At Bagdogra airbase, Rajnath Singh asks forces to stay at highest readiness

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the armed forces to stay at the highest level of readiness, warning that India’s adversaries now prefer to probe for weak spots rather than fight in the open. He was speaking to personnel at the Bagdogra Air Force Station in north Bengal on Saturday, 7 November.

Mr. Singh did not name any country. He said the nature of the threat had changed: an opponent that avoids direct confrontation looks for gaps to exploit, and the forces must close those gaps before they are tested. That, he said, calls for constant awareness of what is happening in every domain, from land and air to cyberspace, for systems that can withstand cyber attacks, and for protection against false information. He warned that misinformation spread on social media could target people living in border areas as well as soldiers themselves.

He also stressed new technology, including drones and systems to counter them, and equipment made by Indian industry. During the visit he reviewed the Army’s infrastructure and operational preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, and praised the forces’ outreach to local communities.

Why the location matters

Bagdogra sits beside the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land only about 20 km wide at its narrowest that connects the north-eastern States with the rest of India. Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh are a short distance away, and the Doklam plateau, where Indian and Chinese troops faced each other for 73 days in 2017, lies to the north. Military planners have long counted the corridor among the country’s most sensitive points.

The minister’s call for vigilance comes while India and China are working to keep their border calm. Since an agreement in October 2024 on patrolling at Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh, the two countries have pulled back troops at those points and resumed several high-level contacts.