Top military intelligence officers in Pune, to brainstorm on security challenges

The reunion is being attended by a large number of senior serving officers and veteran soldiers of the Corps. The Intelligence Corps will also honour veterans, differently-abled soldiers and ‘veer naris’ during the reunion function. Along with the reunion, a two-day intelligence conference is also being held at the MINTSD.

During the conference, senior serving officers of the Intelligence Corps are taking stock of the latest situation of the Corps. They are also going to brainstorm on the way forward.

A senior officer from the Corps said, “Intelligence conferences are held regularly. But this conference is especially important, not only because the Corps is completing 75 years, but also because of the rapidly changing intelligence paradigm. The threat from the enemy is not just in conventional warfare and insurgency scenario, but also in the virtual world of Internet, which is very closely linked to our real lives. Without going into too many details, I can say that there will be brainstorming sessions on where we stand today and where we aspire to be in the future, in the various walks of intelligence. Top officials including the Director General of Military Intelligence and many senior officers from establishments across the country are attending the conference.”

When asked about instances of intelligence failures, which have led to major setbacks, the officer said, “We are mindful of these realities and we learn from the failures. We keep evolving.”

Meanwhile, when asked about future challenges during a media interaction, Lieutenant General L N Singh, commandant of the MINTSD, said, “When we talk of future challenges, we have to keep in mind that world security scenario is evolving. We are all aware of what happened in the UK. So we have to keep evolving. Whatever the volume of intelligence you gather, it will still be insufficient. The adversary will always try to hide… success depends on how much you can conceal and surprise.”

Major General P D Sherlekar (retd), a veteran from the Corps who was the commandant of the MINTSD in the late 1980s, said, “In the past, the intelligence wing did not have enough resources, either financial or human. The officers had to be brought in from other units to the Intelligence Corps. But now we have a large number of very smart and tech-savvy officers and men.”