THE PRESIDENT REVIEWS EXERCESE SUDARSHAN SHAKTI

The supreme commander of Indian Armed Forces, Her Excellency Shrimati Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, The President of India alongwith Shri AK Antony, Raksha Mantri, General VK Singh, Chief of the Army Staff and Lt Gen AK Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Command visited the forward areas in Desert Sector today to witness the ongoing EXERCESE SUDARSHAN SHAKTI.

EXERCESE SUDARSHAN SHAKTI, is one of the largest military exercise conducted by the Indian Army in the Southern Sector in recent years, to validate the concept of an enhanced Theatre offensive in a Joint Service environment, as well as operational and transformational effectiveness of SUDARSHAN CHAKRA Corps. This is being done under the backdrop of the study on Transformational and Theatrisation of Combat and Support Services of Indian Army, for which the Army Chief and Southern Army Commander were the main proponents.

The Supreme Commander reviewed the manoeuvers of the SUDARSHAN CHAKRA Corps. During the reviewed, the Supreme Commander alongwith other dignitaries were briefed by Lt Gen AK Singh and Lt Gen Sanjiv Langer, Corps Commander Sudarshan Chakra Corps.

They further emphasized the unique feature of this exercise in the context of jointmanship between the Southern Army and its counterparts SOUTH WESTERN AIR COMMAND (SWAC) wherein, the inter service operability focusing on seamless air-land battle is being tested and re-configured to suit the constantly changing operational requirements. The transformational initiatives spanning operational, conceptual and structural aspects as also organizational structures for absorption of new age technologies, particularly in the fields of precision munitions and targeting, advance surveillance systems, space and network centricity. These are being fielded and trial evaluated during the ongoing exercise. The thrust of the transformational initiative is for the Army to emerge as a modern, lean, agile net enabled force highly responsiveness to emerging challenges facing the nation in the 21st century.

In addition, many new concepts like the employment of the Strike Corps Aviation Brigade, fighting against a backdrop of Nuclear Biological Chemical (NBC) environment and tailor made logistics system to sustain any offensive are also being practiced and validated.

The President Shrimati Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, applauded the dedicated efforts of the Southern Army and Sudarshan Chakra Corps in their pursuit of excellence and was enthralled to witness the indomitable spirit of the soldier displayed during the conduct of the operational maneuvers in a realistic environment.

While addressing the troops the President was appreciative of Indian Army and said "The Indian Army is the pride of our nation and is seen by the nation as a role model." She urged the Indian Army to continue its quest for excellence and in that EXERCESE SUDARSHAN SHAKTI, would be a major land mark for our Armed Forces to enhance our Combat Potential. The President was hopeful that Army would maintain its highest tradition of dedication, loyalty, courage and sacrifice and would always keep the National flag flying high.