Thanjavur (TN), January 20

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Monday said it was very difficult to predict if a scenario of a war with Pakistan would emerge or not but all the defence services were prepared to take on any challenge.

The top general, who inducted the Sukhoi-30 MKI squadron here, was responding to a question about any possibility of a war emerging between India and Pakistan.

“All the defence services are tasked to be prepared for any option that may emerge. It is very difficult to predict a scenario. But, we are always prepared for any task that may be assigned to us,” Gen Rawat said.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) said his new role was aimed at integrating defence systems and the three services (the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force).

It was for this reason the post of CDS was created, he said.

“…we will keep moving towards better integration and jointness,” Rawat, who was appointed the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff on December 30 last year, added.

On strengthening the Air base here, Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria said it will undertake the role of the southern peninsula’s air defence.

The Indian Air Force commissioned a squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI at the Air Force Station here, the first such base in south India for the high-profile fighter jets, seen as a game changer in guarding the strategically important Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

The ‘Tigersharks’ squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI jets integrated with the BrahMos cruise missiles was inducted in the presence of the Air Chief and top officials.

The Su-30 MKI is a state-of-the-art all weather multi-role fighter aircraft capable of undertaking varied air defence, ground attack and maritime missions.

Rawat also downplayed the question of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and said every nation looked at its security from a strategic perspective.

Gen Rawat, answering a question on how Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean posed a threat to India, said every nation looked at its security from a stratgeic perspective.

While the squadron here is expected to give a thrust to India’s capabilities for dominance especially in the IOR, China’s presence in the same region is on the rise.

The Dragon nation already has a military base at the strategically located Djibouti at the horn of Africa, its first in a foreign nation, and it is also looking at expanding its presence.

“Every nation looks at its security from a strategic perspective. Oceans are meant for freedom of navigation. And therefore wherever you find any country which has interest in a particular area, it will attempt to come to that area to dominate the area more so for the freedom of navigation,” he told reporters.

Further, pointing to aspects like protection of trade in sea routes by any country, he said: “Therefore, I don’t think we should look at it particularly from that perspective (a pointer to perceived threat from China).” Also, he said the navies were operating in this area (indicating IOR) only because of freedom of navigation.

The top general also referred to facets like piracy that can disrupt movement of merchant ships. — PTI