Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande on Wednesday appreciated the ‘trust quotient’ among the 20 chiefs of armies of 30 Indo-Pacific countries and stated that ‘peace’ and ‘stability’ in the maritime region are the foundation on which the dreams and aspirations of millions of people rest.

Exchange of ideas

Winding up the two-day long Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference (IPACC), Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS), Senior Enlisted Leaders Forum (SELF), which assumed importance due to its overbearing on China’s expansionist design, General Pande stated, “The frank exchange of thoughts and ideas has reaffirmed that we are bonded by a common thread of values that stand for collective good, of adherence to international laws and conventions, of respect for each other’s sovereignty and of a yearning for peace”.

While the chiefs of armies deliberated at the IPACC level, officers at the level of Lt Colonel to Lt General, engaged at IPAMS, and officers ranked below them at SELF deliberated on security and other humanitarian challenges over two days at the Maneshaw Centre Auditorium here.

General Pande stated that commitment towards collaboration, exchange of best practices, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, military diplomacy, and need for open and sustained dialogue were the takeaways of the last 48 hours. “The frank exchange of thoughts and ideas has reaffirmed that we are bonded by a common thread, of ‘values’ that stand for collective good, of adherence to ‘international laws and conventions’, of respect for each other’s sovereignty and of a yearning for peace,” he told the gathering of delegates from Indo-Pacific countries. In doing so, we have asserted that, despite our geographical separation, we stand united in our commitment towards ‘peace’ and ‘stability’, he added.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt also addressed the army delegation from the Indo-Pacific countries.