Newly appointed Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday met the three service chiefs and assured of speedy procurement of defence equipments.
The newly sworn-in Defence Minister met Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Indian Navy Chief RK Dhowan, Air Force Chief Arup Raha.
Parrikar, who was sworn-in on Sunday asserted that all defence procurement process will not only be transparent, but will be fast.
Expressing concern over the naval accidents, the Defence Minister said, I am “equally worried” about the sinking of the torpedo recovery vessel off the coast of Vishakapatnam.
Earlier, today Parrikar filed his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections.
In 2012 Army Chief General VK Singh had written a letter to the Prime Minister, stating the country’s security might be at risk owing to the fact that tanks are running out of ammunition, air defence is going obsolete and the infantry is operating without critical weapons.
The retired Army chief had written the letter to former PM Manmohan Singh on March 12.
In the letter, the ex-Army chief had asked Dr Singh to “pass suitable directions to enhance the preparedness of the Army”.
“The state of the major (fighting) arms i.e. Mechanised Forces, Artillery, Air Defence, Infantry and Special Forces, as well as the Engineers and Signals, is indeed alarming,” Gen Singh wrote in his letter.
In his letter, the Army Chief stated that while there is lack of critical ammunition for the entire tank fleet, the country’s air defence is “97% obsolete and it doesn`t give the deemed confidence to protect…from the air”.
Also, the infantry is crippled with “deficiencies of crew served weapon” and lacks “night fighting” capabilities. Elite Special Forces, on the other hand, are “woefully short” of “essential weapons”.
