Gen Dhiraj Seth Gajraj Corps visit on Thursday put the Chief of the Army Staff in front of the formation's operational preparedness and combat readiness, a day after he finished with the Trishakti Corps and the Spear Corps.

Three formations in three days.

The Eastern Command tour that ran on 14 and 15 July carried him from the Siliguri Corridor into the North East. Gajraj Corps, headquartered at Tezpur, is the next formation on that list. Its ground runs across Assam and up into the Arunachal Pradesh sector, and it sits under the same Command.

What the briefing covered

Units and formations of Eastern Command in the area walked the COAS through the prevailing security situation, operational readiness and capability development. He also went through the measures the formation has taken to hold peace and stability in the region. The Army's statement does not break that down further, and it does not name the sectors covered, so what was shown to him in the map room stays inside it.

None of it is new ground for him. He has been asking the same questions since 30 June.

Gen Dhiraj Seth Gajraj Corps and the civil grid

The Corps briefed him on how closely it works with the civil administration and the Central Armed Police Forces. Developmental initiatives, community outreach and sustained assistance to local authorities were all on the list, which is the standard shape of a Corps briefing in the North East and tells you what the formation spends its time on when nothing is happening.

Assam and Meghalaya

He commended the formation for its contribution to internal security in the two states, and for the speed with which it has turned out for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

That second line carries more than it reads. The Brahmaputra valley floods every monsoon, and the Indian Army column is often the first organised body of men on the embankment. That reflex is not in the release, but it is why the line is in it.

Troops

Interacting with the troops, Gen Dhiraj Seth lauded their professionalism, high morale and commitment to duty.

He appreciated the formation's innovative approach and its adoption of emerging technologies to lift operational capability, a theme he has carried into every review since taking over as the 31st Chief. His VIJAY framework puts technology absorption and jointness near the front of it.

The exhortation

The COAS asked all ranks to stay mission focused, strengthen inter agency synergy and hold the highest standards of operational preparedness against emerging security challenges in an evolving multi domain environment.

Inter agency synergy is the operative phrase for a formation whose daily business in Assam and Meghalaya runs alongside the CAPFs and the state police rather than against a line on a map. On the Line of Control, which he had been looking at a week earlier on his first Northern Command tour, the grid is a military one. Here it is not, and the Corps is judged on how well it works with people who do not wear its uniform.