http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3299573.ece?homepage=true
Dismissing as
“rumours” reports about shortage of certain tanks ammunition, Defence Minister
A. K. Antony today said there will always be “shortcomings” but the country was
in a much stronger position as compared to the past.
“These are all
rumours. I can assure you that the country is fully prepared. India
There will always be
some shortcomings and that is also in the process. We can’t expect 100 per cent
requirements to be fulfilled and also that entire force is not on the front.
They are all spread over,” he told reporters in New Delhi
The minister was
commenting on news reports suggesting that only four days of ammunition was
left with the Army’s armoured regiments, on the sidelines of the two-day IAF
Commanders’ Conference.
In his letter written
to the Prime Minister in March, Army Chief Gen. V. K. Singh had also pointed
out that armoured regiments were facing a critical shortage of ammunition.
On the issue of the
decision of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence to call the three
service chiefs to brief it about defence preparedness, Mr. Antony said, “I am
not the man to decide. This decision relates to the Standing Committee”.
On the IAF conference,
the Defence Minister expressed happiness over the fact that the Air Force had
concluded 317 capital acquisition contracts worth over Rs. 1.11 lakh crore in
the last five years.
“We are also very
confident about our preparedness. Some new platforms have already started coming
and more will come in the near future,” he said.
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