By: Lt Col JS Sodhi (Retd), Editor, GSDN

General Manoj Pande, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army, brought to fore new domains of war, when he addressed the Faculty and Student Officers of the Indian Armed Forces and 36 Officers from foreign nations, in an address to the 79^th Staff Course on April 08, 2024 in the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India. In his address the Indian Army Chief spoke of new domains of war including space, cyber, electromagnetic spectrum and information technology.

General Manoj Pande, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC assumed the command of the 12 lakhs (1.2 million) strong Indian Army as its 29^th COAS on May 01, 2022 retires on June 30, 2024 after 42 years of distinguished service. He has the distinction of having overseen various important transformations and transfigurations in the world’s most professionally sound army that is well-known the world over for its valour and competency.

Soon after assuming command of the world’s third largest army, the Agnipath Scheme was launched by the Government of India, with the aim of making the Indian Armed Forces to have a younger age profile of its soldiers.

The Agnipath Scheme which entailed changes in the training syllabus of the recruits before they were attested/affirmed as soldiers in the Indian Army was a challenging task as almost after decades, the training syllabus of the soldiers had to be compressed within a shorter time duration, yet at the same time ensuring that there was no compromise on the quality in the training of soldiers. This was done by the deep and dedicated involvement of the COAS who with his immense contact with troops starting from the time he was commissioned as an Officer in the Bombay Sappers, Corps of Engineers and thereafter having commanded every possible level of command in the Indian Army, knew the pulse of training, combat and welfare completely.

Also, when General Manoj Pande assumed command of the Indian Army, the Galwan Valley Clash that had happened in June 2020 between China and India, was nearly two-years old. The tensions and turbulence between India and China showed no signs of abating despite eight rounds of Corps Commander-level talks between the two nations taking place after May 2022 and a total of 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks happening between India and China since the Galwan Valley Clash of 2020.

It was in this backdrop that the Army Chief declared 2023 as the Year of Transformation and 2024 as the Year of Technology Absorption for the Indian Army. These are right steps indeed by the General Officer in view of the changed nuances of modern warfare in which both the methodology and technology is seeing a transformational change.

The COAS has also played a pivotal role in speeding up the process for the reorganisation of the Indian Armed Forces into Integrated Theatre Commands by ensuring that the inputs of the Indian Army were submitted in time for this massive over-haul which will add impetus to the military preparedness of the nation.

The timely inputs of the Indian Army be it for the enactment of the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act, 2024 which was notified on May 10, 2024 or to the 12 sub-committees constituted for different domains and aspects towards jointness and integration, were submitted under the stewardship of General Manoj Pande at the helm of the affairs. The constitution of the Integrated Theatre Commands for the Indian Armed Forces is a matter of time and the announcement of the same is expected in due course.

Thus, General Manoj Pande is his tenure of two years will be remembered in the annals of history for having put the Indian Army on a transformational path with a combination of technological and tactical advancements, which will increase the military prowess of the Indian Army in the times ahead.

Thank you, General Manoj Pande, for the yeoman service rendered to our respected Motherland, for it is because of such professionally sound and humane Officers like you, that the Indian Army has always emerged victorious from any war, counter insurgency operations and aid to civil authorities.