In a first, INS Vikramaditya to host Combined Commanders' Conference next month

NEW DELHI: The Combined Commanders' Conference of the three services will be held next month onboard India's latest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in Kochi, which will the first venue outside the national capital to host the crucial defence meet.

The move came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address at the Combined Commanders' Conference here October last, suggested that the armed forces could organise such conferences on ships, or in forward area cantonments or air-bases, instead of only in New Delhi.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address annual Combined Commanders' Conference onboard India's latest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya on December 15," defence sources said.

Though the conference was originally scheduled to be held in October, it was postponed due to the Bihar elections.

Besides the Prime Minister, the conference will be attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and other senior members of the Cabinet.

The Combined Commanders' Conference, also known as the Unified Commanders' Conference, is crucial as national defence policy, doctrine and operational challenges are discussed in detail.

Exhorting the armed forces to be prepared for a "future where security challenges will be less predictable...threats may be known, but the enemy may be invisible", Modi had last time said "full-scale wars may become rare, but force will remain an instrument of deterrence and influencing behaviour, and the duration of conflicts will be shorter".