Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the Indian armed forces are sufficiently equipped to defend the country’s sovereignty. He was responding to an Opposition question on whether the forces were prepared in the wake of a Comptroller and Auditor General of India report, which said that the Indian Army lacks adequate ammunition.
The report, presented in Parliament on July 21, said around 40% of the Indian Army’s ammunition will not last more than 10 days in a war. The Army does not have the minimum required stock of 55% of the 152 types of arms it uses for operational preparedness in case of war, it said.
Jaitley said the report was referring to a particular period of time, that is 2013, and that things have improved since then, PTI reported. “Procedures [for procurement of arms and ammunition] have been simplified, powers decentralised and the armed forces are reasonably and sufficiently equipped,” Jaitley said.
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