Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi outlined the Army’s transformation into a future-ready force during his visit to Drass in Kargil on the 26th anniversary of Vijay Diwas Saturday.
General Dwivedi announced the establishment of ‘Rudra’ all arms brigades, ‘Bhairav’ light commando battalions, ‘Shaktibaan’ artillery regiments and ‘Divyastra’ batteries, drone-equipped infantry battalions, and indigenous air defence systems.
“Rudra is being established for which I gave an approval yesterday. Under this, we will have infantry, mechanised infantry, armoured units, artillery, special forces and unmanned aerial units at one place to provide logistics and combat support,” he said.
During his address, General Dwivedi referred to Operation Sindoor and said that it was because of the trust of the people and “the strategic independence” extended by the government that the Army gave Pakistan an “organised, accurate and decisive” answer after the Pahalgam attack.
“India proved (in 1999) that no ill intentions will find success within India’s borders. No harm will be allowed against India’s unity and integrity. In continuation of that tradition, the Indian Army displayed the same courage and determination during Operation Sindoor in targeting terrorist infrastructure within Pakistan and achieved a decisive victory by effectively thwarting Pakistan’s aggressive tactics,” he said.
India gave peace a chance but the neighbouring country displayed “cowardice” and Operation Sindoor “was our resolve, message and response” to that, he said. He said that the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 people were killed, left a “deep wound” on the nation but that this time, India did not just mourn their loss but resolved that the response would be decisive.
On the night of May 6 and 7, India attacked nine high-value targets in Pakistan and PoK, “without harming any innocent citizens”, he said.
