Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) Indian Army Chief General V.K. Singh Thursday said the modernization of military hardware, particularly artillery, has been hampered in the past both by the men in uniform and civilian authorities, but the situation is being “amended”.”There have been faults, some in uniform and some out of uniform. Now we are on track to ensure that this mismatch that has happened over a period of time is amended,” General Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a book release here.

He was responding to a question about the Bofors gun scandal and similar scams that have interrupted the modernization plans of the Indian military.

The Indian Army has not been able to induct any new artillery gun in the last two decades after the controversy surrounding the Bofors guns.

The army presently uses a mix of 105 mm field and 130 and 155 mm medium artillery guns and has plans to acquire over 2,000 howitzers of different calibres including ultra-light, self-propelled and towed guns.

Hoping that the army would do away with the deficiencies, the army chief said the country had a capability of winning a war with the artillery available. “It is not that we don’t have guns. It is like what we have we can fight and win a war with that.”

The nearly two-decade-old Bofors scandal again hit the headlines this week after a tax tribunal ruled that illegal commission of Rs.41.4 million was paid in the Rs.15-billion gun deal.