PM Modi to address top military leadership in Gujarat today, his first since standoff with China

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address at the Combined Commander's Conference in Gujarat’s Kevadia on Saturday which will also see the participation of jawans and junior commissioned officers (JCOs) for the first time.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a conference of the county’s top military leadership in Gujarat’s Kevadia on Saturday (March 6) which will also see the participation of jawans and junior commissioned officers (JCOs) for the first time.

The three-day Combined Commander's Conference (CCC) started on Thursday. NSA Ajit Doval, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M.M. Naravane, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and senior officials of the Defence Ministry and the armed forces will be present at the conference.

The agenda of the meet is to review the working of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), from the unification of the three armies and the creation of theater command.

The annual Combined Commanders Conference was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2014, the CCC meet had taken place for the first time, it was only then that the three forces suggested the conference to be moved out of Delhi. 

The meet is taking place at a time when India and China are engaged in talks on disengagement of troops after around nine months of confrontation in eastern Ladakh.

A border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers and heavy weaponry at the border.