The Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three serving military chiefs will address an unprecedented press conference this evening.
The interaction with the media, scheduled for 6 pm, comes at a time when the whole country is under lockdown to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the first time the Chief of Defence Staff – a post created by the government to integrate the three wings of the armed forces and trim the weapons procurement process – and the three service chiefs are speaking together to the media.
Last week, General Rawat had said at a time when the nation is fighting COVID-19, the defence services “must operate beyond the mandate to support the people and government in whatever way we can.He had also said that “discipline and patience” had helped the defence services in checking the spreading of virus, adding that the novel coronavirus has affected Army, Air Force and Navy in a “limited manner”.
The country has been under lockdown for six weeks since March 25; there are expected to be considerable relaxations for many districts from Monday, while restrictions will continue in the “red zone”, or areas worst affected by COVID-19.
India has seen over 35,000 coronavirus cases so far and recorded 1,147 deaths.
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