Top land force officials of about 30 countries will come together to forge better understanding and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region (IPR) during two-day long conferences India and US Armies will be co-hosting in the national capital late next month to address heightened strategic uncertainty in the region largely due to the continued provocation from China.

Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference (IPACC), Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS), Senior Enlisted Leaders Forum (SELF) will be separately held at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi Cantonment, from September 25-26 for ascertaining multilateral security partnership in the region, said sources in the Indian Army.

The important event, said Army officials, takes place regularly to thrash out differences, build trust and better communication among professional armies for a free and open Indo-Pacific. It also attempts at promoting peace and stability in the IPR by the way of pushing mutual understanding and friendship, they observed.

Chief-of-Staff of US Army, General James C McConville, along with his delegation, will be present for the three events that he will co-host along with Chief of Indian Army Staff General Manoj Pande. This will be 13th IPACC, 47th IPAMS and 9th SELF.

Deputy Commanding General of United States Army Pacific Lt Gen James B Jarrard came down recently to India and met GOC Delhi Area, Lt General Dhiraj Seth to oversee preparations for the multilateral engagements. Army officials stated that exact number of land forces delegates from Indo Pacific countries is not yet known since it’s early and the process of seeking confirmations have not been exhausted so far. But, it is learnt that Army officials from about 30 countries are expected to participate though nearly 40 nations — such as Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand — make up for the Indo Pacific region.

The IPR is spread over six of the most populated countries in the world including India, China and Indonesia. The region also accommodates seven of 10 largest armies. Other than border contentions and sovereignty concerns, the multilateral events will also address other security challenges emerging out of terrorism, natural disasters and climate change.

The gathering of senior officials of the armies comes at a time when India is negotiating border issues with China along the LAC in eastern Ladakh following Galwan face off in May of 2020. The 19th round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China took place at Chushul on August 14 to break the logjam over disengagement from Depsang Plains and Demchok owing to Beijing’s stand that it predates Galwan faceoff. But, not much headway has been made despite the fact that the Corps Commanders from both the sides met more than once since then. Not just India, others in the Indo Pacific grouping are also warry of China’s expansionist design.

The previous IPACC took place in 2019 to discuss ‘Environmental Impacts on Land and Littoral Operations’ given that its a bi-annual conference while Bangladesh Army was the host for IPAMS last year where the deliberations was focussed on “Prospects and Challenges in Maintaining Peace and Security in the Indo-Pacific”.

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