The Army Chief, Gen Dhiraj Seth, on Wednesday stressed the need for speeding up modernisation and laid out five priorities — “VIJAY” — each alphabet of the acronym signifying a priority.

Gen Seth, who took charge on Tuesday, inspected a guard of honour on the lawns of the South Block on Wednesday and then saluted his father, Lt Gen KM Seth (retd), who was present in the audience.

Gen Seth’s tenure as the Army Chief also brings in the first woman ADC, Capt Shivani.

Gen Seth said VIJAY stood for “vigilance; innovation and transformation; jointness and integration; aatmanirbharta; and yodha”. This covers the entire gamut of tasks Gen Seth has laid out for himself and the Army. “Aatmanirbharta” and “yodha” mean self-reliance and soldier.

Military service runs in Gen Seth’s family

Gen Seth’s family also has a deep association with the armed forces. His father, Lt Gen KM Seth (retd), served in the Regiment of Artillery. The Army Chief’s younger brother, Rear Admiral Ravnish Seth, serves in the Navy. An engineer by profession, he is currently posted as Admiral Superintendent of the Naval Ship Repair Yard in Karwar. One of Gen Seth’s two daughters is engaged to Flight Lieutenant Kanishk Malik

Explaining the importance of VIJAY, Gen Seth said the Army would maintain constant vigilance along the borders and against emerging threats. “We will also ensure a high level of operational readiness to respond effectively to any challenge to national security,” he said.

On “innovation and transformation”, Gen Seth said his focus would be on innovation in both doctrine and technological solutions. “Innovation will remain an integral part of our thinking, our systems and our capability development. At the same time, necessary transformations will be undertaken in keeping with the changing character of warfare,” Gen Seth said.

“Jointness and integration” will enhance the operational effectiveness of the Army and maintain complete synergy and coordination with the IAF and the Navy.

On “aatmanirbharta”, Gen Seth said, “With indigenous capabilities and technologies developed within the country, we must build a self-reliant Army. The overall aim will be to win our wars with indigenous solutions.”

On “yodha”, he said, “From Agniveer to the senior-most veteran, each one is a yodha. These yodhas are the greatest strength of our Army. Enhancing the technological threshold and training standards of our soldiers will be among my foremost priorities.”

He said the Army was combat-ready and a battle-hardened force, fully prepared and capable of meeting every challenge in the operational domain. “Our aim is to build a technology-enabled, future-ready Army, which is fully empowered and capable of operating across multiple domains,” he said.

Gen Seth expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for reposing their trust in him and for entrusting him with the responsibility of leading the Army.