Top Army commanders to review situation in Ladakh, reforms at 4-day conference

Top commanders of the Indian Army will carry out an inclusive assessment of the country’s combat preparedness in sensitive areas along the L.A.C.

Top commanders of the Indian Army will carry out an inclusive assessment of the country’s combat preparedness in sensitive areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and in eastern Ladakh at a four-day conference beginning Monday.

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Army chief General MM Naravane will be chairing the Army Commanders’ Conference (ACC), a high-level event which is held biannually where important policies are made and decisions are taken. “The commanders will carry out a comprehensive review of the security challenges facing the nation including the situation in eastern Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir,” news agency PTI said quoting a source.

The commanders will exclusively deliberate on issues relating to human resource management in the Indian Army and will hold an in-depth discussion on Wednesday on various agenda points, according to the report. According to the PTI report, the top commanders will discuss and decide on the pending reform measures such as cutting down on ceremonial practices and non-military activities to make sure resources are distributed in a rational manner.

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The commanders will attempt to finalise different reform measures that are recommended by separate internal committees while at the same time focusing on enhancing the operational capability of the force, the sources told the news agency.

Apart from army commanders, the conference will also be attended by Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) of the Indian Army headquarters and several other senior officers. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh will address the conference on Tuesday, the report said.

Top army officials are also expected to examine a proposal to cut down on the number of security guards assigned at official residences of senior officials. The officials will also study the proposal to reduce the number of CSD canteens if several such facilities are functioning within one station.

The conference comes at a time as the armies of India and China gave deployed thousands of along the LAC after the border standoff that began in early May and escalated in June after 20 Indian Army soldiers were killed in a clash with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The situation in eastern Ladakh continues to remains tense even after several rounds of talks on the military and diplomatic levels.

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