Chief of Army Staff General V.K. Singh on Wednesday called on Defence Minister A.K. Antony at his office. Though there is no official word as to the nature of their discussion, the meeting assumes importance coming in the backdrop of a fresh controversy over the alleged “bugging” of the Minister's office, which was denied by both the Ministry and the Army.
The Army countered reports in some newspapers that the Military Intelligence was resorting to electronic eavesdropping of the Minister and other officials and blamed some former and serving senior officers behind the reports.
The Defence Minister and Gen. Singh spent about 30 minutes, which official sources said went on to discuss “operational issues”. The meeting also came on the day the Army-Chief-designate Lieutenant General Bikram Singh called on Gen. Singh.
The government on Saturday announced that the Eastern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh will be the new Army Chief when Gen. V.K. Singh completes his tenure on May 31. On Tuesday, the Army-Chief-designate called on Mr. Antony and the Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju.
The Ministry is keeping a close watch on the goings-on in the Army what with the top echelons pointing fingers at a senior retired and some serving officers as being the people behind news reports of engaging in snooping.
