Eastern Army chief visits Sikkim frontier

Reviewing the operational preparedness of the army's Trishakti Corps, Eastern Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi on Thursday visited forward areas in Sikkim and interacted with the governor and the chief minister.

On his first visit to the 33 Corps, also known as the Trishakti Corps, based at Sukna in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, he also visited the forward areas and interacted with the troops.

Accompanied by corps commander Lt.Gen. Surinder Singh, Bakshi called on Sikkim Governor Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling at his official residence Mintokgang in Gangtok.

During their interaction Chamling briefed him about how his government has been endeavouring to turn the state organic and informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Sikkim in January next year to declare Sikkim as an organic state, an official press statement said.

Chamling also stated the need for another battalion from the state. Sikkim already has a regiment of the Indian Army by name of "Sikkim Scouts".

The Kolkata-headquartered Eastern Command has its territorial jurisdiction in West Bengal and over all the eight northeastern states, including Sikkim.

Taking over the reins of Eastern Command in August, Lt. Gen. Bakshi recently took stock of the security situation in Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.