India / Armymen shown in Indian films as 'khadoos' fathers of heroines: Army chief

New Delhi: Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane on Friday expressed confidence in the Indian Army and said that in face of challenges at both western and north borders it continues to stand ‘strong and tall’. The Army chief also said that he firmly believes that wars are not fought between two armies but two nations.

His remarks come after both Indian and Chinese armies said that they completed the disengagement process and restored the status quo at the Gogra friction point in eastern Ladakh. Naravane was speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations (1971-2021) of the Television Wing of the Film and Television Institute of India.

Naravane said that ‘exigencies’ at the western and northern borders have increased amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Naravane also started his two-day visit to production facilities of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Tata Motors in Pune, Maharashtra. He will be visiting Indian Navy's airbase INS Hansa in Goa on Saturday.

While speaking at the event, Naravane said that Indian cinema and television have immortalised the role of the army. He, on a lighter note said, that he found the portrayal of Indian (armed forces) officers in the films slightly stereotyped in Indian cinema. “The beautiful heroine's father is always a 'khadoos' (rude, snobbish) colonel, wearing a silk gown with whisky in one hand and a shotgun in the other. That really intrigues me,” Naravane was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.