The Game Changer Without Losing Any More Time, Government Must Sanction Special Operations Command
Guest Column | Lt Gen. Vinod Bhatia (retd) The Game Changer Without losing any more time, government must sanction Special Operations Command MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND ing all elements of SOF fully integrated, will need credible military capabilities deliberated by the armed forces and equipped, trained and designated under to project military power, assist friendly defence strategists over the years on a single command and control struc- foreign countries in times of crisis from the need to empower and equip India’s ture, with direct access to the country’s unconventional threats and Humani- Special Operation Forces (SOF) to make highest decision making body, the Cabi- tarian Assistance and Disaster Relief them a force multiplier, a game chang- net Committee on Security (CCS). (HADR). The continuing proxy war with er, a rapid deployment force, a threat in The ministry of defence (MoD) web- Pakistan, the ever increasing and omni- being, and a major component of our site on India’s security environment present threat from terrorists, and the comprehensive national power. Howev- overview defines the strategic space as imperative to safeguard our national er, not enough has been done. ‘India’s size, strategic location, trade in- interests and assets dictate that we en- On 3 November 1988, 50 indepen- terests in a security environment that hance capacities and build capabilities dent parachute brigade/6 battalion, extends from Persian Gulf in the west, to face future threats and challenges. the parachute regiment spearheaded to the Straits of Malacca in the east India boasts of the second largest Operation Cactus (Maldives) to rescue and from the CAR in the north to near army, the fourth largest air force and the then President Maumoon Abdul the Equator in the south, underpin In- a blue water capability for the navy to Gayoom, and restore the duly elected dia’s security response.
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