India is fully prepared for any challenge: Antony

NEW DELHI: AK Antony
Minister for Indian Defence,
today, assured the nation
that India is “fully prepared”
in the event of a war.
Defence minister
A.K.Antony said the Indian
armed forces are prepared
for any challenge. He also
dismissed reports on lack of
ammunition as rumours.
“These are all rumours
that ammunition only for
four days is left in the stock.
India is well prepared,”
Antony told reporters on
the sidelines of an Indian
Air Force (IAF) function
here. Denying gaps in the
preparedness of the armed
forces, the Defence Minister
said, “I can assure that
India is fully prepared. On
the whole, the Indian armed
forces are better prepared to
face challenges.”
The defence minister’s
assertion came a day after
the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Defence, in
an extraordinary step, decided
to call the three service
chiefs to give an account of
the state of preparedness of
the forces against the backdrop
of Army Chief Gen VK
Singh speaking of shortages
and defi ciencies.
The decision to call the
Chiefs of Army, Air and
Navy before it on April 20
was part of an exercise to
understand the issue of defence
preparedness as the
panel was examining the
budgetary proposals of the
Defence Ministry for 2012-
13, sources said.
Antony himself had
been vocal about government’s
renewed emphasis
on defence procurement. He
asked the Army to streamline
its purchase process in
a manner that accountability
can be fi xed in the event
of slippages. Antony also
asked offi cials of the defence
ministry and the Army
to examine the possibility of
compressing the time taken
for technical evaluations
and trials.
The Army Chief had
kicked up a huge row by
disclosing that a bribe offer
was made to him by a
retired offi cer. The situation
turned critical after the leak
of a secret letter from him to
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on gaps in defence
preparedness.