The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Stress on importance of combined defence services at seminar

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Friday, Nov 24, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Stress on importance of combined defence services at seminar

Staff Reporter

Serving and ex-officers of Army, Air Force, Navy attend meet

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Former Naval chief Admiral Arun Prakash (left) with former Army Chief Gen. K.V. Krishna Rao at a seminar in Hyderabad on Wednesday as former GOC Lt. Gen. S.S. Mehta and Commandant of CDM P.K. Mahajan look on. - PHOTO: SATISH H.

HYDERABAD: Uniformity in opinion about the concept of combined defence services was missing within the armed forces. While the middle and senior ranking officers appeared keen, the policymakers were silent on the issue, said former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash here on Thursday.

Overseas trade

He was delivering the inaugural address at the seminar on `Jointness in the defence forces: challenges and the way ahead" organised by the College of Defence Management (CDM) in Secunderabad. The two-day seminar is being attended by serving and retired officers of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

Globalisation had brought in security concerns as it expanded the scope of overseas trade, with merchant shipping fleet, island territories and real estate being acquired by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. In this backdrop, it had become necessary to create a unified command. However, the concept was being opposed arguing that armed forces were pre-occupied with internal security issues. The country can no longer remain oblivious to the need of uniting the defence forces, he said.

The former navy chief said economic and social development would be impossible in an environment of insecurity. "We must face the truth that weakness can often be a provocation. Appearing irresolute and indecisive, we may encourage adventurism by our adversaries."

Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry and former General Officer Commanding in Chief (Western Command), S.S. Mehta, said security threat to the country became six-dimensional - air, land, sea, under-water, space and of late cyber space. Threat from cyber space became more serious because it connected all other five fields and any laxity could turn out to be dangerous.

Despite this important role of technology in warfare, there is no coherent inter-service policy for us, he remarked.

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