HQ IDS observes 19th Raising Day

Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) celebrated its 19th Raising Day on Tuesday and its chief Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar laid a wreath at the National War Memorial here to pay homage to the martyrs of the armed forces, officials said.

Conveying his felicitations on the occasion, the Chief of the IDS to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) exhorted all ranks of the 'Purple Fraternity' to "continue striving hard towards jointmanship and wished them all success in every endeavour in the years ahead".

"Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar laid a wreath at the National War Memorial to pay homage to the Martyrs of the Armed Forces to mark the occasion. Senior officers of HQ IDS from the three services were also present during the ceremony," the Army said in a statement.

The HQ IDS was raised on October 1, 2001 as a 'Tri Service Entity' with an overarching aim of 'Victory Trough Jointness'. Since then, the IDS has led the conduct of disaster relief operations, tri-service exercises, including those with friendly foreign countries, training leaders at tri-service institutions, consolidating defence intelligence and progressing procurement for the defence forces, the Army said.

In a landmark effort, the IDS spearheaded construction of the National War Memorial, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25.

"The HQ IDS is currently progressing the operationalisation of defence cyber agency, defence space agency and armed forces special operations division as joint organisation," it said.