Situation along Northern border 'stable but sensitive', troops on 'high state' of operational preparedness: Army Chief

Army chief General Manoj Pande on Thursday said that the security situation on the northern border is "stable but sensitive" and they continue to talk to find a solution to address and balance issues between the two sides.Speaking at the annual press conference ahead of Army Day on 15 January, General Pande said, "The situation on the northern border is stable but sensitive. We continue to talk to find a solution to address and balance issues between the two sides. Operational preparedness is very high, and deployment is both- robust, and balanced...."As far as the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, he said the ceasefire understanding along the LoC continues to hold."Even though we see infiltration attempts, which we have been able to thwart... We have a strong anti-drone mechanism in place to stop the use of drones to smuggle weapons and narcotics.... The area of Rajouri Poonch has seen increased terrorist activities. Support infrastructure for proxy tandems in the Rajouri Poonch sector from across the border continues..." General Pande added.General Manoj Pande also highlighted that disruptive technologies have become the new arena of strategic competition."National interests remain paramount and the relevance of hard powers has been established... Disruptive technologies have become the new arena of strategic competition." said the Army chief.He also affirmed that security forces are fully aligned to ensure a stable and secure environment for nation."...Our nation is on the rise firmly on the path of progress in the economic sphere. We are fully aligned to ensure a stable and secure environment, both internal and external, to help our country progress...," he added.Speaking about the security situation in Northeast, the chief of Army Staff said,"...The Northeast has witnessed positive developments in the last year because of the proactive policies of the government. The violence parameters have overall come down. Manipur witnessed violence in May last year, but with the combined efforts by the state administration, Army and Assam Rifles, they have been able to stabilise the situation. We are working to normalise the situation and ensure stability..."General Manoj Pande also said that the Army has inducted better vehicles, drones and counter-drone systems."As part of emergency provisions, we have been able to induct some new technologies and address domains of warfare. We have inducted better vehicles, drones and counter-drone systems. We have terrain-specific electronic warfare systems.," he added."We have restructured our artillery unit. We also have restructured units of electronic warfare and electronic intelligence. We have started the process of reducing animals in our animal transport units and they are being replaced by drones...We have made a plan and optimise our strength by significant numbers and by 2027 we will achieve an optimisation of 1 lakh numbers. We have given the proposal to the government," he added.Speaking about Agniveers recruitment General Pande said, "The first two batches of Agniveers are now fully deployed in field units and the feedback is very exciting and positive... 120 women officers who have been given permanent commission and are in command roles are deployed in field areas, and they are doing a good job there.""...We also have moved from the current conduct of our competitive and promotion exams to fully online mode and by the end of this year, all our promotion exams will be held entirely online..." the Army chief added.With inputs from agencies