Aimed at enhancing capabilities in HAAs
The symposium is aimed at addressing operational and logistical needs of the Northern Command which has been engaged with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh for past over four years now besides facing infiltration attempts by the terrorists on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and surge in terrorism in hinterland of the Jammu region.
The Symposium comes a little over a year after similar conclave of defence manufacturers was organized at Nagrota in Jammu from September 11 to 13 last year, which also falls under the jurisdiction of Northern Command.
Sources told the Excelsior that Rajnath Singh will attend the Symposium on one of the two days and address the gathering. The CDS and the Army chief will also attend. Northern Command chief Lt Gen M V Suchindra Kumar too will join along with other Army Commanders.
“The Him Tech Symposium will offer a platform for Army-Industry collaboration. Its Primary objective is to directly engage with end-users and raise awareness about modern technologies and equipment that can address the operational and logistical needs of the Northern Command,” the officials said.
They added that the event streamlines product evaluation, prioritization and procurement processes besides contributing insights for future procurement plans.
The Symposium, they said, is aimed at enhancing capabilities of Field Formations particularly in the High Altitude Areas. It’s venue has been fixed at Rinchen Auditorium Complex in Leh.
Approximately 100 vendors are expected to participate, they added.
Sources said during their visit to Leh to attend the Symposium, the Defence Minister, the CDS and the Army chief are also expected to interact with top Army Commanders to review prevailing security situation in the Eastern Ladakh.
Over the past few years, the Indian Army has been equipping itself with modern weaponry as it has been engaged in conflict with PLA in Eastern Ladakh for over four years now. Though disengagement has taken place in some of the conflict zones, the troops from both the countries remained in eyeball-to-eyeball position at other friction points.
A series of rounds of talks at various levels have taken place between India and China but there was no further headway in disengagement.
In the hinterland also, the troops are being equipped not only with modern weapons but other latest equipments to take on the foreign terrorists who are using M4 carbines, Night Vision Devices etc. On the LoC with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, the troops are well equipped with latest gadgetry to counter infiltration attempts by the terrorists.
The three days symposium in Jammu from September 11 to 13 last year was aimed to equip the defence forces with niche technologies and it saw the representatives of Indian Army, academia and Indian Defence Manufacturers coming together, under a single umbrella all working towards the ultimate goal of taking ‘Aatma Nirbharta’ to the next level.
The symposium was also backed by a technical seminar held at Nagrota that gave an opportunity to analyze and assimilate the user and operational requirements and to identify and map these with suitable solutions and products from the academia and the industry. The forum furthered the quest of Northern Command to meet requirements through a multipronged approach by bringing the Indian Army, defence Industry and academia to a common platform for addressing the present and paving the way for the future.
