Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth on Wednesday stressed the need to speed up modernisation and laid out his five priorities, forming the acronym ‘VIJAY’, with each letter of the word signifying a key focus area.General Seth, who took over on Tuesday, inspected a guard of honour at the lawns of the South Block on Wednesday, after which he saluted his father Lt Gen KM Seth (retd), who was present in the audience.Gen Seth said the word ‘VIJAY’ stands for ‘Vigilance, Innovation and Transformation, Jointness and Integration, Atmanirbharta, and Yodha’. He said these priorities cover the entire gamut of tasks he has set out for the Army.The words ‘Atmanirbharta’ and ‘Yodha’ refer to self-reliance and soldier, respectively.Explaining ‘Vigilance’, the Army Chief said the force will maintain constant watch along borders and against emerging threats, ensuring a high level of operational readiness to respond effectively to any challenge to national security.On ‘Innovation and Transformation’, he said the focus will be on innovation in both doctrine and technological solutions. Innovation will remain integral to thinking, systems and capability development, while necessary transformations will be undertaken in line with the changing character of warfare.The letter ‘J’, standing for ‘Jointness and Integration’, will enhance operational effectiveness of the Indian Army and ensure complete synergy and coordination with the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy.He said national security is not limited to military strength alone but requires military-civil fusion. This integrated approach will also enable us to contribute to nation-building and the goal of a developed India by 2047.”The letter ‘A’ stands for ‘Atmanirbharta’. With indigenous capabilities and technologies developed within the country, the Army must build a self-reliant force. “To win our wars with indigenous solutions” will be the overall aim, he added.The final letter ‘Y’ stands for ‘Yodha’, Gen Seth said, adding that from the Agniveer to the senior-most veteran, each one is a yodha (warrior) and the greatest strength of the Army. He said enhancing the technological threshold and training standards of soldiers will remain a foremost priority.He added that veterans are an integral part of the Army family, and their welfare, empowerment and professional growth will remain important.Calling the Indian Army a combat-ready and battle-hardened force, he said it is fully prepared to meet every challenge in the operational domain.He further said that to respond to the evolving security environment, we must push modernisation with renewed energy and firm resolve, aiming to build a technology-enabled, future-ready force capable of operating across multiple domains.General Seth expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for reposing trust in him and entrusting him with the responsibility of leading the Indian Army.