Discussions on the future contours of India-China relations, along with brainstorming sessions on current and emerging security scenarios and operational preparedness review, will take centrestage during the Army Commanders’ Conference (ACC) which kicked off on Monday.

The ACC is an apex-level biannual event which is an institutional platform for conceptual level deliberations, culminating in making important policy decisions for the Indian Army.

This year, the conference is being conducted in a hybrid format exploiting available technology for secure communication, wherein Army Commanders and other senior functionaries will meet virtually on the first day and then travel to Delhi for remaining physical meetings on matters which require detailed deliberations.

The ACC will continue till April 21 with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh scheduled to address the meeting on April 19 where he will also review an equipment display focussing on niche technology, innovation, solutions for surveillance, Artificial Intelligence, training, robotics, virtual reality, operational logistics etc.

Today, on the first day of the conference, agenda points sponsored by various Command Headquarters will be discussed, followed by an update from Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command and sessions by Principal Staff Officers of the Army Headquarters. The forum will also review the progress on the activities charted out as part of ‘Year of Transformation-2023’ along with progress on Agnipath Scheme, digitisation and automation initiatives, combat engineers tasks, work aspects and budget management.

The senior officers will also be addressed by the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff with India’s former Ambassador to China Vijay Gokhale also scheduled to address the conference.