Indian Army to review recent developments in Pakistan and China

The recent developments in Pakistan and rise in incidents of Islamic extremism there will be one the major focus during the four-day conference of Indian Army Commanders, beginning here from Tuesday.

By Sudhakar Jagdish

New Delhi, Oct 22 : The recent developments in Pakistan and rise in incidents of Islamic extremism there will be one the major focus during the four-day conference of Indian Army Commanders, beginning here from Tuesday.

The rise of Taliban and al-Qaida in the immediate neighbourhood would be reviewed, and a holistic assessment of the security environment and situation in Jammu and Kashmir will be part of the agenda of the conference, which will be chaired by Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor.

The conference would also focus on "growing military capabilities" of China and recent reports of Chinese intrusion in Bhutan will also be discussed, a senior official of the Indian Army said.

There were concerns in Indian administration over the Chinese intrusion in Bhutan that took place in the area adjoining Tibet. Bhutan and China share close to 500 kilometres long border but have no diplomatic relations between them.

The delay in the planned joint military exercise with China would also come up for discussion. India and China had earlier agreed to conduct a joint exercise that was expected to be held in October, 2007.

However, the exercise has been delayed, as China is yet to send their officials to New Delhi for planning the army exercise.

Security experts in New Delhi have noted the recent reports of China's growing military capabilities, including more number of Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines SSBNs that were spotted earlier this year.

With the issue of force modernisation also topping the agenda during the conference, commanders would be also deliberating on the Army's Space Vision 2020.

"The Army realizes the importance of space as a vital arena for future exploitation and has already established a 'Space Cell' in the Army Head Quarter to coordinate space based applications in a joint services operational environment," a release issued by the Indian Army stated.

The deliberations during the conference will be aimed at ratifying the Army's space philosophy; concept of utilization of space at tactical, operational and strategic levels, desired operational capabilities and related ground and space assets, officials said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will also address the Combined Commanders' Conference scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

Top officials of the Indian Navy will also be engaging in a review of a wide variety of issues, including logistics, naval architecture, training and operations, in a separate three day-long conference beginning Tuesday, which will be presided over by Chief Of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta.

ANI