Rajnath Singh to attend Army Commanders' Conference in Gangtok

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Gangtok on Friday, the first day of his two-day visit to Sikkim, to address the Army Commanders' Conference 2024.

The Defence Minister will deliver a keynote address to the Army's senior leadership and will be briefed on the emerging security challenges and the response of the Force in the security domain.

The conference will serve as a forum for Senior Commanders to review current operational preparedness, deliberate on critical strategies and outline future directives.

The Defence Minister will also celebrate Vijaya Dashmi with the armed forces personnel.

"I shall be reaching Gangtok today on a two day visit to Sikkim. Looking forward to address the Army Commanders’ Conference and also celebrate Vijaya Dashmi with the armed forces personnel," the Defence Minister remarked on his social media X on Friday.

To tackle the Nation's numerous regional security challenges, the Conference is scheduled to commence in Sikkim on Friday. Conducting the conference of Senior Commanders at a forward location underlines the Indian Army's focus on ground realities.

"The Second Army Commanders' Conference for the year 2024 will be organised in a hybrid mode, with the first Phase planned for Friday 10-11 October 2024 in a forward location at Gangtok. In the second phase, the senior hierarchy of the Indian Army will congregate in Delhi on 28-29 October 2024," said the Ministry of Defence earlier on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Defence, critical national security issues and strategic aspects aimed at sharpening the Indian Army's warfighting capabilities will be discussed in the first phase of the conference.

Major issues such as the growing importance of a multi-pronged national security strategy that incorporates integration of Civil-Military Fusion and the Diplomatic, Information, Military, and Economic (DIME) pillars to counter contemporary threats besides the need for developing low-cost technologies and alternate strategies to counter the rapidly evolving character of warfare, will be discussed during the two-day session.