India had to pay a heavy price for having an incompetent Defence Minister A K Antony for too long a tenure. His competence had ensured that India’s military capability touch the rock-bottom.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s trusted lieutenant, Antony’s initiatives to ‘stop corruption in defence deals’ had created hurdles in the way of modernisation of the armed forces and upgradation of inventory. During his tenure, the morale of the Armed forces was at its lowest, thanks to his uninspiring leadership and his defence secretary’s idiosyncrasies who used to malign the Army at every possible opportunity. Possibly the only contribution the most ‘honest’ Defence Minister might have made is, he presided over some of the biggest scams like Augusta Westland. During his tenure, precious little has been done to add to the country’s military muscle.
It was during his tenure that a no-nonsense naval chief Admiral D K Joshi had resigned in protest against the supply of inferior quality equipment which resulted in the loss of lives of men during peace time operations. The Indian Navy was operating with antique submarines and outdated warships. Air Force had declared that it can’t handle a ‘two-front’ situation if such a case arose.
While Antony was only interested in protecting his so-called ‘honest’ image, corrupt bureaucrats in his ministry were indulging in deals endangering the safety and security of the nation. For instance, classified files pertaining to Indian Air Force from the Ministry landed in the hands of American agents through a middle man. Similarly, the ‘bogus coup’ happened when he was at the helm of affairs but no investigation whatsoever was done.
The real reason behind the humiliation India suffered post Balakot airstrikes is because of the inaction of Antony, unfortunately the longest serving Defence Minister of India.
Meanwhile, Antony has advised the government to deal with China carefully in the wake of skirmishes at Ladakh on LAC. Talking to a TV channel, he said both countries should work towards de-escalation.
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