Have Cleared Names Of New Army And Air Chiefs, Announcement Soon: Parrikar

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday (2 December) said the names of the next army and navy chiefs will be announced very soon. He was speaking at an interactive session in the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi.

"I don't see any reason why it has to be two months ahead... they are out of the top people in the forces. The Defence Ministry has cleared the names. It has to be approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet," Parrikar said.

The current Indian Army chief, General Dalbir Singh, and Indian Air Force chief, Air Marshal Arup Raha, are retiring on 31 December. As per the convention, the service chiefs are named two months ahead of the impending retirement of incumbents.

As for the delay in the implementation of a committee's recommendation for beefing up security at military bases, Parrikar said: "You can't create the infrastructure overnight. The selection of technology is equally important. Those aspects are already being cleared out."

Speaking on the opposition's questioning the attempt to hog credit for the surgical strikes, he said: "I am not taking credit for the strikes. I am taking credit for the capacity to take a decision."