If we have to prepare for future, we have to change: NSA Ajit Doval on Agnipath

New Delhi: As protests against the new military recruitment scheme Agnipath continue to rage across states, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday said in the future we are heading towards a scenario where there will be contactless wars against invisible enemies and the country needs a young fit and agile army.

“The whole war is undergoing a great change. We are going toward contactless wars and also going towards the war against the invisible enemy. Technology is taking over at a rapid pace. If we have to prepare for tomorrow, then we have to change,” Doval said in an interview with ANI.

The NSA said that security is a dynamic concept and it cannot remain static. “It is only in relation to the environment in which we have to protect our national interest and national assets,” he said.

“There is a need to look at it (The Agnipath Scheme) from a perspective. Agnipath is not a standalone scheme in itself. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, one of his prime priorities was how to make India secure and strong. That required many avenues, many steps – a multitude of them,” he said.

Speaking about the priority accorded by the government to modernise and update the military infrastructure, the National Security Advisor said, “Broadly speaking, they come under the four heads. It requires equipment, it requires a change in systems and structures, it requires a change in technology, it requires a change in manpower, policies and they have to be futuristic,” he added.

The “transformative” Agnipath scheme, announced by Union Minister Rajnath Singh on June 14, in the presence of the three service chiefs provides for the recruitment into the Armed services of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-a-half-years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

The Centre later extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022.

Several states across the country have been witnessing violent protests since the scheme was announced
The Army, Navy and the Air Force on Sunday came out with a broad schedule for recruitment of soldiers under the Agnipath scheme while asserting that it is being implemented to bring down the age profile of the armed forces.