NEW DELHI, Oct 18:
Ruling out any possibility of China repeating 1962, Defence Minister A K Antony today said present India is not of that period and is now fully capable of defending itself.
“Infrastructure in the northeast is not up to our satisfaction but it has improved a lot as compared to the past… India of 2012 is not India of that period. We are now capable of defending every inch of our country,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a Navy conference here.
He was replying to a question on India vis-a-vis China 50 years after the 1962 war in which India had suffered defeat.
Antony said India had earlier not focused on enhancing infrastructure in northeastern States but “now we have moved very fast. Now our infrastructure, assets and manpower have substantially improved compared to the past”.
He said India will continue to build its infrastructure and provide best equipment to its armed forces while continuing to its dialogue with China on the border issue and maintaining cordial relations with it.
“On the one side, we are strengthening our capability in the border and on the other, we have established a border management mechanism with China that is now functioning satisfactorily,” he said.
On cyber security, Antony said though India is a “latecomer” in terms of putting up a mechanism in this regard, there was an overall coordination within the government and “we are confident of protecting our cyber assets”.
“Even though we are a latecomer in putting a mechanism and network for strengthening our cyber security, now we are moving very fast,” Antony said.
“Within the armed forces, they have a unified approach on the one side and each service is tasked to certain particular activities in area of cyber security. There is a coordinated effort and all agencies have to work together,” he said.
On the issue of requirement of choppers in the Navy, the Defence Minister said, “There is some shortage (of helicopters) and they (Navy) are in the process of overcoming that also.”
Earlier this week, three Naval personnel were killed when their ageing Chetak helicopter crashed while landing at an air base in Goa. The Navy has recently issued a tender to replace its fleet of old choppers.
On the issue of help being provided to the families of the personnel killed in the crash, the Defence Minister said, “Whatever maximum possible help is permissible under the law would be provided to them. My sympathies are with their families.”
On priority areas of the commanders’ conferences, Antony said their main purpose is to strengthen overall operational readiness of the armed forces.
“For that we have to review our position, strength and weakness, not only strength, we have to review our weakness, find solutions and move forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, with the Environment Ministry red-flagging a naval missile firing range in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Defence Ministry today said it will find an alternative place to develop its testing site.
The proposal to develop the missile firing range has been turned down to protect the habitat of endangered bird Nicobar Megapode, which is found only in that region.
“I was in Port Blair along with all officials yesterday and had detailed discussions there. In that particular area, there is a rare species of bird. Our decision is to find an alternative place,” Antony said.
The Minister was asked about the red-flagging of the Navy missile firing range project in Tillanchong Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“The habitat of the Megapode should not be disturbed and the missile firing range should not come up in that area,” Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan had said, adding that the bird is not found anywhere else and it is a very unique species.
The Navy had earlier said it will re-approach the MoEF as the range was very important from the security point of view.
On the issue of an alternative site, Navy chief Admiral D K Joshi had said environmental clearance will be required for that site too since it is also located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. (PTI)
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