Russia’s still big partner: Pranab

The ACC conference — a bi-annual event — is principally a review of operations and sets the agenda for pressing issues to be considered immediately by the force’s top brass.

The Defence Minister said he found reports about alleged human rights violations by the Army, disturbing. After fierce debate on the condition of discipline within the force, especially during counter-insurgency operations, it is set to be the centre of tomorrow’s conference session.

The Army’s Adjutant General, Lieutenant-General Mohinder Singh, will be making a detailed presentation on ‘‘A roadmap on Human Resources Development and Discipline’’ on Tuesday.

In his opening address this morning, Mukherjee said: ‘‘We must realise that while dealing with insurgents, we are operating within our own territory and allegations of human rights violations will not only sully the image of the Army, but also reduce our effectiveness in tackling militancy.’’

Army Chief J.J. Singh’s five principle staff officers (PSOs) and two deputy chiefs of staff will update and make presentations on operations and internal issues, including management of fatal casualties, minimum training infrastructure up to the formation level, restructuring of military farms, the ex-servicemen contributory health scheme (ECHS) and financial management and alleviation of financial insecurity.

The Defence Minister said he was concerned about the how a large part of the Defence allocation was spent on manpower — he asked the commanders to think in terms of less men and a ‘‘smaller tail in the Army’’.

Referring to the Indo-Pakistan peace process, Mukherjee said the country needed to be cautious about the use of softer borders with Pakistan, and that the developments in Nepal were still a cause for worry.