"We are not 'Downsizing' but 'Rightsizing' our Army"

In an interview with Jayant Baranwal, Editor-in-Chief, SP’s Land Forces, covering a wide range of subjects, General Manoj Pande, Chief of the Army Staff, talks about how the Indian Army is developing its capability and operational readiness to meet the continuous challenges facing them across the spectrum of conflict

- Jayant Baranwal

SP’s Land Forces (SP’s): First of all, heartiest felicitations for the celebrations of 75 years of our country’s independence. The environment in our country has been so much heartening and logically unique too. can you indicate some 5 Top milestones of our army since independence? chief of the army Staff (coaS): I think it would be inappropriate to limit the achievements of the Indian Army to just five points. In order to be more contemporary, I will encapsulate what we have done in the past year.

India is perhaps the only country in the world which faces two adversaries along its borders. The unsettled borders extend over varied terrain from vast plains, jungles, deserts, mountainous to heavily glaciated terrain. Hence, the spectrum is vast and offers numerous challenges. Our troops, our organisation, our equipment, our strategy and our tactics, enables us to continuously evolve to the emerging threats and challenges.

Our operational preparedness is primarily focussed on India’s desire to ensure stability & dominance along our contested & hostile borders and to effectively counter Proxy War. To retain operational readiness & combat edge, we constantly monitor and review the emerging & future threats to our National security. Our operational requirements continue to guide our procurement of emerging technologies, which act as force multipliers, providing us the much-needed combat edge over the adversaries.