New Delhi: Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat warned that the situation in the future may develop into biological warfare and the nations need to be prepared to counter such a scenario. He was addressing a curtain raiser event of the disaster management exercise involving BIMSTEC member countries on December 7.
“Another issue I would like to highlight is, this is becoming a new kind of warfare… If biological warfare is beginning to take shape, we need to put our act together and strengthen ourselves to ensure our nations are not affected by these viruses and diseases,” CDS Rawat said.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
The CDS pointed out that the armed forces of the world have to make special preparations to counter disasters as during COVID-19, it could be seen that the defense forces were used by every nation to reach out and help their civilian population.
Countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India are participating in the exercise. “If it is going to mutate in other forms, we have to remain prepared for it,” Rawat warned.
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane also warned about the emergence of new variants and resurgence of cases which suggests that COVID-19 is far from over.
The Curtain Raiser Event was held in New Delhi. The exercise is planned to be conducted from December 20-22 at Pune.
