Monthly Archives: August 2018

An alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun, and National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, the general is a June 1982-batch officer from the Rajput Regiment and is also the Colonel of the Regime.

An alumnus of RIMC and NDA, Lt Gen C P Mohanty is a June 1982-batch officer from the Rajput Regiment. Express

Lieutenant General C P Mohanty, an infantry officer with varied operational experience including in counter-insurgency environment, assumed command of the Southern Army on Thursday. In a wreath-laying ceremony at the National War Memorial in Pune, he paid tribute to fallen soldiers, followed by a traditional Guard of Honour at the headquarters of the Southern Command.

An alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun, and National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, the general is a June 1982-batch officer from the Rajput Regiment and is also the Colonel of the Regime. During his military career, Gen Mohanty has had vast operational, logistics and administrative experience in varied command and staff appointments. He commanded his battalion in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast, a Mountain Brigade along the Indo-China border and a Mountain Division in counter-insurgency operations in Northeast. Later, he commanded a strategically important corps in the Eastern Theatre after the Doklam incident and also the Uttar Bharat Area at Bareilly.

Gen Mohanty has vast overseas experience of commanding a multinational brigade in the Republic of Congo, and also as the Military Adviser to the Government of Seychelles. He has held important staff appointments in an Armoured Brigade and Military Secretary Branch, besides being the Director General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army).

On the academic front, he has an MPhil and a management degree and has researched extensively on China, South Asia and northeast India, making him a domain expert of these regions. He is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, and also an alumnus of National Defence College, Delhi.

The celebrations will culminate on February 1, when Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Naravane is slated to attend the function.

Bombay Engineer Group, also known as the Bombay Sappers, is a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army located at Khadki in Pune.

THE EVER-modernising engineering forces will remain crucial to future warfare, said Commandant of College of Military Engineering Lieutenant General Michael Mathews, at the occasion to mark 200 years of the Bombay Sappers.

Bombay Engineer Group, also known as the Bombay Sappers, is a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army located at Khadki in Pune. The Group is completing 200 years in service this month. The bicentenary celebration commenced in style on Thursday with a para adventure display, including para drop, skydiving and para motors display by serving officers, troops and veterans and teams of Army Adventure Wing. The celebrations will culminate on February 1, when Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Naravane is slated to attend the function.

Lt Gen Mathews, who is also the seniormost officer of the Bombay Sappers, addressed the media on the sidelines of the para drop display.

“Sappers have key roles to play. One is to deny the enemy the mobility by laying mines and other obstacles. The other role is to facilitate and increase mobility when we go for an offensive, and that is by building helipads, tracks, bridges. The relevance of engineering elements in warfare is going to stay, irrespective of the form it takes. The process of modernisation is always on and we too keep evolving. In modern warfare, elements of Artificial Intelligence and robotics are bound to be there. Just as an example, in the College of Engineering, there are in-depth courses of subjects, so that we are ready for future security challenges. The practical application of AI and robotics is focused in these courses,” he said.

The para drop display event commenced with the para motors show by the Army Adventure Wing Parachute team from Parachute Regiment Training Centre, Bengaluru. This was followed by the para jump, in which senior serving officers and veterans took part. Some prominent names included Major General S K Jaswal (Retired); Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning and Systems) Lt Gen S S Hasabnis; General Officer Commanding of the Sudarshan Chakra Corps Lt Gen Yogendra Dimri; and Commandant Bombay Engineer Group and Centre, Khadki, Brigadier MJ Kumar. The event culminated with a skydiving display by Lt Gen R R Goswami (Retired) and Brig S R Mazagaonkar (Retired), among the pioneers in skydiving in India.

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Doda, January 29

Doda took the lead this Republic Day to show residents’ unique style of patriotism towards the country, as two national flags were hoisted by the Indian Army on the old bridge of Pul Doda over the Chenab.

This was a unique gift given to the entire Chenab valley by the Army when, early on the morning of January 26, soldiers of the 10 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) hoisted the two national flags on the bridge and dedicated these to the people of Doda.

The bridge, made of wood and ropes, was closed to vehicular traffic after a concrete bridge was constructed over the river in early 1990s and now stands as a heritage site for posterity. The two national flags, 44-foot-high, are aloft the bridge on both banks of the Chenab, depicting the uniqueness of the 71st Republic Day.

The installation of the flags on the bridge was not an easy task for the Army as it had to manually construct the pillars and hoist the flags without the help of any crane or earthmoving machinery.

“It took one week for the Army to work on the old bridge and erect the poles without any use of modern-day technology. Due to the bad weather prevailing for a fortnight, there was no availability of cranes and latest machines in Doda, Batote, Udhampur and Kishtwar. Undeterred by the challenge, the Army decided to meet the deadline at any cost. Soldiers of the 10 RR, stationed in Doda, improvised methods and worked very hard to finally complete the work for the grand Indian Flags on both sides of the bridge on Pul Doda,” an officer of the Army said.

“The grand flags will make every passenger proud each time they pass through Pul Doda and fill their hearts with patriotism,” he added.

“LoC incidents have increased as (Pak) under pressure, they have lost Kashmir,” Naravane said.

CRPF personnel at the Latasil ground in Guwahati where artists, sculptors and others took part in a protest against the new citizenship law on Wednesday. (Express photo by Dasarath Deka)

The Army plans to draw down all its regular forces deployed in counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism and internal security duties from the North-East in the next 18-24 months, to focus on conventional warfare, said Army Chief General M M Naravane.

He said that two battalions have already been taken off from such duties and the next drawdown will happen after the Bodoland elections in Assam are completed in June-July this year.

“The North-East is going through a very transitional phase, for the good. The security situation is improving as shown by the recent surrender of 600 members of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and other groups. We are working on a plan for the next 18-24 months on how to draw down regular forces from CI/CT/ internal security duties there,” General Naravane told The Indian Express.

“Two battalions have already been taken off. Once Bodoland elections are done in June-July and situation stabilises, we will release more troops,” he said.

“We will be committed fully on our long-term objective to focus on conventional warfare.”

Asked if a similar drawdown was the plan for the Kashmir Valley as well, the Army Chief said: “As I have said even earlier, the primary task is conventional warfare and that is our long-term goal. CI/CT is a short-term and immediate goal. We have not lost sight of long-term goal while focusing on short-term goals.”

He said that the number of ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan have spiked post August 5 when Article 370 was abrogated by the Centre and the state was split.

“Attempts are being made for terror activities (by Pakistan).Incidents on the LoC have increased as they are under pressure that they have lost Kashmir. It is desperation on their part as situation is better in Kashmir. Stonepelting, ambushes, IEDs. all the incidents have come down.”

General Naravane said that the XVII Corps (Panagarh in West Bengal) and IX Corps (Yol, near Dharamsala) have been selected as the one where Integrated Battle Group (IBG) model of restructuring is being first employed. It will, thereafter, be implemented in other corps, as it “lends itself to wars of the future” and also “lends itself to theatrisation”.

The Army Chief said the Army has sent its budgetary requirements and “the government will look into all aspects in light of the prevailing security situation and we are quite confident that we will get what we need to keep the nation safe and secure.”

“…Whatever the Budget, we will continue to be modernised and be operationally prepared,” General Naravane stressed.

He said that rebalancing of the Army towards the China border should be seen in the larger perspective, “and not merely in terms of numbers.”

“Quality is the focus and there is a lot of capacity building that we are doing. It is not that it wasn’t happening earlier, it was always happening. Different priorities are given in LTIPP (Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan). we are modifying our operational plans, and for plans to be successful, backend is being put in place.”

Citing the example of better infrastructure, including more roads towards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, he said that the closer these roads are to the LAC, the more can be the frequency of patrolling as time for each patrol will reduce. This will “allow us to dominate the area in a more effective manner”.

The Army Chief said that the need for rebalancing towards China border was done “to ensure peace, we have to be prepared for war. we have to be ready to take certain actions when time comes. We have to be prepared.”

He also said that the repeat order for six Apache attack helicopters for the Army is being discussed and these negotiations are likely to be completed by mid-year.