Article Posted on : - Dec 15, 2015

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a group photograph onboard INS Vikramaditya on December 15, 2015. A PIB photo

KOCHI (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired the Combined Commanders Conference, an annual tri-services event, held for the first time outside New Delhi, on board aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya about 50 kms off Kochi coast.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, all three Services Chiefs and other senior officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force were present.

The Prime Minister was briefed about military issues during the conference which began at 10 am, defence sources said.

The Conference, also known as the Unified Commanders' Conference, is an occasion in which India's defence policy, doctrine and operational challenges are discussed in detail.

Before departing to INS Vikramaditya, Modi reviewed the tri-services guard of honour at the Southern Naval Command in Kochi.

Defence sources said such a significant conference is being organised outside the national capital following a suggestion by the Prime Minister last year that such conferences may be shifted from New Delhi to field areas of the three Services.