STATE TIMES NEWS
Udhampur: The Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi said that two-day tech symposium here from Friday will pave the way to identify suitable technologies and products for subsequent trials and induction into armed forces operating in Northern Command.
‘High standard of operational preparedness needs to be maintained along LAC’
Over 160 top companies will be showcasing their products in defence, surveillance and security sectors at the North Tech Symposium to be held at Udhampur from May 6 to enhance the Atmanirbhharta’ drive of the Indian government in defence technology.
Northern Tech Symposium 2022 is being organised on May 6 and 7 at Udhampur by the Army at Northern Command in its bid to promote make in India’ initiative in defence technology, Northern Command defence spokesperson Colonel Abhinav Navneet said. The Northern Command will be looking for drone and anti-drone technology, robotics and artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality, fire power, security solutions, disruptive technologies, individual force protection and habitat and medical innovations in this tech symposium, Lieutenant General Dwivedi said.
“The symposium will pave the way to identify suitable technologies and products for subsequent trials and induction into Northern Command, as also facilitate defence industry interface with the field army to orient their products towards specific operational requirements”, he said in an interview to PTI on Wednesday.
Asked about the focus of the symposium, he said that it is a unique technology demonstration platform aimed at knowledge diffusion on contemporary military technologies and providing the avenues for procurement. “The broad theme for the symposium is Raksha Atmanirbharta in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Our defence industry has shown remarkable progress in the field of defence manufacturing in past few years and this symposium is a step to give it a further boost”, the Army commander said.
He said that close linkages between armed forces, defence industry and academia will propel the efforts of Raksha Atmanirbharta in the right direction. “The symposium serves to showcase cutting-edge technologies and innovative products providing solutions to complex challenges faced by the Northern Command”, he added.
Dwivedi said that it will enable all ranks to enhance their technological knowledge and threshold for conduct of efficient and smooth operational and technological solutions to enhance all weather surveillance, ensure force protection and develop own fire power and mobility.
“With the rapid transformation of technology in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence, the situation demands that the focus of the symposium be also on these shifting trends, in order to achieve cutting edge over our adversaries,” he said. Army commander said that Northern Command is the operationally most active command of the Indian Army.
It is actively facing the challenges on the Western borders along the Line of Control, the Northern borders along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh, and is also responsible for the internal security in the hinterland of J-K”, he said.
He said that the symposium will help in mutual exchange of ideas between the defence industry and Army with respect to induction of currently available products and sensitise the industry with respect to the future needs.
“Interaction between defence industry and Army is critical for achieving higher degree of self-reliance. This way, the industry gets to know about the customization needs of the Army”, Lt Gen Dwivedi said.
In reply to another question about the types of technology needed for most sensitive northern operation theatre, he said that the Northern Command area of operations being highly varied, poses various challenges to the troops in terms of enhanced fire power, mobility, force protection, Electronic Warfare, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.
“Hence, any technological solution or product which can obviate these challenges is welcome. Of particular interest to the Northern Command are drone and anti-drone technology, robotics and artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality, fire power, security solutions, disruptive technologies, individual force protection and habitat and medical innovations”, he added.
Northern Army Commander also said that the actions by PLA along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) gave the Indian forces an opportunity to build their capacities and asserted that a high standard of operational preparedness needs to be maintained at all times along the border in Ladakh.
Lt Gen Dwivedi, who was referring to the clash between the Indian soldiers and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, also said that People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) aggression in eastern Ladakh was met with “swift mobilization and appropriate force posturing”.
“Given the nature of challenges faced by Northern Command, a high standard of operational preparedness needs to be maintained at all times (along LAC in eastern Ladakh),” Lt Gen Dwivedi said.
The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Army’s Northern Command (GOC-in-C) was replying to a question about the multi-sectorial challenges being faced by Northern Command for years.
He said that the Army is looking at enhancing its technological threshold in different areas of operational preparedness. “To sustain these levels of preparedness, we are looking at Atmanirbharta’ or self-reliance to provide the solutions,” he said.
The border row between India and China erupted in May 2020 and the stand-off escalated on June 15, when troops from the two sides clashed in Galwan Valley near Patrol Point 14.
The Army commander saw an opportunity in this aggression to buildup capacities and boost up defence preparedness along LAC.
“While the actions by PLA created an adverse situation temporarily, we took it as an opportunity to build our capacities, review our plans in light of the new realities about how PLA treats the LAC, enhanced our mobilization capacities, boosted our defence preparedness and brought about a shift in the overall response dynamics,” the GOC-in-C said.
Despite existing agreements and protocols, PLA’s aggression in Eastern Ladakh and attempt to surprise us were met with swift mobilization and appropriate force posturing, duly synergised with the other two Services, he said.
“Our speedy buildup of military infrastructure and logistics, indomitable spirit of our soldiers and astute leadership of commanders at all levels are of very high standards”, he said, adding all this together has exemplified Indian Army as a powerful and modern military.
