Tag: Defense Minister

India, China hold Flag Meeting

The Flag Meeting took place on a day when Indian Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurien Antony had some tough words for the intruders at the Unified Commanders Conference of the Indian armed forces.

Changes announced in Defense Procurement Procedure

These changes are skewed to favor and encourage defense industry in India, some of which appear to have been influenced by reactions to corruption scandals. Do have a look at the list of changes, copied and pasted, verbatim, from the defense ministry press release.

Defense Ministry moves to overhaul pensions

Defense Minister A.K. Antony directed orders to be issued by the end of this month for the payment of increased pensions for personnel who retired before 2006 at a cost of INR 2,300 crore, by March 31, 2013, which is expected to affected over two million veterans.

Top Gun Saraswat

DRDO head, Dr. V.K. Saraswat, took a backseat ride in the Swedish Saab’s Gripen C/D aircraft on the sidelines of the Aerospace Forum held at Linköping, Sweden, last week.

IMI to challenge blacklisting in court

In a statement issued on Thursday, the company said, “In all of its R&D and supply programs in India IMI has always acted legally, ethically, and in full compliance with its established corporate policy which mandates ethical business dealings.”

BAE Systems ready to help India build Bofors guns

Dean McCumiskey, Managing Director and Chief Executive of BAE Systems’ India operations told StratPost his company would be open to discussing any question of technical assistance the OFB might require, in its attempt to execute the designs and technology documentation transferred to it as part of the old Bofors howitzer procurement.

Combative Indian Army chief leaves age row open

Asked if he would indeed resign, Singh retorted: “Please leave it to my judgement on what I want to do. It concerns me and I may decide on my action after thinking over it whenever I get the time.” Soon, another question popped up: Is this your last Army Day press conference as army chief? General Singh’s enigmatic reply: “I don’t know.”

Army’s artillery buy in a confused mess

In the background of these challenges and the defence ministry’s inaction on a decision to blacklist the Singapore-based company, the OFB mandate should not become an excuse for lack of movement on the procurement of artillery by the army. Already, the ministry has been reported to have indicated it cannot move on the procurement as the matter is sub judice. At the same time, it has not decided the issue either, as is evident from the observations of the court. This has held up the acquisition of crucial types of artillery again, after the multiple cancellation of tenders since the Bofors buy.

Letter on army chief my personal opinion: Amarinder

In a clarification issued here after it was reported that Former Punjab chief minister, Amarinder Singh had favored correcting the birth records of the army chief in a letter to letter he wrote to Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony, the state Congress president said he had written the letter about a month ago putting forth his “opinion on the issue” only in his “personal capacity”.

India-China defence dialogue resumed; border mechanism gets a push

The fourth round of ADD, held after nearly two years, was led by India’s Defense Secretary Shashikant Sharma and Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Deputy Chief of General Staff General Ma Xiaotian. The two sides also discussed defense exchanges for 2012 and agreed to “gradually enhance” the range and scope of their interaction, according to Indian defense ministry officials.

Antony leaves for Japan to further defense relations

Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony Tuesday left for Japan on a daylong visit where he is expected to explore opportunities for furthering the bilateral military relations in global and regional security matters, maritime security, anti-piracy operations, counter-terrorism and humanitarian assistance.