| Summary/Abstract |
The mellow rays of the winter sun glinted off the Drum Major’s mace as the colourfully attired pipes and drums band marched past the Chief of the Army Staff to the stirring strains of Deshon ka Sartaj Bharat at the end of the Army Day parade. In the speech that followed, the Chief exhorted the Army to be vigilant and prepared to resolutely face the challenges being constantly posed by the neighbour across the western border. The speech was telecast live to the nation and to almost half a million men deployed all along the border, waiting in a state of full readiness in strike corps concentration areas, following a major terrorist strike that led to the breakdown of diplomatic relations. As the Chief walked across to join the foreign diplomats and other guests for tea, his Military Attaché (MA) received a message on his secure cellular phone that the Command Information and Decision Support System had gone on the blink since 0945 hours and that the systems engineers were working furiously to get it operational again. The MA decided to keep the news to himself for the time being and posted an aide de camp to keep in touch with the Military Operations Directorate at the Army Headquarters.
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