Setting the tone for Military literature Festival (MlF) to be held in December, several war veterans and ex-servicemen on Tuesday came together with the start of a two-day session of military parley.

The former lt-Governor of Andaman and Nicobar and Puducherry Bhopinder Singh, in his opening address, described the fest as very good initiative by Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, which deserved to be made an annual affair.

He also said that the main purpose behind the Festival was to create awareness about the culture and ethos of the defence forces.

He said that during his career as an Army personnel, he had felt and seen the deep respect people had for the army, as was evident from the farmers helping army in 1965 war. He also said that the army not only performs its conventional duties but also comes to the aid of the civilian society whenever needed.

lt Gen VK Dhir (retd) said that technological innovations have been taking place in the army also in keeping with the changing times.

Underlining the need to master technology, he said that the man behind the machine today has to become tech savvy. He also dwelled on the need to develop military industrial complexes in the country to reduce dependency on importing weaponry, and rooted for more resources to be made available to the defence forces.

Brigadier RJS Dhillon spoke about Operation Cactus carried out by the Indian Army in the Maldives to save that country from coup, saying that the operation gave the Army confidence to launch operations at short notice. He described the operation as a perfect sync between political and military leadership.

Throwing light on the lessons of the Kargil war, Brigadier MPS Bajwa batted for keeping intelligence apparatus intact along with proper utilization of the resources.

Talking about the role of Indian Air Force during the 1971 war, Squadron leader DPS Gill VC threw light on the bombing operations carried out during the war and described the challenges faced by a bomber pilot during his days. Colonel MS Dahiya SC spoke about the Siachen Operation in 1984-85 and recalled the difficulties involved in operating on inhospitable terrain.