Centre keen to resolve internal conflicts: Army official

The Centre is keen to resolve internal conflicts and a "hard decision" against Left Wing Extremists may be on the anvil, a senior Army official said here on Saturday. Speaking at the ninth Industry Defence Linkage meet here, GOC-in-C of the Army's Eastern Command Lt Gen Anil Chauhan said the Sino-India border is relatively calm since the Wuhan Conference held last year.

"The Centre is keen to conclude talks with Nagas and is assessing its impact on Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. It is not difficult to guess that a similar hard and long-pending decision on Left Wing Extremism may be on the anvil," he said.

The talks with Naga outfits were scheduled to be concluded on October 31, but the Centre on that day announced that the deliberations were not yet completed and the government will consult all stakeholders including the states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh before finalisation of any settlement.

On requirements of the Army in the eastern frontier, Chauhan said, "We need night sights, aerial and ground surveillance platforms, road construction and communication equipment." Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata, Hari Mohan, said the OFB has recently received an order from the Indian Army for 464 T-90 battle tanks. "It will take four to five years to complete the Rs 20,000 crore order," he said.

The OFB is also in the process of receiving an order for 165 BMP armoured vehicles worth Rs 8,000 to 9,000 crore. "We are building 114 indigenous Dhanush artillery guns and the Centre has sanctioned an order for another 300 guns," he said. Mohan said 85 per cent work on building a futuristic amphibious infantry vehicle with missile-firing capability is completed. The OFB Kolkata chairman said the country has to import 65 per cent of its defence requirements.

Mohan said OFB has done reverse designing for Russian T-72 and T-90 tanks as the technology from that country was complicated. Because of reverse designing, engines of Russian BMP vehicles - amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle - are now 100 per cent indigenous, he said.

Chairman of defence subcommittee of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), A K Jain, said defence exports of the country has increased from Rs 500 crore in 2010 to Rs 10,000 crore in 2019. The Centre has set a target of Rs 35,000 crore annual defence exports by 2025, he added.