NEW DELHI: Shortcomings and defects in the vast Indian army behemoth are out in the open. A top secret letter written by India's army general V K Singh to the prime minister Manmohan Singh earlier this month, leaked to the media has detailed all that is wrong with the Indian army and its chronic shortcomings. The revelations have triggered a furor in the Indian parliament with some law makers demanding the sacking of the general. While the defense minister A K Antony told the Parliament on Wednesday that strict action would be taken against those who leaked the ‘Top Secret' letter to the media. “I have made serious note of the observations … After consulting the Prime Minister and colleagues, we will take appropriate action… these issues are under the consideration of the Ministry of Defense. By very nature of these issues, they cannot be a matter of public debate,” Antony said, after Parliament resumed after initial disruption of proceedings. According to the published contents of Singh's letter written to the prime minister on March 12 – which have been confirmed by Antony – the Indian army is certainly not in shipshape. The general had lamented that the Indian army's entire tank fleet was “devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks,” its air defense systems were “97 percent obsolete.” The status of the infantry “is crippled with deficiencies of crew served weapon” and lacked required capabilities for “night fighting.” The top army official had also complained of shoddy and suspect procedures for procurement of arms and spares for the largest standing volunteer army in the world. Singh who is scheduled to retire in May this year had also claimed on Sunday that a former retired high-ranking official had tried to bribe him with $2.7 million to purchase sub standard vehicles for the Indian army. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/6iIhc Tags: Army, featured, India, Public, Report Section: Latest News, South Asia
