India talks tough on terrorism, corruption on I-Day eve

Aug 14, 2012, 20:30PM



New Delhi: Describing corruption as a "serious challenge", Defence Minister AK Antony on Tuesday asked the Armed Forces to guard against actions which may tarnish the image of the services.

In his address to armed forces on the eve of Independence Day, the Defence Minister asked troops to "exercise utmost restraint and discipline" while dealing with terrorism, stressing that there must not be a single case of human rights violations anywhere as it will "undo at one stroke, all the good work".

"Corruption today is a serious challenge facing our nation and our Armed Forces are no exception to the rule. I appeal to each one of you to renew the pledge to work with all the honesty, fairness and transparency at your command in your day-to-day work," Antony said.

The Minister's remarks come in the backdrop of several senior defence officers being found involved and punished in scams such as Sukna, Adarsh and Kandivali.
Also, there have been several serious cases of breach of discipline where troops have clashed with their superior officers over issues realted to alleged ill-treatment of jawans.

Antony said terrorism was a major challenge faced by the forces day in and day out and asked the troops to remain vigilant and exercise utmost restraint and discipline.

"There must not be even a single case of human rights violations anywhere as such violations undo at one stroke, all the good work and tarnish the image of our armed forces," he said.

Antony said the government was focusing on strengthening armed forces' preparedness and maximum emphasis has been laid on strengthening coastal security. "We have taken steps to expedite the Coastal Radar Network on both, the eastern and the western coast," he said.

The Minister said modernisation and indigenisation remained at the centre of all efforts of the government to help the armed forces and added that the successful test of Agni-V had proved that "when it comes to indigenisation, it is only a question of will power".

He said the government was making the best efforts to ensure that there were no procedural delays in pension-related cases of ex-servicemen.

The all-round welfare of jawans is a top priority for the government and steps had been taken to further improve the quality of rations, accommodation and clothing, he said.

Antony said the commissioning of INS Baaz and Naval Air Station at Campbell Bay will impart blue water capability to the navy and added that commissioning of INS Chakra and indigenously developed stealth frigate INS Sahyadri and naval version of indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft will sharpen country's attack capabilities.

He congratulated the Indian Army Women Expedition team that put 17 climbers atop the Mount Everest and the Delphinus team of air warriors of Indian Air Force which recently swam across the English Channel successfully under extreme conditions.

Recalling his visit to forward areas, Antony said high morale of defence force personnel has always been a source of great encouragement and inspiration.

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