Click to play videoNew Delhi: The parliamentary standing committee on defence on Monday asked the three service chiefs to appear before it on April 20 on the issue of defence preparedness. The development follows Army Chief General V K Singh's leaked letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a series of CNN-IBN reports.
According to sources, the panel also questioned the Defence Secretary and the Vice Chief on the issue of preparedness.
After clarifications from the Defence Secretary and the Army on the much hyped January 16 troop movement, the panel agreed that it was a shut case.
The Defence Secretary backed by the Vice Chief called the troop movement wrong inference and conjectures.
It was the gaping holes in India's defence capabilities flagged off by the Army Chief's leaked letter to the Prime Minister and CNN-IBN's reports on preparedness that caught the committee's attention.
According to sources, the 30-member panel was angry at the critical levels that some ammunition had reached and asked the defence establishment how soon the situation could be remedied.
The committee was assured by the Defence Secretary and the Vice Chief that critical ammunition below inventory levels was being acquired expeditiously.
The operational gaps have also forced the panel to ask the top brass if India was prepared for a war on two fronts.
The Parliamentary panel also questioned the Vice Air Chief and the Defence Secy on the lack of trainer jets which were putting the Indian Air Force's training schedules in a tizzy.
The Committee was assured that the acquisition was being speeded up.
It is not the first time that a Parliament panel has raised critical questions on procurements procedures. Several years have been spent on deliberations. The question now is – will the issues be addressed and responsibilities be fixed?
A larger more comprehensive meeting with the three Service Chiefs in attendance on April 20 could give some answers.
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