Antony seeks hike in defence outlay
9 May 2012 1:40 AM GMT
If throwing money to a problem gives an impression of solving the problem, the defence ministry has done that. It has sought Rs 45,716 crore from the finance ministry as additional resources over and above the Rs 1.93 lakh crore they were accorded in the Union Budget 2012-13. Defence minister A K Antony stated this in the upper house of Parliament on Tuesday while replying to a one-day debate on the country’s defence posture.
The extra cash will be spent on raising a Corps and two division strength of forces to be, deployed in the Northeast. The two divisions, in fact, are already operational in the area. A reactive Antony is now seeking to reinforce the force strengths after China, the main adversary in that part of the operational theatre, has already bolstered much of its position in southern Tibet. They are now concentrated in the regions around India’s Northeastern boundaries.
The minister, however, have poured water on the expectations that the Siachen glacier could be de-militarised after all the talk from across the western border. Pakistan president Asaf Ali Zardari and its army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had expressed the intent to walk the extra mile to help in allaying India’s fears about vacating the spot. New Delhi has sought that Pakistan authenticates the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) that demarcates the area before any troop withdrawal. The Pakistan side had earlier refused to do it.
The 13th round of defence secretary-level talks between the two countries will be held in the second week of June, about which Antony has already prognosticated that one should not 'expect too much'.
Considering the number of defence scandals under Antony’s watch that have surfaced, many had expected that he would dwell on them at length and explain why his ministry is not being able to pre-empt them. But, Antony merely explained how he had gone with the counsel of Gen V K Singh in not taking action against the former Defence Intelligence Agency chief Lt Gen (Retd) Tejinder Singh, when the latter offered the bribe to the army chief.
The good part of the minister’s speech in Parliament was in the story of the Indian Navy gaining more muscle to project its power in greater parts of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. While he reported that the Russian nuclear-powered sub marine, renamed INS Chakra has already joined the Indian navy, the force will get the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya, and the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant next year.
The defence minister told the Rajya Sabha that beginning 2013, the navy will get five new warships every year which will help in modernising country's naval fleet.
Interestingly while commenting on the recent test launch of 'long-range' Agni V nuclear missile – the quaint way the Defence Research and Development Organisation describes the Inter-continental Ballistic Missile – the defence minister said, 'Now they are aiming for going further.'
The extra cash will be spent on raising a Corps and two division strength of forces to be, deployed in the Northeast. The two divisions, in fact, are already operational in the area. A reactive Antony is now seeking to reinforce the force strengths after China, the main adversary in that part of the operational theatre, has already bolstered much of its position in southern Tibet. They are now concentrated in the regions around India’s Northeastern boundaries.
The minister, however, have poured water on the expectations that the Siachen glacier could be de-militarised after all the talk from across the western border. Pakistan president Asaf Ali Zardari and its army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had expressed the intent to walk the extra mile to help in allaying India’s fears about vacating the spot. New Delhi has sought that Pakistan authenticates the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) that demarcates the area before any troop withdrawal. The Pakistan side had earlier refused to do it.
The 13th round of defence secretary-level talks between the two countries will be held in the second week of June, about which Antony has already prognosticated that one should not 'expect too much'.
Considering the number of defence scandals under Antony’s watch that have surfaced, many had expected that he would dwell on them at length and explain why his ministry is not being able to pre-empt them. But, Antony merely explained how he had gone with the counsel of Gen V K Singh in not taking action against the former Defence Intelligence Agency chief Lt Gen (Retd) Tejinder Singh, when the latter offered the bribe to the army chief.
The good part of the minister’s speech in Parliament was in the story of the Indian Navy gaining more muscle to project its power in greater parts of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. While he reported that the Russian nuclear-powered sub marine, renamed INS Chakra has already joined the Indian navy, the force will get the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya, and the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant next year.
The defence minister told the Rajya Sabha that beginning 2013, the navy will get five new warships every year which will help in modernising country's naval fleet.
Interestingly while commenting on the recent test launch of 'long-range' Agni V nuclear missile – the quaint way the Defence Research and Development Organisation describes the Inter-continental Ballistic Missile – the defence minister said, 'Now they are aiming for going further.'
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