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हिन्दी 
Pune: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi Wednesday said that in Jammu and Kashmir the Indian Army has successfully transformed the theme of terrorism to tourism. “As we dig deeper into our past amalgamation of over 600-plus princely states, the military played a pivotal role for integration and amalgamation, including Hyderabad and Goa,” he said
Also, the Indian Army is opening the battlefields, including Kargil and Galwan, for tourists to get first-hand experience of such battlefields and empathise with soldiers who laid down their lives for the country. The Army Adventure wing provides one window security clearance and coordination for such adventure initiatives and during the last few years about 42 trips were cleared, he said.
The army chief was addressing a gathering at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in his talk on the topic “Role and contribution of Indian Army in Securing India’s Growth Story” where he highlighted the pivotal role of the Indian Army in not only safeguarding the nation’s borders, but also contributing to national development, security and strategic growth.
Emphasising the role of tourism in border areas, Gen Dwivedi said, “The transformative potential of tourism is immense and recently exponential rise has been seen. We have identified 48 areas and ideas for promoting tourism along border areas have been mooted. With targeted initiative, we have the potential to double our tourist numbers in the next five years. We have committed to promote adventure activities and provide support to organisers and tourist operators, to enhance footfall in the border area, upskilling locals in mountaineering and associated activities is part of it,” he said.
The chief said that the army has undertaken eight major projects comprising Trans-Himalayan trek, “Soul of Steel” trek in Uttarakhand (Mountain Skill Survival Challenge), opening of trek to Siachen Glacier for citizens as part of broader border tourism initiative.
The army chief said that infrastructure development is the bedrock of sustainable development which spans across all domains like roads, bridges, power, telecom, agriculture, water supply, health, sports and education.
The General in his opening remarks termed security as an enabler of sustainable growth and not an obstacle and the Indian Army is and will be a key provider of security for a “Progressive” and “Peaceful” India by 2047. The COAS mentioned that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was conceptualised under the leadership of General NC Vij who had first-hand experience of the Bhuj Earthquake in 2001.
Gen Dwivedi described late General BC Joshi as an epitome of professional soldiering and military leadership and has drawn inspiration from him. “His views were very focused on all the issues of defence and that inspired me to announce a decade of transformation of the Indian Army within seven days of my takeover. Gen Joshi said that he himself wanted to be a role model and it was better to play the game from within,” he said.
The COAS emphasised the role of the Indian Army in enhancing India’s global strategic influence, participating in UN peacekeeping missions, and expanding its defence diplomacy efforts through defence wings worldwide.
