The legacy of General Manoj Mukund Naravane, present Chief of Army Staff (COAS) will be understood only after a couple of years. It has altered the dynamics of the Line of Actual Control which will reverberate the India-China Strategic Scenario for times to come.
Gen Naravane is gentle, sharp, yet very firm when occasion demands. In proverbial language, he is both a Dove and a Hawk. This is because he is a “Die Hard Infantryman”. He will hang his boots on 30 April 2022, while serving as 27th Chief of the Indian Army. Most likely, he will be the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Or this is what all of us, serving and retired Army men/Women want nay desire. Only time will tell if our wishes are fulfilled. Whatever way things take the turn, one thing is certain that he will leave behind a legacy that will be understood only with the passage of time.
As COAS, Gen Manoj Naravane worked quietly, without any fanfare or publicity. He was responsible for some Key Strategic and Tactical Decisions which will influence Army Think Tanks for quite some time. He is responsible for changing/ shifting focus from Pakistan to China. His tenure has been full of actions. He had to face an ongoing standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control, same time reiterating Ceasefire at the Line of Control with Pakistan. He had to rewrite the Order of Battle of Indian Army to revert to Conventional Type of Warfare, a major shift from prevailing Counter-Terrorism Operations while thriving for modernization of Army.
As a Chief, he has to play the role of both a Dove and a Hawk since he assumed the mantle from Gen Bipin Rawat on 31 December 2019. Gen Bipin Rawat, both as Army Chief and later as CDS spoke freely, at times taking the blame for stepping out of realm Army Ethos. In his first Press Conference on eve of Army Day 2020; he had to clarify whether he agreed with the statement of Gen Bipin Rawat regarding protest by the students against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He brought out that the “Role of Indian Army is to uphold the core values of Constitution. Army respects the Fundamental Rights of Citizens and therefore, we will not go wrong in the discharge of our duties. We are an Army of the people and for the people, and whatever we do, will be for them.”
He laid emphasis on the fact that Armed Forces owe their allegiance to the Constitution of India and fight to protect the core values of Justice, Equality and Fraternity enshrined in the Preamble. This put the curtain on the raging controversy of that time.
On eve of Army Day 2022, Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane was asked a probing question whether there could be a war with China in the near future. His composed reply was “We as Army are the last people who want to go to war. It is always better to have a National Approach on the issue. We must have a good and stable relationship with all our neighbors. If you have stable relations, the country prospers, and that should be the Aim. But it has to be done at the Political and Diplomatic level with firm Army support. But one thing is certain, if you want to ensure peace, you have to be prepared for war.”
In a prevalent ultra-nationalism and war-mongering atmosphere, this candid answer to an insinuating and probing query underlines his strong belief indicating the quality/language of a Dove against general belief/feeling that inaction at LAC with China and ceasefire at LoC with Pakistan is a big mistake.
As Eastern Army Commander in August 2019; Lt Gen Manoj Mukund set ‘Cat among the Pigeons’ by calling China a “Regional Bully” while asserting “If China transgressed the “Grey Zone” at the LAC a 100 times, Indian Army did so on 200 occasions”. That time he clearly focused on the ‘China challenge’. As a Chief, he has to “Rebalance Army”, change its Deployment and War Strategy along Western, Northern, and North Eastern Borders to deal with any kind of threat from Pakistan or China. Earlier the focus was only on the Western Front. Now since both Western and Northern Fronts became equally important, the Act of Re-balancing had to be undertaken which he did with equal aplomb.
Four months after Gen Mukund Mohan Naravane made his views about “Rebalancing of Army”, China took Ladakh-based 14 Corps by surprise. Peoples Liberation Army moved into LAC and occupied multiple locations on the Indian side. Indian Army reacted fiercely to Chinese advances and carried out Mirror Deployments bringing a large number of Personnel, Weapons, and equipment to Eastern Ladakh. As tensions build up rapidly, Army Chief was already planning a Counter Move by occupying heights in Southern Range. COAS planned the entire operation with his Key Commanders to seize the heights of the southern banks. It was a spectacular operation that took China by total surprise. This was a real Hawk at work.
To achieve this aim, COAS wrote a New Order of Battle for the Army and carried out Key Changes in Deployment Patterns to include making available sufficient Troops, Weapons, and Equipment for singular Mountain Strike Corps that was on the back burner having been neglected for long. As Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh handed over free financial powers to the three Service Chiefs, Army went in for Multiple Immediate/Long Term Procurements ranging, from High Altitude Clothing, New Automatic Rifles, Vehicles, Boats, Surveillance Kits, and Drones. He urged Raksha Mantri to drop L1 Regime from Defence Procurement Procedure, that being Main Problem Area.
Many other changes brought in by the Army Chief are not for public consumption and are shrouded in secrecy.
COAS is soft-spoken, reserved, and versatile with words, and always focuses on his work rather than building up his image. He is a thinker who makes fast, firm decisions instead of knee-jerk reactions. His legacy will only be known in the years to come. Opinions are divided over whether China or India prevailed during the Ladakh Stand-Off. Whoever is/may be right, but one thing is clear: LAC Dynamics are not going to be the same. It will be a Focus Area moving forward.
