Antony trashes army movement report
India Blooms News Service
Visakhapatnam, Apr 4 (IBNS) Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday rubbished the report of a national daily about unusual movement of army units' in the capital without prior notification to the Defence Ministry in January.
He called the report as "absolutely baseless."
The report raised questions over the soured relations between the government and the Army.
"We are absolutely sure about the patriotism of Indian Armed forces," he said after a submarine commissioning ceremony in Visakhaptnam.
"I am proud of Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard," he said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the report as an alarmist one.
"These are alarmist reports and should not be taken at face value," he told reporters.
He also chose to comment on the Army Chief-Government tensions, saying the Army Chief's is an exalted office and "all have obligation to not lower its dignity."
India's defence department has dismissed already the report in The Indian Express that a suspicious movement of units of the Army had taken place on Jan 16 night under the shadow of a row between the Army chief and the government over the former's age at that time.
The paper said they took 11 weeks to verify the report and then publish it.
Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma told a news channel that the report is "incorrect and baseless."
"The facts have been distorted. It was a normal and routine movement," he said.
The defence ministry also issued a press statement.
"The points raised in the report have already been clarified by the Army...such exercises are conducted by the Army from time to time," Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in a statement quoted by media.
The Indian Express report reads: "Essentially, late on the night of January 16 (the day Army Chief General V K Singh approached the Supreme Court on his date of birth issue), central intelligence agencies reported an unexpected (and non-notified) movement by a key military unit, from the mechanised infantry based in Hisar (Haryana) as a part of the 33rd Armoured Division (which is a part of 1 Corps, a strike formation based in Mathura and commanded by Lt Gen. A K Singh) in the direction of the capital, 150 km away."
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