New Delhi: Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, while emphasising the need for achieving jointness and integration in the armed forces, has said that each service will “retain its individual identity”, and their best practices will be incorporated.
During an interactive session held at an event here on Saturday, he also cited instances from the recent Operation Sindoor that demonstrated the jointness among the three services -- Army, Navy and the Air Force. He took part in the two-day Indian Military Heritage Festival hosted by the defence think-tank USI, from November 14-15.
During the interaction, centred around his new book -- ‘Ready, Relevant and Resurgent II: Shaping a Future Ready Force’, he hinted that there may be a third volume in the offing, which would also have details related to Operation Sindoor.
Asked about the government’s vision to achieve jointness and integration among the three services of the armed forces, he cited a few examples from the recent military action of India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, and the days that preceded the precision strikes.
On May 7, Indian armed forces struck multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The CDS said, while the efforts are underway in line with the vision of jointness, each service will “retain its individual identity”, as that is important, since they have a specific kind of role, so there is no dilution in it.
“We are trying to take the best practices from each service... not the lowest common denominator, but the highest common factor, we are trying,” he added.
The CDS further said that during the period of April 22-May 7, there was a need to reassess as to what is “our requirement of assets” which had to be moved to the western side, and it required a lot of movement by air.
It was “seamlessly done”, the general officer asserted.
“I didn’t even get to know, neither did the service chiefs, it was done at one-star level (officer),” he said.
The CDS also underlined how, for achieving integration, all the three services have common equipment, such as MRSAMs and BrahMos.
“And, the inventory is available and.. able to speak to each other. So, we are at a particular stage in integration,” he said.
The officer further shared that the Navy also took part in a “couple of these strikes which took place across the border”.
“They used their equipment PALM 400 and PALM 120, which is a loiter munition, which has a very long range, which was available with the Navy.
“Unfortunately, this was not known to the Army and the Air Force. But, it was known to Headquarters IDS, because we integrate things. We offered it to the Army, and the Air Force..it was a joint.. MARCOS went to land borders along with the Air Force and the Army,” he said.