In the later part of September, Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande will brainstorm with the US Army chief and top army officials of about four more countries of the Indo-Pacific region in an effort to establish and promote personal relationships while addressing “mutual interests and challenges” in the region.
The development can be seen as India’s willingness to position itself as a pivotal power in the Indo-Pacific to counter an increasingly powerful and belligerent China.
It is also to be seen in the light of the US effort to encircle China while the latter is pursuing its ‘string of pearls’ strategy or setting up military and commercial facilities in the Indian Ocean region that would result in an encirclement of India.
The event, to be kick-started at the national capital’s Manekshaw Centre with a curtain raiser event on September 20, will conclude on September 27.
Part of the Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference (IPACC) and the Indo- Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS), the army chiefs of Australia, Japan, Singapore and Maldives are expected to participate in the main deliberations. The defence attaches of about 30 countries are also expected to take part in the event.
The interaction of the army chiefs will come on the heels of the ongoing ‘Exercise Trishul’—a major annual exercise of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that began on Monday and concludes on September 20.
The exercise is taking place across a broad swath of area from Rajasthan to Ladakh—obviously to test the IAF’s preparedness while facing adversaries on two sides.
All the IAF’s major platforms, including fighter aircraft Rafales, Sukhoi 30 MKIs, MiG 29s, transport aircraft like the C-130J ‘Super Hercules’ and the C-17 ‘Globemaster’, helicopters like the ‘Apache’ and ‘Chinook’ and a range of weapons systems are to be used in the exercise.
Amid the unresolved border impasse with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in eastern Ladakh and Chinese President Xi Jinping's decision not to attend the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi from September 9-10, India is stepping up military activity that has immense strategic significance.
The bilateral relationship between the two Asian giants took another hit on August 28 with China releasing the 2023 edition of its ‘standard map’ which depicted India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin across Ladakh as part of China.
The map was published by China’s ministry of natural resources to mark the Surveying and Mapping Publicity Day and the National Mapping Awareness Publicity Week.
Ever since a violent flare-up in April 2020, the two countries have amassed more than 120,000 soldiers and substantial military equipment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
