NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, NOV 9
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General MM Naravane on Tuesday said capability development of the armed forces remains a national imperative given the country’s active and disputed borders with two neighbours and observed that disruptive technologies are fast transforming the character of the modern world.
Army Trg Command of #IndianArmy entered into a MoU with @RakshaUni & Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications & Geo-Informatics
In a ceremony at RRU, Gandhinagar, @adgpi inked synergetic connection with these 2 Centres of Excellence @artrac_ia @Bhupendrapbjp pic.twitter.com/tfd27AC1WR
— PRO Defence Gujarat (@DefencePRO_Guj) November 9, 2021
Addressing the event of the signing of MoUs by the Army Training Command of Indian Army with Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) and the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG-N) virtually, General Naravane said that academic vigour needs to be enriched with operational understanding to meet the challenges of modern warfare.
The event was held at the RRU campus in Gandhinagar. “Disruptive technologies are transforming the character of the modern world, faster than ever before. We have seen the decisive impact of these technologies in recent conflicts around the world. Given our active and disputed borders in the north and the east with our two neighbours, capability development of Armed Forces remains a national imperative,” General Naravane said.
Rashtriya Raksha University is a national security educational university located in Gandhinagar.
Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics is a state-level agency by the government of Gujarat to facilitate to provide services and solutions in implementing map-based Geospatial Information Systems.
The Army chief further said that dependence on niche technologies with other countries creates “significant vulnerabilities especially in times of conflict”, and collaboration of the Indian Army with BISAG-N -will go a long way to address these challenges through an “in-house” solution.
The COAS said the collaboration of the Indian Army with BISAG-N and RRU aligns with the government’s vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) and will pave the way for a greater “civil-military fusion” in defence capability development.
The areas of collaboration between the two (civil and military) are in the fields of emerging technology, development of GIS and IT-based software systems, training content and telecasting of audio-visual contents, the Army chief said.
He said that professional military education has always been a critical part of the training curriculum of a military professional, and it continues to play a pivotal role in the evaluation of military officers and soldiers. “Academic vigour needs to be enriched with operational understanding to meet the challenges of modern warfare,” General Naravane said.
He said MoUs signed by the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) with RRU and BISAG-N “will synergise the expertise and potential of both the institutions”. General Naravane said this collaboration will offer the Army a “customised and tailormade training as well as a learning solution”.
The event was presided over by Lieutenant General Raj Shukla, GOC-in-C ARTRAC.
The GOC-in-C highlighted about the potential national security challenges that lie ahead for our country on different fronts, especially the contemporary threats at the Northern borders and Maritime domain. He further stated that future challenges in field of Statecraft, Indo-Pacific strategies, technological challenges are emerging and would become a hurdle in the new era of cyber warfare and combat. Therefore, military-academia collaboration must scale momentum for variety of reasons, including modernization of military advancements in the areas of research, training and collaboration, with specific emphasis on strengthening the inter institution partnerships to adapt latest modern warfare communication technology to combat the future national security threats.
The GOC-in-C said, “Presently, the People’s Liberation Army of China has given thrust to moderniastion of its all three forces by roping in various universities in domestic as well as global ones. This has paid rich dividends to that country. Our country has the required talent and expertise to enhance our national security. The fusion of the forces, academic institutions and the industries will certainly boost our capabilities many fold to keep our adversaries at bay.”
Prof. (Dr.) Bimal N Patel, Vice Chancellor, RRU Gandhinagar underlined that RRU is a model security of India and an institute of national importance. The university will focus on meeting specific requirements of Indian Army in emerging and contemporary technologies in the field of Artificial Intelligence, disruptive military technologies, cyber and information warfare, air and space capabilities and will provide certification for all training undertaken at this Institute. ‘Çhanakya’ a bi-annual publication of RRU on National security was also launched during the event.
TP Singh, DG, BISAG-N, highlighted that with signing of this MoU, BISAG-N will act as a medium of exchange of knowledge and collaboration in the fields of emerging technology for development of GIS and IT based software, generation of customised training content, telecasting audio-visual training content, develop specific projects required by Indian Army in the fields of IT and AI. BISAG-N dedicated the Learning Management System (LMS) developed for ARTRAC and its affiliated institutes, during the event.
