Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh,New Delhi- Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today made a strategic move by coming out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The issue is the outright purchase of 36 Rafale jets for the agreement regarding which was inked by Modi with the French government during his visit to the country. The deal has come under attack from the maverick BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.
He said Swamy’s attack on the much needed defence deal “is obviously for settling scores with the Prime Minister for not being taken into the cabinet” while asking, “Does his personal requirement come before that of the nation?”
Welcoming the government of India’s decision to buy the Rafale jets from France, Capt Amarinder Singh said, “For heaven’s sake put your personal agenda aside for a while, as this concerns the defence of the Nation”. He maintained the purchase of 36 jets, to equip two squadrons was crucial for strengthening the IAF, as were the others, which would follow.
“The Chinese air force has a 3:1 superiority over us, and against a minimum requirement of 45 squadrons the IAF has only 32”, the former Punjab Chief Minister turned military historian pointed out. Of these 32 are MIG 21s which were first introduced in 1965 and have outlived their lives.
Capt Amarinder Singh said, the country’s defence forces were badly short of modern and sophisticated equipment and weapons. He disclosed that the Armoured Corps had no fresh first line ammunition, the Infantry needed a new rifle, as the INSAS was not liked by the troops as they consider it ineffective.
“For the AK 47, used extensively on the counter infiltration grid we have to import ammunition as we are not making any in India”, he pointed out, adding, “all major armies of the world use the 155 Howitzer as the standard medium gun”.
“Is the Bofors controversy that much that this gun cannot be bought from other manufacturers, when it saved our bacon at Kargil and is badly needed by the army”, he asked. “The Chinese have a vast submarine fleet and we are yet in the planning stage! What about the state of our defence roads when China has four-laned roads and even railways, right up to our border, we have been waiting for these since 1962!”, he pointed out.
Capt Amarinder Singh asserted, “It is time that we all look to the defence of the nation, rather than playing politics. All three Services require the government’s urgent attention to make good their requirements”, he said and added, “Each year budgetary allocations are made for the Defence ministry and each year they lapse, as the decision making process goes in inactive, once again to the detriment of the nation”.
