Army Vice Chief Lt Gen CP Mohanty visits US to enhance bilateral military cooperation

The Ministry of Defence informed that Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Lieutenant General CP Mohanty has proceeded on a five-day visit to the United States of America on Sunday. According to the statement released by the defence ministry, the visit is aimed at enhancing bilateral military cooperation and explore future avenues for military-to-military defence partnership.

The Vice Chief will attend the multilateral Chiefs of Defence Conference, being held in Hawaii. The conference will hold discussions on three crucial topics: how Covid-19 will change national security forever; the role of multilateralism in a free and open Indo-Pacific; and challenges and opportunities of technology-enabled threats.

During the visit, Lt Gen CP Mohanty will interact with the senior military leadership of the countries attending the conference.  Following the conference, the Vice Chief of the Army Staff will move to Washington DC to interact with senior military leaders and civilian officials of the Department of Defence of the US. He is also expected to visit the Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier and witness innovations in close combat squads, Soldier Survivability, Soldier Lethality, Soldier Manouever, and Precision Targeting and Integrated Visual Augmentation System. The meetings are held concerning the increasing military to military cooperation between the two countries.

Army Vice Chief's two-day visit to Bengaluru

In July, Lt Gen CP Mohanty, Vice Chief of the Army Staff, was on a two-day visit to Bengaluru where he interacted with indigenous defence manufacturers, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and M/s Aroo Private Limited. On July 22, he was briefed by the manufacturers on progress being made in electronics, optronics, and ammunition related to platforms such as artillery guns.

He also witnessed advances made in special winter clothing. The Vice Chief reviewed the progress made by the Helicopter Division of HAL and interacted with the representatives of the design bureau of both the ALH and LCH.

The following day, VCOAS interacted with the representatives of DPSUs such as BEL and ISRO and witnessed various demonstrations and briefings on the Akash Missile System, Tactical Communication and encryption devices, and satellite communication equipment. The Vice Chief also interacted with Dr K Sivan, Chairman ISRO. 

Image Credit: PTI