Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said that there is no politicisation of the defence forces, which have been apolitical. On Monday, the CDS, General Bipin Rawat, had said that the armed forces stayed away from politics and worked on the directives of the government. Naravane also said that there is scope of decreasing ceremonial activities

NEW DELHI: The appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff is a necessity in ensuring synergy between the defence forces in requirements and cutting redundancies, while also facilitating in creating an Air Defence Command that will combine the air defence setup of these forces, Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said here on Friday. He also added that the army’s new war fighting concept of Integrated Battle Groups will help in creating theatre commands.

Naravane also said that there is no politicisation of the defence forces, which have been apolitical. On Monday, the CDS, General Bipin Rawat, had said that the armed forces stayed away from politics and worked on the directives of the government. On being asked whether it was the army’s mandate to be called in to build civilian bridges like it did at the Elphinstone Road railway station in Mumbai in February 2018, Naravane explained that the army is “of the people and for the people” and there is nothing wrong in it. There was widespread criticism of the army being called in for this task.

Naravane also said that there is scope of decreasing ceremonial activities and there is a need to be more preferential on the army’s approach towards such events. He added that ceremonial activities should be done only on occasions such as Army Day and investiture and not on routine visits. He added that the hierarchy of the three services agree on this. His remarks come after the CDS during his first meeting passed directions to cut ‘infructuous’ ceremonial activities, which are manpower intensive.

When asked for his views on the proposal for creating an Air Defence Command, he said, “It is a good idea. The three services have their own air defence setup and the Air Defence Command will pool in all the resources and provide a holistic view of the air defence umbrella. It indicates the necessity of the appointment of the CDS.”

The CDS during his first meeting had also given directions that a proposal to create an Air Defence Command be prepared by June 30, 2020.

On synergy between the three services, Naravane said, “Everybody has a big wish list...But within allocated resources we need to become more efficient, synergise the requirements of the three services, cut down on redundant things and make our money work for us. If we do that our shortcomings will get resolved. The announcement of the CDS is a step in that direction. He will bring synergy between the three services.”

On Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) and their support to theatre commands, Naravane said, “smaller battle groups will make theatretisation easier.”

Rawat had earlier said that the defence forces don’t need to copy western models of theatre commands and can instead work out a mechanism for establishing such commands that will suit the services to work together.

Meanwhile, Naravane explained that IBGs are required to bring in operational efficiency because of the changes that have happened in technology. He added that the positive spin offs are reduction in the army’s overall strength and better utilisation of funds. He said that conversion of corps sized formations to IBGs will take some time, as units will have to be relocated and officers to be posted there. This transition is expected to happen over one and a half years. He explained that the initial report of the IBG exercise, Him Vijay, of the 17 Mountain Strike Corps in Arunachal Pradesh in October last year was “encouraging”. A lesson learnt was the need for better communications.