New Delhi: Making a quick move to punish the enemy, if needed, and sustaining an intense onslaught for at least 10 days against the other side: The top commanders of the Army are deliberating a recalibration of the force’s strategy in the face of changing threats and operational requirements.
This, along with a review of border infrastructure along the northern and eastern sectors, tops the agenda at the ongoing Army Commanders’ Conference, which started in Delhi Monday and concludes Saturday.
“With changing threats, the Indian Army has to recalibrate its strategy and this is one of the main focus areas of the conference, which mainly centres on operational capabilities,” a senior Army source told ThePrint.
In his address to the top commanders Monday, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat highlighted the changing threats India faces and his vision to counter them.
According to sources privy to the deliberations, the Army’s aim now is to ensure that sustained military pressure is brought on against the Pakistan Army at the Line of Control in the face of provocations, and capabilities enhanced along the northern and eastern borders with China.
Also read: Indian Army warns Pakistan of dire consequences amid heavy artillery exchange on LoC
On the agenda since 2017
Building its capability to carry out a sustained 10-day operation has been on the Army’s agenda since 2017.
When terrorists struck an Army base at Uri, Kashmir, in September 2016, the defence ministry realised that the force was severely under-equipped to carry out a sustained operation if the need arose.
“Following this, a number of steps were taken and a lot of purchases made under the emergency power of the vice-chief,” the aforementioned source said. “We have now reached a comfortable position.”
Refusing to get into the details of the operational purchases made, the source said the acquisitions included anti-tank guided missiles and artillery fuses. Sources said that a large number of orders had been placed with Russia, with talks underway for more Smerch rockets, which have a range of about 90 km.
“The focus is not only on the infantry but also on other services that play a very critical role,” said a second Army source. “Many of the processes initiated have either being completed or are in the process of immediate realisation.”
Also read: Indian Army to get ‘Made in India’ artillery boost with 3 indigenous guns
Hitting back
In light of the ceasefire violations carried out from across the border after the 26 February Balakot air strike of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Army has been continuously pounding the positions of the Pakistan Army.
When the Pakistan Army resorted to heavy-calibre weapons, India deployed its own heavy artillery like the Bofors among other weapons, which are not being named by ThePrint in deference to operational secrecy.
“A lot many operational handicaps have been taken care of since 2017 and the focus is now to ensure that challenges are dealt with theatre-wise,” a third Army source said.
Also read: Indian Army gets some indigenous firepower as it inducts ‘Desi Bofors’ Dhanush today
How do we trust the like of the print? Few people are reading too much into theprint.in and the wire. No credibility. Nuts and bigots trust them.
Waqar Khan, What sensible comments can be expected of a loser? Your country including selected PM is slave to Bajwa and other jarnails. All that your ISI controlled media is doing to Tom Tom the downing of IAF Mig while flossing over the biggest lesson in reality given by India to your nuke sabre rattling in the past, which is that IAF planes penetrated 80km into Pakistan, carried out a mission and returned safely. Your Sipah Salar Bajwa, PAF chief and Chief of air defence should have been in the dock for this colossal failure to detect intrusion. Nobody including Imran had the guts to ask them to explain this lapse. This was just an attack on a terror hideout. It might well have been a strike at Pak nuclear assets. Your country does not understand the ramifications of this superlative failure. Musharraf must be hitting his head against a wall in his Dubai cell. He was so belligerent and cocky about Pak forces. Good that he has lived to see the day when his boasts and nuclear Sabre rattling have been debunked. But like all Pakistani you keep parroting the greatness of an army that has yet to win any war against India
India shall conduct cover and overt operations. It shall encourage baloch and POK movement. We shall have our own Fidayeen command and they shall be sent to Pakistan to do Fidayeen attacks. We shall train unemployed Kashmiri youths who will enter Pak for taking lessons from KEM and then conduct the attacks in the barracks. India shall have a policy to bleed Pak till it does.
There’s a reason why u @waqar Khan not a part of Indian army
#PKMKB
As possible as long range weapons should be deployed at boarders and LoC of Pakistan, China and also should not forget the possible threat perception from Bangladesh, shrilanka and Maldweep too. Though Nepal, Bhutan and Mayanmer are our friendly country , even that a close vigilant should be kept on them too. Because at the time of war, enemies can take any type of attack systems. So we should be aware and be ready for anything unfortunate happenings.
It will be the best way to be prepared for any types of attack but enemies movement should be as per our wishes just like a Chase board. Though many people said before that “attack is the best defense”. So We should not wait for enemies attack because enemies will get the time to find out some traitors from our side. Rather we should try to get some traitors from the enemies to attack them.
In previous, history says, that our people were waited for enemies attack but enemies used to get some traitors from us and enemies attacked us from our backyard and won the battle. So it should not be repeated again.
We had lots of war heroes in our land but because of our extra- ordinary morality and generosity defeated us again and again.
So in this respect, we should learn lots from Israel how to win battles without losing our morality.
Jug Jug Jio
And there are no nucs in South Asia..Pak Army is a battle tested force,which will respond with totally new strategy…Indian capability has been exposed and India requires another decade to come up to battle readiness if Pakistan..These are #PheekooFarts