New Delhi: The Agnipath recruitment scheme is a product of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s priority to make India secure and strong, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said Tuesday, ruling out any question of a rollback.
In an interview to news agency ANI, Doval said the short-term contractual scheme wasn’t a standalone idea. “When he came to power in 2014, one of PM Modi’s priorities was how to make India strong. That required many avenues, many steps – multitudes of them,” Doval told ANI’s Smita Prakash.
There's a need to look at it in a perspective. #Agnipath isn't a standalone scheme in itself. When PM Modi came to power in 2014, one of his prime priorities was how to make India secure and strong. That required many avenues, many steps – multitude of them: NSA Ajit Doval to ANI pic.twitter.com/5kc6QRBD2S
— ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2022
He said security was a dynamic process, one that could not remain static. “It is in relation with the environment in which we have to protect our national interest and national assets,” Doval explained.
He said one needed to look at Agnipath in that perspective.
He said that war was undergoing a great change. “We are going towards contactless wars, also against an invisible enemy. Technology is taking over at a rapid pace. If we have to prepare for tomorrow, then we have to change,” he added.
He stressed on the necessity of equipment, a change in systems and structures, in technology, in manpower and in policies. “They have to be futuristic,” Doval told the interviewer.
Doval also said Agniveers (those recruited under the Agnipath scheme) would never constitute the whole Army. “Agniveers who become regulars will eventually undergo intensive training and acquire experience over a period of time,” he said.
He said the scheme would give every youth – who has “the desire and motivation and feels a sense of commitment to defend the country” – an opportunity. “His energy and talent will be used to make this country strong,” Doval said.
Allaying fears about regiments, he said nobody was tinkering with that concept. “They will continue. The regimental system has not ended,” he said.
#WATCH | "…As far as regiments are concerned, two things need to be understood. Nobody is tinkering with the concept of regiments…They (regiments) will continue…The regimental system has not ended…," says National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval to ANI#AgnipathScheme pic.twitter.com/hScTqhpc1t
— ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2022
The security advisor also said a thorough probe would be conducted to identify the accused behind the violent protests against the scheme, particularly the involvement of coaching centres.
#WATCH LIVE | NSA Ajit Doval speaks to ANI's Smita Prakash on the #AgnipathRecruitmentScheme and other internal security issues https://t.co/DJ87xXO8j9
— ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2022
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