New Delhi. At his first annual press conference just days before the Army Day on January 15, 2024, Gen Dwivedi chose to start the interaction on a completely different wicket by focussing on the relationship between the media and the armed forces. He emphasised the role of convergence between mass media and security forces in nation-building and national security.
“I am a strong proponent of the theme that mass media and security forces have great potential to converge together towards nation-building and national security. So let me adopt your modus operandi and straightway come to the bottom line up front. That is, what is my mission statement, it is to ensure full spectrum preparedness while concurrently transforming the Indian army into an Aatmanirbhar future-ready force to be a relevant and key pillar of the national security apparatus that also contributes meaningfully towards the nation-building,” Gen Dwivedi said.
“My mission is to ensure full scale of preparedness while concurrently transforming the Indian Army into an Aatmanirbhar future ready force to be a relevant and key pillar of the national security apparatus, that also contributes meaningfully towards the nation building and towards our lines of efforts as regards to be a developed nation by 2047 are truly aligned. To achieve the status of a Viksit Bharat, a secure atmosphere is needed and in that we emerge as the net security provider for the entire nation”, he said this in the backdrop of the army’s continued transformation drive. Going a step further, General Dwivedi said that the coming decade will be the decade of transformation for the Indian Army to become Aatmanirbhar.
My mission is to ensure full scale of preparedness while concurrently transforming the Indian Army into an Aatmanirbhar future ready force to be a relevant and key pillar of the national security apparatus: Gen Dwivedi
General Dwivedi said Indian Army has prepared five key pillars of force restructuring, joint operations, modernisation, technology, and human resource issues to achieve the goal.
Coming just days after a statement made by the Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at a seminar on January 7, where he described India’s defence procurement system as “broken” and plagued by delays, the Army Chief’s remarks indicated towards the prioritised efforts of the government to bring in better coordination among all stakeholders in the “Year of Reforms”. At the seminar, the Defence Secretary had assured that India’s defence procurement policy, criticised for delays and inefficiencies, will be reformed within six months to a year.
His remarks followed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement, two weeks ago, that 2025 will the “Year of Reforms” for the Indian Army. The reforms are aimed at enhancing operational readiness, embracing technological advancements, and fostering jointness. The five pillars in the blueprint are—jointness and integration; force restructuring; modernisation and technology infusion; systems and processes, and human resource management.
Analysing these statements together underlines the government’s efforts and the sharing of vision and delivery by both the army and the defence ministry at a same level, to indeed take some out of the box decisions and transform the Indian Army into a real Aatmanirbhar force by 2047.
Situation at Indo-China Border
General Dwivedi said that situation at China border continues to remain “sensitive”, and deployment of troops is currently “robust and ready for any kind of situation”.
Stating that a “degree” of standoff prevails along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Army Chief said that he has authorised all Corps Commanders to handle issues at the ground level with respect to patrolling and grazing so that these trivial issues can be resolved at the military level itself.
He termed the situation along the LAC as “sensitive but stable” and that the Army’s deployment along the border is “balanced and robust.” “Trust between both sides has to have a new understanding… Troop deployment is directly dependent on the trust factor,” the Army Chief said.
“The violence level is being orchestrated by the epicentre of terrorism that is Pakistan…If the support is not forthcoming the way India is looking at it, this kind of terrorist infiltration will continue to be there.”
New Delhi and Beijing reached a deal in October last year to resolve the four-year military stand-off and few days later they pulled back troops from the disputed border.
“During winter deployment, the number of troops come down. So therefore, at least in the winter strategy, we are not looking forward to any reduction of troops,” Gen Dwivedi said. He also said that a decision on summer deployment would depend on how negotiations and talks with China progress.
Terrorism from Pakistan
On the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, General Dwivedi said it is overall under control and the ceasefire pact with Pakistani side is holding up along the Line of Control.
On the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, the ceasefire understanding reached in February 2022 is holding on, but the terror infrastructure across remains intact and infiltrations attempts continue. “The violence level is being orchestrated by the epicentre of terrorism that is Pakistan…If the support is not forthcoming the way India is looking at it, this kind of terrorist infiltration will continue to be there.”
“We have inducted 15,000 additional troops in 2024 and that is why the violence level has gone down and we have been able to neutralise 73 terrorists out of which 60% were from Pakistan, General Dwivedi said. “The parliamentary elections and the State Assembly elections both had nearly 60% voting… All indicators show that people of J&K are shunning violence and it is being fully orchestrated by our adversary.”
In the last year, 60 per cent of terrorists eliminated were of Pakistan origin, General Dwivedi said.
However, he pointed towards the peaceful conduct of elections in J&K last year, and said the Indian Army’s bid to take the region from “terrorism to tourism” is materialising gradually.
General Dwivedi said that there is no animosity with Bangladesh at a military level, stressing that Bangladesh is strategically important to India.
Country’s youth should join the forces for Naam, Namak and Nishan and not just for money: General Dwivedi
Manipur Situation
On Manipur, the Army chief said synergised efforts by security forces and proactive government initiatives have brought the situation in the state under control.
However, the Army chief said cyclic incidents of violence continue in Manipur and the armed forces are trying to bring peace to the region.
Along the Indo-Myanmar border, enhanced surveillance and domination is in place to deal with any possibility of spill over of situation in Myanmar, he said.
At the end of the press conference Gen Dwivedi also had a word for the country’s young men and women. He advised them to join the Indian Army and other defence forces for the sake of Naam, Namak and Nishan, to build a personal identity and not join the armed forces just for money. “If you do join the forces with these ideals in mind, then you’ll become an integral and essential component of the country’s defence services.” General Dwivedi said.
-The writer is a New Delhi-based senior commentator on international and strategic affairs, environmental issues, an interfaith practitioner, and a media consultant. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
