Defence preparedness: Three services chiefs to appear before parliamentary panel

NEW DELHI: The parliamentary standing committee on defence has asked the 3 service chiefs to appear before it on April 20 on the issue of defence preparedness.

The appearance of three service chiefs before the parliamentary panel comes weeks after a letter from Army chief Gen V K Singh to PM Manmohan Singh was leaked.

Army chief General V K Singh had painted a grim picture of the operational capabilities of his 1.13-million strong force in his letter to the PM, grappling as it is with tanks running out of ammunition, obsolete air defence systems and lack of adequate weaponry for infantry and special forces battalions.

Asking the PM to "pass suitable directions to enhance the Army's preparedness", Gen Singh in his March 12 letter had said that the state of the major fighting arms was "indeed alarming" and indirectly blamed the long-winded arms procurement process and the recalcitrant bureaucracy for it.

The letter pointed out that the Army's tank regiments were "devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks", while the existing air defence systems cannot effectively protect against enemy air attacks since they are "97% obsolete".