Itanagar, May 18 (Representative) Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt General (Retd) KT Parnaik has said that the Indian Armed Forces which continue to play a pivotal role in nation building have emerged as a national symbol of integrity and resilience. Participating in the Lt General PS Bhagat Memorial Lecture at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi on Friday, the Governor delivered a talk on the topic ‘Armed Forces contributions to realise the vision of a Rising India’. In his talk, he said the rising India would heavily be dependent on a strong professional Armed Force. Recollecting the vision of Viksit Bharat, Parnaik emphasised that the transformation of the Armed Forces hinges on force structuring and optimization, modernization and technology infusion, human resource management and jointness and integration. He elaborated on the kind of niche disruptive technologies, which are transforming and revolutionising warfare in a big way, i.e. focusing on kinetic and non-kinetic realms of modern warfare which needs to be embedded in comprehensive national power. With his prior experience of having handled transformation of Indian Army as the Director General Perspective Plans and handled operations on Northern & Eastern borders, the Governor outlined the important operational, training, humanitarian and diplomatic activities which could contribute to realising the vision of Rising India.
Parnaik stressed the need to review the doctrines and philosophies to combat modern warfare and the need to ameliorate the leadership patterns by the Armed Forces. The Governor said that the Armed Forces should be the biggest catalyst to facilitate the country to become a developed nation. He suggested finer points of transformation of the Armed Forces according to the changing face of warfare evolution, mandatory endeavours towards self-reliance through industry integration, infusion of latest disruptive and Grey Zone technologies to counter cyber warfare, far-sighted perception management and integration of population from far-flung areas with the mainstream India in the spirit of ‘Nation First’. Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Manoj Pande, Director General, United Service Institution of India (USI), Major General BK Sharma, and Director, Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation, USI, Major General RS Yadav also participated in the Lecture. A film on Lt General PS Bhagat was screened and a book titled ‘The Victoria Cross Icon: Vision and Legacy’, authored by Major General (Retd) SG Pitre, was launched on the occasion. A number of former Chiefs, senior serving and retired officers attended the lecture.