Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 31: In path breaking initiative, Western Command of the Army has launched first-ever high level group on defence, strategic affairs studies, guidance and national security issues including strategy on the borders, hinterland and all such related issues. Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag has approved constitution of the group.
Sources told the Excelsior that Army has requested Chief Ministers and Governors of three States to accord partnership and contribute to the initial corpus. The three States included Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, bordering Jammu and Kashmir. A similar call was likely to be made to the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after the oath ceremony.
The Western Command covers all these four States including three strategic and sensitive districts of Jammu and Kashmir-Jammu, Samba and Kathua, which have borders with Pakistan.
Western Command chief Lt Gen KJ Singh while announcing the initiative today said that there were a number of strategic affairs think tanks like United Service Institution, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, Centre for Land Welfare Studies, Vivekananda International Foundation and Observer Research foundation in the National Capital Region (NCR) but remaining part of Northern India was devoid of any such institutions.
“The idea behind conceptualizing this `Think Tank’ is to attract leading strategic thinkers, defence analysts, scholars and academicians and provide them a platform to deliberate on strategic and national security issues,” sources said.
They added that the Western Command has also reached out to various Universities in the region to seek collaborative research with Departments of Defence Studies as also to jointly hold seminars and lectures.
“The Governors and Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have also been requested to accord partnership and contribute to the initial corpus,” sources said.
However, they pointed out that since there was no Chief Minister in Jammu and Kashmir at present as the State was under the Governor’s rule, the Command was likely to approach the State Chief Minister as and when the vacancy was filled for similar cooperation.
Sources said the new initiative would go long way in defence and strategic studies in sensitive border States like Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab as both these States have International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
Sources said Western Command chief Lt Gen KJ Singh announced soft launch of the initiative during a talk by Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi, former Vice Chief of Army Staff on Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The Army Commander has reached out to the veterans towards making this endeavour a success. The idea was presented to the Chief of Army Staff Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag during the latter’s recent visit to Chandi Mandir, Chandigarh, the Headquarters of Western Command, who also commended it.
According to sources, the strategic affairs has been a major issue in the border State of Jammu and Kashmir in view of long boundary with Pakistan and China. Defence and strategic experts can contribute a lot in developing strategy and other kind of similar affairs.
“It was in view of this that the Army has come up with a novel idea of constituting high level Group on strategic and defence affairs,” they said.
According to sources, the troops were confident that the new idea held in strategic affairs with the cooperation of defence experts and Chief Ministers and Governors of the States.
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