The Mechanised Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, comprising 27 battalions dispersed under various armoured formations throughout India. Together with the 21 battalions of Brigade of the Guards, they form part of the Mechanised Infantry arm, which along with the Armoured Corps form the Mechanised Forces. History The Mechanised Infantry Regiment is one of the youngest regiments in the army and was the mastermind of General K Sundarji, who had the foresight to cater to the needs of a modern army. After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, a need was felt to give infantry battalions greater mobility, especially when operating with armoured formations. In 1969, 1st Madras became the first infantry unit to be equipped with the armoured personnel carrier (APC) TOPAS. In 1970, nine more of the oldest battalions from various infantry regiments were equipped with APCs, these included TOPAS, SKOT and BTR-60. These battalions remained affiliated with their erstwhile Infantry Regiments and Regimental Centres and did not form a separate regiment. Eventually, fourteen old infantry battalions were mechanised. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, some of these battalions saw action as part of combat groupings with armoured units for the first time. The APCs were replaced with BMP-1 Infantry Combat Vehicles between 1977 and 1978. The need for something more concrete and viable was felt, along with a need to develop a common battle and training philosophy with regards to the type of tactics. This necessitated the raising a totally new arm in the Indian Army, resulting in the various mechanised battalions being brought together under a single cap badge as the Mechanised Infantry Regiment, which was raised with fourteen battalions on 2 April 1979 and the affairs of the regiment were transferred from Directorate General of Infantry to Armoured Corps Directorate, which was renamed the Directorate General Mechanised Forces in 1986. Gen K Sundarji was appointed the first Colonel of the Mechanised Infantry Regiment, the post he held till his retirement. The regiment saw a rapid expansion in the 1980s. Mechanised infantry battalions numbered 15 to 26 have been raised on all-India mixed class composition, unlike the older units, which were single class ones. The only exception was 20 Rajput, which joined the regiment as the 24th battalion in April 1992. The Mechanised Infantry Regiment has been involved in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, Operation Rakshak in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir and