Upendra Dwivedi: Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi remarked that Pakistan has been told clearly to rein in its drone activities after multiple aerial intrusions were noticed by India.
Dwivedi added that India is looking at the creation of a rocket-cum-missile force to boost the efficiency of its combat capabilities with state-of-the-art weapons that can hit targets at different ranges.
Briefing ahead of the 78th Army Day on January 15, Dwivedi remarked the faster India organizes complementing rockets and missiles, the better it will be for the efficiency of our combat capabilities.
Asim Munir On the Backfoot
General Asim Munir, the Pakistan Army Chief, is facing mounting pressure – internally and externally – as India’s top general spotlights repeated drone violations. The fiery rhetoric of Dwivedi paints Asim Munir as the architect of a shadow war, cornering Munir between domestic unrest and international scrutiny. Iran unrest, Balochistan extremists, the growing popularity and emergence of India as a world superpower, high inflation and not many buyers for Pakistani F-17 fighter jets are putting Munir on the backfoot.
Upendra Dwivedi-New Force
The Army Chief said the new force may be built around a series of weapons including long-range Pinaka rockets with a range of 120 kilometres, some rockets with ranges of 150-400 kilometres, BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, Pralay missiles and other weapon systems.
On Tuesday, the Indian director general of military operations had a word with his Pakistani counterpart in the context of unacceptable drone intrusions. Hours after his comments, a few drones were noticed in Jammu that triggered fire by Indian Army. On Monday night, a suspected drone from Pakistan was also noticed in Jaisalmer.
Dwivedi remarked that Pakistan generally fears that the army of India may take some action between January 15 (Army Day) and January 26 (Republic Day).
New Army Structures
The Army Chief also remarked that the Indian Army has created and re-oriented new structures. It now has Bhairav battalions for agility and disruptive effect, Rudra brigades for high-tempo multi-domain ops and Shaktibaan regiments and Divyastra batteries of artillery will leverage UAS/C-UAS (unmanned aerial systems/counter-UAS) for real-time targeting and extended reach. Dwivedi also remarked that Ashni platoons and other organizations on the design board will enhance surveillance, precision and strike options at the tactical level.
Dwivedi added 31 government sanction letters were approved in the last 15 months by the Union Government to bring a series of organizational changes in the Indian Army, including the raising of aviation brigades and integrated battle groups.