Jaitley hits out at Antony for lack of defence preparedness

Concerned over the country's "lack of defence preparedness", BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Monday said defence minister A K Antony's "failure" to take decisions was "primarily responsible" for it.

Concerned over the country's "lack of defence preparedness", BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Monday said defence minister A K Antony's "failure" to take decisions was "primarily responsible" for it.

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"Our defence procurement has hugely suffered," he wrote in his blog while hitting out at Antony. "His (Antony's) failure to take decisions is primarily responsible for this," he said.

"Today the geostrategic realities of India have changed. A Pakistan-China military axis has come in to existence.

China's increased assertiveness and Pakistan's unpredictability in border relations calls for India never to lower its guard," he said.

However, modernisation of defence equipment is woefully lacking, he said adding that obsolete technologies had to be replaced with the state of the art technologies.

"The gap between India's military superiority over Pakistan has somewhat narrowed down. No country with 15000 kms of international border can afford to rely on obsolete technologies," he said.

The recent tragedies involving Indian submarine flags the issue of obsolete Naval fleet, he said adding China continued to strengthen its border infrastructure, we have neglected ours.