rival, Pakistan.

To prepare itself for these developing scenarios, since mid-October, Indian Army has floated tenders to buy 200 medium-altitude drones, 163 high-altitude drones, 1,000 surveillance copters, 80 remotely piloted aircraft, and 750 remotely piloted aerial vehicles (RPAVs). All this equipment, being bought under fast-track emergency procurement, are to be delivered to the Indian Army by the end of November 2023, just months before the May 2024 general elections.

These purchases have been ordered even as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently stated that in accordance with a resolution passed unanimously in Parliament in 1994, India's goal is to reclaim areas of Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) that are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan The most recent of this tender, to buy 750 RPAVS, which was issued on 25 October, will be used by the Parachute (Special Forces) that executes special missions behind enemy lines.

Interestingly, the tender floated by the Ministry of Defence specifically mentions that expeditious procurement of this surveillance equipment is needed because of the "current volatile situation along Northern borders".