Indian Army swears allegiance to Constitution and values enshrined in it: General Manoj Mukund Naravane

The Indian Army is much better prepared today than before, Gen Narvane said on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that today the country's armed forces are better prepared than before to meet any challenges and they will continue to train themselves for future warfare.'

"Indian Army is prepared to deal with challenges along the northern border. Men behind the machine matter the most. We will make sure that our men get the best and we will look into all their aspirations, needs," General MM Naravane said at a press conference in the national capital.

During his press briefing, General Narvane stressed that ''as the Army, we swear allegiance to the Constitution of India...Justice, liberty, equality and fraternity enshrined in the Constitution should guide us." 

General Naravane's statement comes days after his predecessor, General Bipin Rawat, created controversy over his criticism of those leading protests against the amended citizenship law. "Leaders are not those who lead people in inappropriate directions, as we are witnessing in a large number of university and college students, the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in our cities and towns. This is not leadership," General Rawat had said last month.

Gen Naravane also touched upon various issues concerning the Indian Army and said, ''There is a shortage of officers but it is not because there is lack of people applying for it. We have not lowered the standards for selection of officers in the force.''

He said this while replying to a question on the shortage of officers in the force.

To a question, if Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) can be part of India as stated by political leadership, the Army chief said, ''There is a parliamentary resolution that entire J&K is part of India. If Parliament wants it, then, that area (PoK) also should belong to us. When we get orders to that effect, we'll take appropriate action.''

Addressing the threat posed by Pakistan Army and terrorists to India, the Army Chief said, ''LoC is very active. Intelligence alerts are received on a daily basis and they are looked into very seriously. Due to this alertness, we have been able to foil these actions known as BAT actions.''

With regard to developing greater coordination between the armies of India and China, General Naravane said, ''There will soon be a hotline between Indian Director General Military Operations and the Chinese Western Command.''

The Army Chief also hailed the Centre's move to create the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as a ''very big step towards the integration among the three services.''

''The formation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of Department of Military Affairs is a very big step towards integration and we, on our part, will make sure that this is a success,'' the Army Chief said. 

On induction of female soldiers in the Indian Army, gen Narvane said, ''From January 6, the training of the first batch of 100 female jawans has started for being inducted into military police.''

While shifting his focus to various complaints against Army officers deployed in Kashmir Valley, General Narvane said, ''The judgement call of the commander on ground has to be respected. All the complaints that have been filed have proved to be unfounded.''

General Naravane said that Siachen is very important to the country where one formation is looking after western and northern fronts. It is strategically important. It is from there where collusion can happen.

Replying to a question on Army's preparedness in view of shortages cited earlier by the Army Vice-Chief two years ago, he said, ''The Indian Army much better prepared today than before.''

On the recent killing of two unarmed civilians by the Pakistan Army in Poonch sector of J&K, General Narvane said, ''We do not resort to such barbaric activities and fight as a very professional force. We will deal appropriately with such situations in a military manner.''