Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai: Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai has now been promoted to the post of Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy), which is one of the top leadership roles in the Indian Army. This is a very important position, and it shows the trust and responsibility given to him. Even after this promotion, he will continue with his current duty as the Director General of Military Operations.
That means he will now handle both the strategic planning and the daily operational activities of the Army. While he takes care of strategy, the other section, called Security, will continue reporting to the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Security).
Lt Gen Ghai has served the Indian Army for many years and was first commissioned into the Kumaon Regiment in 1989. Over time, he has taken up many important roles. One of his key postings was as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Chinar Corps, which looks after operations in the Kashmir region. He has a lot of experience in counter insurgency and leading from the front during critical military missions.
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India’s Strong Defence System Praised
After the recent Operation Sindoor, Lt Gen Ghai spoke to the media and strongly praised India’s air defence system.Rajiv Ghai shared how Pakistan’s air force could not break India’s defence when they tried to attack Indian airfields and logistic bases on May 9 and 10. He said that India’s defensive system is built with different types of protection working together.
He explained that the system includes special technologies like Counter unmanned Aerial Systems, air defence weapons, and electronic warfare tools. These all work together like a team to stop any enemy threats.
According to Business Standard, he said “In our inventory, we have a unique mixture of Counter unmanned Aerial System, Air Defence Weapons and mediums of electronic warfare, and that is why you saw when Pakistan air force attacked our airfield and logistic installation on May 9 and 10, they failed to breach this strong air defence grid.”
Lt Gen Ghai also shared how India’s system has many layers of protection. He said, “You can see how many layers, counters, unmanned aerial systems, behind that shoulder-fired weapons and our vintage air defence weapons and in the last our modern air defence weapons system. There was no chance that Pakistan could’ve broken our multi-layered defence system and targeted our airfield and logistic installation.”
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To make people understand the strength of this defence better, he gave a fun example from cricket history. He spoke about how in the 1970s, during the Ashes series between Australia and England, two Australian bowlers kept getting England’s players out again and again.
He said, “Targetting our airfields and logistics is way too tough… I saw that Virat Kohli has just retired from test cricket; he is one of my favourites. In the 1970s, during the Ashes between Australia and England, two Australian bowlers destroyed the batting lineup of England, and then Australia gave a proverb — ‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Thommo don’t get ya, Lillee must,’” and then added, “If you see the layers, you’ll understand what I am trying to say. Even if you crossed all the layers, one of the layers of this grid system will hit you.”
Just recently on June 4, President Droupadi Murmu awarded Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai with the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal. This honour is given to officers for their outstanding leadership and services during military operations.
