The security of India’s military installations in the hinterland is a cause for concern, Army chief Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday. He stressed on the need for more intelligence and surveillance to prevent militant attacks like the ones that took place in Uri and Pathankot last year, ANI reported.
The Army is planning to deploy electronic warfare and early-warning systems for border areas and the hinterland, Rawat said.
On September 18, 2016, suspected Pakistani militants struck an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri, killing 19 soldiers. In January that year, militants had attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station, killing seven security personnel.
“The time has come to integrate technology with manpower,” Rawat said, The Times of India reported. To “keep an eye on adversaries on the western and northern borders,” the major requirements were “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,” he said.
On the government’s appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as the new interlocutor for Kashmir talks, Rawat said, “Let him work, it will not affect the Army’s operations.”
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