Army Chief meets Antony to ‘clear the air’

Mar 08, 2012 |

Asian Age

New Delhi

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Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. V.K. Singh on Wednesday met defence minister A.K. Antony in the backdrop of the Army Headquarters recently dismissing anonymous allegations of unauthorised snooping.

While speculation was rife earlier in the day that Gen. Singh could be considering stepping down immediately, sources on Wednesday said there was no question of Gen. Singh stepping down before his scheduled day of retirement (May 31). “Any talk of Gen. Singh resigning is also baseless,” sources said.

The Army Headquarters had earlier described the 'baseless' allegations of unauthorised snooping as an attempt by some to “create mistrust between the Army and MoD”. The meeting between Gen. Singh and Mr Antony therefore could be interpreted as one where Gen. Singh could have cleared the air. “The Army’s view — on these baseless allegations — could have been put forth to the minister and discussed,” said a source.

Sources in the ministry of defence (MoD) said Mr Antony and Gen. Singh discussed operational issues pertaining to the Army. Army sources described the meeting as a 'routine' one.

Meanwhile, the Army chief-designate and current Eastern Command chief Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh also met Gen. V.K. Singh on Wednesday. Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh will take over as the COAS on May 31. The Army Headquarters had earlier stated that allegations “maligning the Army is a fabricated fiction and people responsible are some disgruntled officers, retired and serving, whose sole aim is to create mistrust between the Army and MoD”.

The Army Headquarters had also stated that 'some disgruntled serving officers of the military intelligence against whom disciplinary and administrative action is in the pipeline' had conspired in this effort. Apart from this controversy, the Army is also pressing for swifter modernisation of its equipment and armaments and has already taken up the matter with the MoD.

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