Gen Bipin Rawat. PTI file

New Delhi, June 8Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Thursday said the Indian army is well prepared to face external, as well as internal threats to the country.In an interaction with ANI, Gen Rawat said, “The Army is fully ready for a two-and-a-half front war.”He said even though India is ready for a multi-front war there are effective mechanisms available to defuse an adverse situation. “Even the PM has stated that for the past 40 years not even a single bullet has been fired on the Indo-China border,” said Gen Rawat.

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In a freewheeling conversation with ANI, Gen Rawat said a new strike corps, 17 Strike Corps, is being raised specifically for mountain warfare. When asked about the delay in its raising, the Army chief said a process as complex as that took time. He said, “It is being raised from scratch. The recruitments are on. As it is, to prepare an army soldier it takes about three years from recruitment process to training and then orienting and finally their deployment.”Gen Rawat went on to discuss modernisation plans of the army, saying the government is aware of our all needs and is supporting us in every manner. “Make in India is a good initiative, it will give results in two to three years,” he said.He said all armies across the world maintained an inventory in the ratio of 30:40:30. Here 30 per cent equipment is state-of-the-art technology, 40 per cent is undergoing modernisation and the rest 30 per cent is obsolete, which requires an upgrade.Gen Rawat concluded by saying that the Army’s preparations are not against any specific country. ANI