WELLINGTON, 5 Apr: Arunachal Pradesh Governor BD Mishra addressed the Madras Regiment Battalion Commanders’ Conference at the Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) here in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.
Speaking about nationalism and the leadership role of the army in nation-building and civil-military relations, the governor said that “historical review is important to draw lessons for our present and future defence management.”
“From the very time of Indian independence, the apex leadership had kicked off on the wrong foot, as far as the defence of the country is concerned. When the Indian Army was winning the battles and the Pakistani forces were withdrawing in panic, the Indian Army was stopped at Uri when their objective Domale and Muzaffarabad were very easy for them to capture. The mismanagement of our national defence did not stop here. The apex political leadership of India took the issue of Kashmir to the United Nations and till date we are suffering from the legacies of those days,” he said.
Mishra said that “things have now changed as the present national apex political leadership has unambiguously and loudly announced that we will fight for every inch of our land and we are preparing for facing squarely our arch enemies.”
Stating that the country’s “defence indigenous productions are increasing every day and there have been drastic cuts in the nation’s defence imports,” the governor said that the nation’s defence parameters are being taken care of.
“Our armed forces have to gear up with confidence, courage and grit to face any and every challenge to our country,” he said, and urged the battalion commanders to ensure that the national defence preparedness details “trickle down to the junior-most sepoy of the battalions.”
Madras Regiment Colonel, Lt Gen Manjinder Singh, MRC Commandant Brig Rajeshwar Singh, commanding officers, senior serving officers and veterans of the regiment attended the conference.
Earlier in the day, the governor laid a wreath at the Madras Regimental war memorial located at the entrance of the Defence Services Staff College here. The monument is being constructed in memory of the martyrs of the regiment. (Raj Bhavan)
