PM Modi to address top military commanders in Kevadia in March

NEW DELHI: For the first time in his second tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the top commanders of the three defence forces at the Combined Commanders' Conference at Kevadia in Gujarat in the first week of March.

"The Combined Commanders' Conference 2021 is scheduled to be held at Kevadia in Gujarat. The Prime Minister would be addressing the top commanders of the Indian Army, Air Force and the Navy at the event and is expected to give directions to the defence forces for being prepared for the challenges in the near and distant future," government sources told ANI.

The Commanders' Conference is attended by the Commander-in-Chief rank officers of the three services and the tri-services organisations such as the Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters, Strategic Forces Command and the Port Blair-based Andaman and Nicobar Command.

The conference to be held in Kevadia would also see the participation of the Chief of Defence Staff-- a post which was created soon after the government came to power in 2019 as one of the first major military reforms.

During the event, presentations are expected to be given to the Prime Minister regarding the progress made in the field of the creation of theatre commands.

As per plans, the Defence Ministry would be creating the Air Defence Command as the first step towards restructuring of defence forces in the country.

The Prime Minister is also expected to be briefed on the restructuring of the Army formations in view of the recent Chinese aggression in the Ladakh sector.

While attempts were made by the Chinese Army to alter the status quo in Sikkim and other areas around the same time but the Eastern Command was able to push them back in areas such as Naku La.

Lieutenant General Anil Kumar Chauhan is the Eastern Army Commander.

The Defence Ministry has plans of creating the Air Defence, Maritime and Logistics command along with the area-specific commands comprising of elements from all three services.

In the Combined Commander's Conference held in Jodhpur, the government had also cleared the creation of the Defence Cyber Agency and Defence Space Agency along with their research components.

The Prime Minister may also be briefed on the progress made by the different agencies created for catering to the warfare in cyber and space domains.

Kevadia is a small town in Gujarat famous for the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's giant statue also known as the 'Statue of Unity'.

A number of major conferences have been held there in recent times including that of top police officers and Parliament.