Army chief exposes Mulayam's tall claims

Army chief General Shankar Roychowdhury has inadvertently exposed Union Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's bluff -- that funds crunch would not come in the way of India's urgent defence requirements.

Yadav had claimed that Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram assured him that funds will flow to maintain the ''cutting edge of India's military might''.

The army chief's informal chat with the media on Thursday, however, showed that the country's top leadership has been making misleading statements.

''New acquisitions by the armed forces and their modernisation have suffered for want of adequate resources,'' said General Roychowdhury who lays down office on Tuesday.

Juxtaposed with recent reports -- that the Centre issued a circular recently, asking the ministry officials to suspend negotiations on defence deals -- the army chief's statement creates grave doubts. Sources said the government was forced to take the decision because of the resource crunch.

It is not clear whether the freeze would affect Yadav's proposed visit to Russia, where he is expected to finalise several deals including the purchase of three frigates, two submarines, four KA-30 helicopters with an early warning system, 152-mm rocket launchers and T-72 tanks.

Despite such constraints, the army chief said nobody can ''dictate terms to India. It is our writ that runs in India.''

EARLIER REPORT:
Funds will flow to maintain Indian military's 'cutting edge'