Army enhances camaraderie; Kukis, Meiteis work together: General Dwivedi

Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi has said the force plays a pivotal role as a melting pot and noted that members of the Kuki and Meitei communities from Manipur operate in the same unit with great harmony.

Being a casteless Army, it enhances the camaraderie and diminishes the fault lines, he said delivering a lecture here on Wednesday.

Notably, Manipur has been rocked by ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities since last year.

Delivering a lecture on 'Role and Contribution of Indian Army in Securing India's Growth Story', under General BC Joshi Memorial Lecture Series, General Dwivedi also talked about Agniveers and said these young individuals are shaped by discipline and knowledge.

The Army is an apolitical force which draws its human capital from all over the country, he said.

At the lecture organised by the Department of Defence & Strategic Studies (DDSS) of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, the Army chief also spoke about the internal security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and north-east.

"In J&K, we have been able to transform the theme of 'terrorism to tourism'. As we dig deeper, in amalgamation of approximately 600-plus princely states, the military played a pivotal role for integration, including Hyderabad and Goa," he said.

General Dwivedi asserted that socio-cultural values of the Army are very strong and the force plays a pivotal role as a melting pot.

"If one listens to the dialogues in movies based on the valour of the Indian Army -- right from 'Haqeeqat' (1964) to Vicky Kaushal-starrer Uri (2019) -- one will come to know it plays a pivotal role as a melting pot," he said.

"We are an apolitical and 'areligious' Army, drawing its human capital from all districts of the nation. Despite that, Hindi serves as a binding language. Siachen Baba at the Siachen base, is one example where all religious gods are under one roof," he told the gathering.

Speaking further on the melting pot theme, the Army chief made a reference to strife-torn Manipur.

"Being a casteless Army, it enhances the camaraderie and diminishes the fault lines. One payoff of this was recently seen in Manipur where veterans from the warring communities (Kuki and Meitei) took on the mantle to allay fears and restore trust amongst the two ethnic groups," he said.

"Today both community members -- that is Kukis and Meiteis -- in the Indian Army and the Assam Rifles, operate in the same unit with great harmony," he added.

As far as the Army's role is concerned in conduct of the Olympic Games in 2036, for which India is aggressively bidding, the force is looking at 'Mission 2032' (in terms of preparations), General Dwivedi noted.

"The Indian Army will play a pivotal role in conducting the Olympics 2036 and for that we will have to prepare adequate manpower and that is why the year 2032 is important," he said.