The Hindu : Time to procure AJTs is near, says Fernandes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 12, 2003

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Time to procure AJTs is near, says Fernandes

By Sandeep Dikshit

BARMER APRIL 11. The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, said today that his Ministry had cleared the proposal for procuring advanced jet trainers (AJTs) for the Indian Air Force. But a decision on selecting one of the two front-runners was yet to be taken.

The Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, said he was unaware of the proposal having reached his Ministry as "it must have just arrived" at the expenditure wing. Funds would not be a constraint and the proposal would not be allowed to linger in the Ministry, he said, adding that the final decision on the deal worth several thousand crores would be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

The proposal for purchasing AJTs was mooted in the late 80s and is still doing the rounds in the Central Ministries. In the absence of jet trainers, the IAF utilises MiG-21 for advanced training. Since the Russian aircraft has low tolerance for mistakes, several MiG-21 aircraft have crashed while trainee pilots learn the ropes.

"The time for procuring AJTs is near," observed Mr. Fernandes after presiding over a function in this border district along with the Finance Minister. The latter inaugurated a polyclinic for ex-servicemen and honoured war widows.

Mr. Fernandes has alternated between hope and pessimism on the issue of AJTs. He has spoken of arms dealers obstructing a final decision. On occasions, he has claimed that a decision was at hand.

The Defence Minister defended the performance of the MiG fleet though two of them had crashed within a gap of a few days recently. Describing them as the mainstay of the IAF, he said there was no proposal to jettison the fleet now.

He maintained that the Government was alive to the proposal for the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as part of reforms in higher defence management. The CDS would ensure provision of single point military advice to the civil executive and would rank "primus inter pares" in comparison to the other service chiefs. The proposal was mooted by the Group of Ministers on reforming the national security system. It had felt that the Chief of Staffs Committee (CoSC) had not been effective in fulfilling its mandate and needed to be strengthened by the addition of CDS and a Vice Chief of Defence Staff.

The office of VCDS (currently called Integrated Defence Staff) was created just over a year ago. "The proposal (for CDS) is alive and has been cleared by the Cabinet. It is a matter of time before it is in place," he maintained.

The Government had earlier said that it was essential to consult the Opposition before a decision of this magnitude was taken.

Highly placed sources said that senior Opposition leaders had been informally consulted and the proposal would be formally discussed with them at the time of creation of the office of the CDS.

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