Security forces, int agencies must work in tandem: Antony

New Delhi, Jun 25: Bringing home the point that victory in modern warfare could be achieved only through an 'integrated approach', Defence Minister A K Antony today called upon Services chiefs to strengthen the tri-services approach in dealing with security matters.

Addressing the august gathering, comprising the three service chiefs among others, at the two-day Unified Commanders Conference which began here this morning, Mr Antony said 'jointness' was key to achieving victory as war-fighting at present was a complex issue.
''Victory in modern warfare can be achieved only through 'jointness'... No one service can by itself protect the nation’s security...''
Pointing that the traditional approach of combating threats with 'individual services' and 'own plans' must be avoided, the Defence Minister said a joint approach, where development of core competence by each service and synergising these capabilities is done, was the need of the hour.
''It is our duty to resort to joint planning and develop integrated capabilities,'' he said, adding that requisite
response could be chosen from a 'menu' of capabilities, to achieve specific military goals under varying conditions.
He said this saves the military force undesirable redundancy, while allowing each service to maximise its yield by utilising its core competences to achieve a common goal.
Dwelling on the threat perceptions lurking around the country, Mr Antony said there were ''various forces who do not wish us well. It is imperative for our Armed Forces to be prepared to face any challenge to our security that could in turn affect our growing economic prosperity. (UNI)