Army Chief Gen. Dwivedi overflies LoC; reviews operational preparedness in J&K frontier

Srinagar: The newly Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Wednesday overflew the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district and later closeted with senior military officers at the headquarters of the 93 Infantry Brigade in the strategic town of Poonch and also in winter capital Jammu to review the operational preparedness in the Jammu and Kashmir frontier.

Gen. Dwivedi took over as the 30th Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) on June 30, succeeding General Manoj Pande who retired from service, and he chose to visit the LoC within the first few days of his assuming the charge. This shows how much importance he gives to the Army’s operational readiness along the de facto border, defence experts said.

The 776-km-long LoC is the responsibility of the Indian Army whereas a few Border Security Force (BSF) battalions are placed under its operational control in select areas.

Gen. Dwivedi has extensive operational experience along the frontiers with Pakistan and China. He served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command from 2022 to 2024.

His picking up Poonch for his first visit out of the Union capital after taking charge as the Army Chief is being seen also in the backdrop of the separatist militants and their foreign collaborators stepping up their activities in J&K’s twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri and adjoining areas in the Pir Panjal Range which is a chain of mountains in the Lower Himalayan region located in the Western Himalayas of the subcontinent. Poonch-Rajouri region is located near the LoC. In fact, Poonch shares a de facto border with the Poonch district of the Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

As per the Army and police sources, the border-belt has witnessed nearly a dozen major terror attacks and encounters since October 11, 2021 when five Army jawans including a JCO lost their lives in a clash with militants in Chamrer woods of Surankote in Poonch. In these incidents as many as 37 soldiers and officers have laid down their lives.

Gen. Dwivedi, while reviewing the security situation in the region, exhorted the troops to remain steadfast to meet all security challenges, the Army sources in the garrison town of Udhampur said. The Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG) in a post on ‘X’, said that Gen. Dwivedi along with the Northern Command chief Lt. Gen. Suchindra Kumar and General Officer Commanding of Jammu-based 16 Corps, also known as White Knight Corps, Lt. Gen. Navin Sachdeva visited the forward locations falling under the responsibility of the White Knight Corps and reviewed the security situation along the LoC.

“The CoAS was briefed on the operational preparedness by the commanders on ground. The CoAs lauded all ranks for maintaining high standards of professionalism and exhorted them to remain steadfast to meet all current and emerging security challenges,” it said.

Apart from the serving Army officers and jawans, the Army Chief interacted with the parents of slain soldiers and also some ex-servicemen at the 93 Infantry Brigade in Poonch. In another post on the microblogging site ‘X’, the ADG PI (Indian Army) said, ”CoAS General Upendra Dwivedi interacted with the parents of Bravehearts of Poonch region who laid down their lives in the service of the Nation. The CoAS also met the veterans and assured them of unwavering support from the Indian Army. He also interacted with officials of J&K police and prominent civil dignitaries and appreciated their synergy and cooperation with the Indian Army in maintaining peace and harmony in the region.”

The Army Chief is scheduled to return to Delhi in the evening.