Relate as trained professionals: PM urges officers

DEHRADUN: Urging officers and soldiers to "be able to relate to each other as trained professionals", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday committed "whatever is required" for modernisation of the armed forces.

The knowledge era "means that our officers and soldiers must be able to relate to each other as trained professionals", the prime minister said while addressing the platinum jubilee passing out parade of the elite Indian Military Academy (IMA) here.

"In the knowledge era, every soldier is a thinking machine. This means we need better educated and better trained soldiers. It also means our officers have to be better educated and trained," Manmohan Singh added.

A total of 606 cadets were commissioned Monday and will now be posted to various regiments of the Indian Army. They included 458 from the 121st regular course and 148 from other technical and short-term courses.

Five cadets were from foreign countries - one each from Bhutan, Kazakhstan and Lesotho, and two from Kyrgyzstan.

The function was delayed for a little over two hours as bad weather delayed the prime minister's departure from Delhi.

According to the prime minister, the government was "fully committed" to the technical modernisation of the armed forces.

"We will not shy away from investing whatever is required in the training and equipment of our armed forces. While government will find the resources required, the leadership of our armed forces must focus attention on improving the efficiency of expenditure and, to use a common phrase, improve the 'bang to buck' ratio," Manmohan Singh added.

Manmohan Singh is the third prime minister to have reviewed a passing out parade. Indira Gandhi had done so at the golden jubilee of the IMA in 1982. Jawaharlal Nehru, who made innumerable visits here, reviewed the parade in 1948.

Then president APJ Abdul Kalam had reviewed the parade in 2006.

Of the cadets commissioned Monday, the largest number of 116 hail from Uttar Pradesh, while a mere two were from Gujarat that was at the bottom of the table.

Among other states, 69 of the newly commissioned officers were from Uttarkhand, 54 from Haryana and 26 from Madhya Pradesh. The entire northeast region contributed 17 officers and Jammu and Kashmir 20.

Located in the hills of Dehradun in northern India, the IMA has so far trained over 46,000 officers of the Indian Army, the world's fourth largest, as also some 1,000 officers from friendly foreign countries.

One of the oldest and most prestigious military training establishments in the country, it was set up in 1932 during the British rule. It also counts among its alumni several officers others who have risen to important positions in the armies of countries like the Philippines, Nigeria, Bhutan and Nepal.

Such is the IMA's eclectic nature that three officers from its first batch - Sam Manekshaw, Muhammad Musa and Smith Dun - went on to head the armies of India, Pakistan and Burma (as Myanmar was then called), respectively.

The IMA is set in the picturesque Doon Valley on the watershed of the Ganges and Yamuna river basins in Uttarakhand state.

The lush green forests and the rugged beauty of the Shivalik mountains to the south and the majestic splendour of the Himalayas to the north make the academy an ideal locale for training young men in the science and art of warfare.

The training is aimed at the all-round development of the intellectual, moral and physical qualities essential for leadership in the profession of arms.

The basic requirement of a professional and military education is balanced by a broad-based liberal education in science and the humanities, and a wide range of extra-curricular activities to develop a well-rounded personality.

Simultaneously, stress is also laid on preparing young officers for the growing use of IT and cutting edge electronics on the battlefield.

Since 1948, a limited number of cadets from African and Asian countries that have close ties with India received "pre-commission training" at the IMA. These countries include Angola, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Ghana, Iraq, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.

In recent years, cadets from France, Sudan, the Maldives, Botswana and Lesotho have also trained at the academy, helping India ramp up cooperation with these countries in military training and education.

Though countries like France have advanced training facilities and state-of-the-art infrastructure, the expertise of the Indian armed forces in counter-insurgency operations and jungle warfare make the IMA a much sought after place.