Allahabad, June 28 : Air Chief Marshal P V Naik today said the post of a Chief of Defence Staff in the country may not be necessary for the next 5-10 years as there has been “an excellent synergy between various wings of the armed forces” during all military expeditions so far.
“Though I am not opposed to the institution of a Chief of Defence Staff, I have doubts about the urgency for having such an institution in India. We need not emulate other countries as our requirements are different”, Naik told reporters at Central Air Command headquarters on the outskirts of the city. He was replying to a query about a recent interview given by him to a news channel, wherein he had expressed the opinion that there would be no need for a Chief of Defence Staff in the near future.
“We have fought several battles in the last five decades and there has been excellent synergy between the various wings of the armed forces. We are also not involved in military expeditions in other countries like the US is in Afghanistan. I don't think a CDS is going to become indispensable for India, at least not in the next 5-10 years”, he said.
The IAF chief asserted that the Air Force was “alive to changing threat scenario” that has emerged in the wake of rapid changes in “regional and global geopolitcal dynamics” and that the Air Force is likely to see a rise in the number of squadrons across the country following a number of acquisitions in the pipeline in the next couple of decades.
“Some major acquisitions and upgradations are already progressing and some more are in the pipeline. Our response mechanisms are being upgraded constantly, through the induction of cutting-edge technologies and training of our personnel,” the IAF chief said.
The Air Chief Marshal also said that the IAF was “actively involved in anti-Naxal operations”, though its role was “likely to remain limited to helping security forces in carrying out accurate surveys of affected regions”. Replying to a query, Naik said the conferring of honorary rank of Group Captain on batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was “part of a strategy to enable the country's youths to identify themselves better with the IAF which is always in need of young officers”.
“I cannot say how much Tendulkar's name may have already inspired youngsters but there has been an undeniable increase in the number of people from good educational and family backgrounds who evince interest in joining the Air Force.
Now that the name of a youth icon like Tendulkar has come to be associated with IAF, I am sure youngsters have one more reason to feel motivated”, the Air Chief Marshal added. PTI
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