Rawat: Army better prepared at Pak, China borders today

Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane on Tuesday took over as India’s 28th Army Chief, succeeding Gen. Bipin Rawat, who has been appointed the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff. Gen. Rawat will take charge as CDS on Wednesday.

This will be the first time that the country has two serving four-star generals.

Soon after taking charge, Gen. Naravane talked tough on Pakistan, saying that the Army was ready to deal with any terrorist trying to cross the Line of Control into Kashmir. “Our neighbour is trying to use terrorism as a tool of state policy, as a way of carrying out a proxy war against us, while maintaining deniability. However, this state can’t last long, as they say you can’t fool all the people, all the time,” he said.

Gen. Naravane said that the Army was aware there are terrorists on the other side in launchpads waiting to cross over, “but we are fully prepared to meet this threat” as the Army has a strong anti-terrorism grid.

Gen. Rawat, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that the force was “better prepared” to face any challenge that may come up at India’s borders with Pakistan and China.  He said he had focused on restructuring and modernising the Army. “My focus was on Army re-structuring, weapon systems modernisation, and on non-contact warfare,”
said Gen. Rawat.

Gen. Naravane, who was vice-chief of the Army, did his schooling at Dnayana Prabodhinee Prashala, Pune. He was commissioned into 7th Battalion, Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, in June 1980.  He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

In a distinguished military career spanning almost four decades, he has the distinction of heading key command and staff appointments in peacetime and in the field both in the Northeast and Kashmir. He had been a part of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force in Sri Lanka during Operation Pawan. He commanded 2nd Battalion, Rashtriya Rifles (Sikh Light Infantry), 106 Infantry Brigade, was inspector-general, Assam Rifles (North), based in Kohima, Nagaland and commanded 2 Corps. He was also GOC-in-C, Eastern Command.

He had the privilege of leading the Republic Day parade in 2017 in his capacity as GOC, Delhi Area.