For the first time since Independence, the army proposes to have an 'outside view' on the state of its readiness in the present and future security scenarios and in the context of its prolonged deployment for countering terrorism.
For this purpose, it proposes to get all its former chiefs together at a conclave in the capital on October 22-23.
"The aim of the conclave is to seek the advice of these distinguished retired chiefs on the state of readiness," an army spokesman said in Delhi.
Of the 18 army chiefs since Independence, only eight are surviving. They are Field Marshal S H F J Manekshaw, Generals K V Krishna Rao, O P Malhotra, S F Rodrigues, Shanker Roy Choudhary, V N Sharma, V P Malik and S Padmanabhan. All of them have confirmed their participation in the conclave.
During the conclave, their 'objective views' would be sought on various topical issues like the operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, finalisation of the new army doctrine and its participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions.
For the past few months, the army has been finalising its new war doctrine, doing away with the concept of strike corp formations and replacing it with rapid deployment brigades and all-services strike missions.
The doctrine, likely to be adopted in a week or two, has already been circulated to even smaller formations as well as army think tanks for incorporating their suggestions.
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Wives of two former chiefs, Gen B C Joshi and Gen A S Vaidya, have also been invited to participate in some special cultural shows organised on the occasion.
The conclave would be informed about the various projects being carried out by the army like Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme, married accommodation project, project to set up an army war memorial and about Mission Olympics.
