Antony reposes 'full faith’ in Army chief

NEW DELHI: Even though speculation is still rife that General V K Singh may soon resign after losing his battle on the age issue in the Supreme Court, defence minister A K Antony on Monday expressed hope the festering controversy was now over while reposing "full faith’’ in the Army chief.
"The government has confidence in the present chief and that was conveyed in the Supreme Court also.Everything is clear and we have confidence in him,” said Antony, before leaving for a two-day trip to Saudi Arabia on Monday morning.
"I am very happy this controversy is over after the judgment of the Supreme Court. In the interest of national security, please forget and bury this unfortunate controversy. Whatever has happened has happened and is over now,’’ he said.
"I request my colleagues to close this chapter and let us all work together to strengthen national security. For us, national interest is supreme,” he added.
Gen Singh, who has left everyone guessing over his next move after becoming the first serving military chief ever to drag the government to court, also left for a four-day visit to the UK later in the day.
As earlier reported by TOI, the defence ministry has readied the succession plan, with Eastern Army commander Lt-Gen Bikram Singh tipped to become the next chief of the 1.13-million force once Gen Singh retires on May 31.
Even if the Army chief decides to put in his papers before his tenure ends, the government in all likelihood will stick with Lt-Gen Bikram Singh. But it will queer the pitch a little since two other Army commanders, Lt-Generals Shankar Ghosh (Western) and V K Ahluwalia (Central), will be senior to Lt-Gen Bikram Singh in that eventuality.
In the normal course of things, Lt-Gen Ahluwalia is slated to retire on February 29, while Lt-Gen Ghosh has to call it a day on May 31, paving the way for the third senior-most Army commander Lt-Gen Bikram Singh to get the coveted post.
The defence minister and the Army chief have been avoiding each other over the last few days. The widespread feeling in both military and civilian quarters in South Block is that if Gen Singh decides to continue in office, he will be reduced to "a lame-duck chief’’ due to the "huge trust deficit’’ between him and Antony.