Bengaluru: At India’s first Army Day parade held outside Delhi in Bengaluru, Army chief General Manoj Pande said Sunday, “We want to pivot from manpower intensive to technology-driven force. This will prepare us for future conflict.”
He added, “This is the first time that the army parade and traditions associated with it are taking place outside Delhi. This has given the army a chance to interact with those outside the capital.”
The chosen parade ground at the Madras Engineer Groups Headquarters is also known as the Madras Sappers. The Madras Sappers are an engineers’ group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army.
The Army Day takes place on 15 January every year to honour Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa taking command of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Roy Bucher in 1949.
“Bengaluru’s importance is also that Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa was from this state. This makes it so much more special for us,” he added.
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Army chief’s vision
Laying out his vision for the future of the Indian Army, Gen Pande said, “We are focussing on developing our operational training. For this, force structuring & optimisation have been focussed on. This includes the need to develop integrated force units.”
All outdated processes are being done away with, he said. “Teeth to tail ratio is being dealt with through rightsizing and optimising technology,” he added.
He also described the Agnipath scheme as transformational for human resource development, adding that the first batch has started training and so will the first women’s batch, in March. He added that the entire process was automated.
Talking about the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the chief explained that India has a strong defence posture and is ready to deal with any contingencies. Despite the extreme conditions, he said jawans were alert and prepared and were being given all possible support.
The chief also spoke about the Infrastructure development taking place in a robust manner across the border areas.
Reduced LoC violations
The 2021 ceasefire was holding well at the Line of Control, the army chief said. While there were reduced violations, he cautioned that Pakistan was still active in developing terror infrastructure.
Talking about the international borders at Jammu and Punjab, the chief said drugs were being brought in via drones. However, the army was using anti-drone mechanisms to counter that.
“The youth in J&K now want peace. Incidents of violence are far less than before,” he said.
“Along with cyber war, grey zone war, there will now also be non-kinetic warfare apart from kinetic warfare. The army is prepared to deal with all these challenges,” he said.
Gallantry medals & parade
Gallantry medals were also awarded by the army chief for acts of bravery and sacrifice—these included Shaurya Chakra and Sena Medal Gallantry.
Significantly, Lance Naik Gopal Singh Bhadoriya, whose family had been waiting for four years to be awarded their son’s posthumous Shaurya Chakra, had their wishes fulfilled. The chief conferred his father Munim Singh Bhadoriya the medal.
A wreath laying ceremony was also carried out by General Pande to pay respect and homage to those who have committed the supreme sacrifice in service.
The commander of the parade was Major General Ravi Murugan, General Officer Commanding Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area.
The parade was marked by marches from five regimental brass bands. These were from the artillery, corps of engineers, including the Bombay Sapper, the Madras regiment, and the Mahar Regiment.
A horse mounted regiment of the army service corps also participated in the parade for the first time.
Weaponry including K9 Vajra Self Propelled guns, Pinaka rockets, T-90 tanks, BMP-2 Infantry fighting vehicles, Tunguska Air Defence system, 155mm Bofors guns, Swathi radar and different assault bridges were on static display at the parade.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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