General Anil Chauhan at Southern Command HQ. (Photo: @HQ_IDS_India) CHIEF of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Saturday visited the Headquarters of the Southern Command in Pune and addressed the officers on ‘jointness’ among the tri-services and other key strategic issues.
“General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), visited Headquarters Southern Command, Pune. He addressed officers of the Southern Command highlighting issues of jointness, transformation of the armed forces and self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector.” said a tweet from the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS).
Along with top brass of the Southern Command, senior officers of the Navy and Air Force were also present for General Chauhan’s visit.
“The CDS visited Bharat Forge Ltd and the Kalyani Center for Tech and Innovation, Pune. He interacted with Baba Kalyani, chairman, and visited manufacturing units and labs. CDS was briefed on the ongoing industrial defence projects undertaken by the firm,” stated another tweet from the HQ IDS.
Some of the key mandates of the Department of Military Affairs, which the CDS heads, are “promoting jointness in procurement, training and staffing for the services through joint planning and integration of their requirements, facilitation of restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of joint and theatre commands and promoting use of indigenous equipment by the services,”‘ as highlighted following the formation of the post of CDS by the Cabinet in December 2019.
Southern Command is the oldest and the largest command of the Indian Army, covering nearly 40 per cent of India’s landmass spread over 11 states and three union territories. With prominent land, sea and air components in its area of responsibility, the Southern Command is an ideal formation for tri-services integration.