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Top military conference deferred amid Covid-19 outbreak
The UCC was to be chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh and attended by national security adviser Ajit Doval, chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, the three service chiefs and a battery of senior officers of the armed forces and the ministry.
A top military conference, chaired by the defence minister, has been postponed amid the coronavirus outbreak, a senior government officer said on Monday. The Unified Commanders Conference (UCC) was supposed to take place on April 22-23.
The UCC was to be chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh and attended by national security adviser Ajit Doval, chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, the three service chiefs and a battery of senior officers of the armed forces and the ministry. Fresh dates are yet to be announced.
The army had earlier indefinitely deferred a conference of its top commanders that was scheduled to take place in Delhi from April 13 to April 18.
Such top conferences covers key issues such as the country’s security dynamics, emerging security scenarios, enhancing operational capability, taking steps to stay prepared for all challenges and budgetary aspects. Issues related to theaterisation would have also been discussed but the coronavirus outbreak has put many things on hold.
The conferences were to take place at a time when there has been an unusual spike in ceasefire violations on the Line of Control by the Pakistan army to help infiltrators sneak into Jammu and Kashmir.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the army was carrying out “targeted strikes” on terror launch pads along the LoC and eliminating the Pakistani infiltrators before they cross over to the Indian side.
Singh, in an interview to PTI, said the armed forces are not lowering their guard at all while playing a significant role in the country’s overall fight to defeat the coronavirus pandemic.
