PM upset over Army chief's action, govt weighing options

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Asking Army Chief Gen V.K. Singh to go on forced leave is one of the options before the Government, which is more than upset over the leakage of his letter to the Prime Minister projecting the country's defence preparedness in poor light.

A minister who declined to be identifed said as of now there are only two options before the Government 'tolerate the Army Chief till his retirement due in the next two months or force him to go on leave'.

'Not thinking of drastic steps'

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is upset over the Army chief's action but the government was not thinking of any drastic step as it was not seeing the issue in terms of an officer but in terms of an office.

'No sacking' was the refrain of another senior minister, who said that the General has violated Army discipline by writing directly to the Prime Minister and not through the Defence Minister. Incidentally, Gen. Singh had done a similar thing during the row over his age.

The latest controversy was the worst thing that could have happened to the government at a time when it was hosting leaders of the BRICS nations including China.

The Prime Minister held deliberations with Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Home Minister P. Chidambaram in Parliament as the issue rocked the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday morning.

Antony also held discussions on the matter with the NSA separately.

The government's view in the matter will be crystalized when the issue is expected to come up in Lok Sabha on Thursday. The General's actions are the result of his failure to get one more year in service is the view of the government. Minister of Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi put it more succintly.

"I do not know what is the issue. I have not seen the letter. The Army is a disciplined force. (He) could not get an extension even by the court. May be a frustrated man suffers," Ravi said.

Former Army Chiefs Gen V.P. Malik and Gen. Shankar Roy Chowdhury too voiced concern over the leak and the contents.

'Pakistan must be laughing'

"It is a matter of great, great concern...no wonder Pakistan must be laughing all the way." said Gen. Chowdhury.

Gen Malik said given the nature of sensitive issues raised by Gen. Singh it should not have been made public.

'Crippled and deficient'

"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," Singh wrote in the letter.

The army's entire tank fleet is 'devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks', while the air defence system is '97% obsolete and it doesn't give the deemed confidence to protect... from the air', he wrote.

The infantry is crippled with 'deficiencies' and lacks night fighting equipment, while the elite special forces are 'woefully short' of 'essential weapons'.

Reacting to the letter, Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju said the gaps in the capabilities of armed forces and efforts are on to bridge these quickly.

Incredibly, Raju also said the defence ministry has utilised the entire budget allocated to it in the last three years.