Army chief General VK Singh's aggressive stance over various issues in the last few months is likely to go against the interests of the Army.
In the decades-old battle between civilian officers in the ministry of defence and the uniformed officers of the defence forces, it seems that the balance will remain tilted towards the civilian babus. It is now more or less certain that the United Progressive Alliance government is unlikely to yield much ground in the ministry of defence to the uniformed officers of the military.
A top government official and a senior functionary of the nation's security set-up told rediff.com, "After all that General Singh has done in recent times, it is highly unlikely that the political leadership will give the green signal to allow uniformed officers of the Army to be posted at a higher level in the ministry of defence."
That is "not possible after what General Singh has been doing," added the official.
He added that Task Force on National Security, headed by retired civil servant and former ambassador to the United States Naresh Chandra, was doing a good job.
Members of the Task Force have travelled across India to receive first-hand information on security issues, and are in the process of preparing the final reports.
The political mood is not in favour of initiating a new trend of appointing officers from the defence forces in decision-making bodies which affect issues concerning defence services, purchase of weapons and high-tech combative systems.
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