40 years later women could stand where I am now, says Army chief at NDA passing out parade

Stating that the induction of women in National Defence Academy (NDA) is a step towards gender equality Army chief General MM Naravane on Friday said that "Forty years down the line they (women) could be standing where I am standing now."

His remarks came after reviewing the passing out parade at the National Defence Academy in Pune.

Speaking to reporters after the event, General Naravane said, "As we go ahead, we shall be inducting women cadets into NDA (in Pune) and I am sure they will perform as well as the men cadets. It's just the 1st step towards gender equality and Army has always been at forefront of all such initiatives that have taken place in the country".

"As a result, they will also get empowered to hold more challenging assignments in the Indian armed forces. It's not that we don't have women officers already undergoing training. We have women cadets at Officers Training Academy, Chennai where they're doing exceedingly well" he added.

When asked if there will be a difference in the training of the women cadets after their induction at NDA, the Army chief said, "The training session will remain the same as we are already following the same regime at Officers Training Academy in Chennai where scouts do all the training together."

The army chief also laid stress upon India's strength in terms of technological warfare saying it is in no way behind any developing or developed country.

"The character of war has been changing over the years and over the years technology has come to play a more and more important role in the way wars are. That will always be the way forward. As far as induction of technology into the armed forces are concerned I would like to reiterate that we are no way behind as compared to any developed or developing country in the world. We have the best equipment that is available," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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