Referring to the ‘Operation Snow Leopard’ that was launched by the Indian Army against Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh), the Northern Army Commander Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi on Friday said that the valuable lessons of the Operation have been fully assimilated and fused into our capacities with respect to swift mobilisation, appropriate force posturing and infrastructure development in synergy with the other two Services, Central Armed Police Forces and Civil Administration.

However, there is still more that needs to be done considering the dynamics exhibited in terms of differing perceptions on the LAC.

Lt. General Dwivedi was speaking at the inaugural function of the “North Tech Symposium 2022” at Udhampur. The seminar is being conducted with the theme “Self Reliance in Defence through
Atmanirbharta and Infusion of New Technologies to meet Operational Challenges of Northern Command”.

The Northern Army Commander said; “Thus, at all times we need to be geared up and battle-hardened to counter the dynamic operational situations and challenges and come out as winners”.

“This needs adaptability of our troops to the ever-changing battlefield environment as well as adoption of innovative solutions to surprise the adversary, gain ascendancy over him and be always a step ahead in cognitive, virtual and physical space”.

Northern Command exemplifies the notion of the “Two and a Half Front”. With its unique frontiers and varied terrain ranging from plains to Super High Altitude, as also the normal to extreme weather and climatic conditions with temperatures going to as low as minus 50 to 70 degrees.

The “eyeball to eyeball” deployment ranging from the plains of Jammu to the Siachen Glacier and further to Eastern Ladakh, and the dynamic internal security situation in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir make Northern Command the most unique theatre. Ever since the raising, Northern Command has been “Always in Combat”, he said.

The intervening period has made us realise the importance of Raksha Atmanirbharta or Self-Reliance in Defence Manufacturing. A large number of initiatives have been undertaken by the Government to give the requisite impetus to the domestic Defence Industry with a view to attain self-reliance.

He welcomed the Indian Defence Industry, DRDO, DPSUs, Academia, HQ IDS, Army HQ, HQ ARTRAC, other Commands and Cat A Ests that are participating in the seminar.

Ministry of Defence has set a target for indigenous defence manufacture of items worth USD 25 Billion (Rs 1.75 lakhs cr) including an export target of USD 5 Billion (Rs 35000 cr) by 2025.

The primary objective of the symposium is to bridge the gap between user requirement of critical defence products/ technologies and the capabilities of Indian OEMs / vendors to address the same through their products, leading to speedier procurement by Northern Command through ACSFP and product improvement through OCPP.

The solutions that we seek with respect to the border guarding and internal security challenges will lead to operational convergence of CAPFs such as BSF, CRPF, ITBP and State Police co-employed within the Northern Command, he added.