India’s current defence arrangement is inadequate and needs an individual or body like the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to look at the integration of forces, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said here on Monday.
“I will take a call on it maybe in July or so. But to be frank, it is not my decision. The decision has to be of the Cabinet Committee on Security… ” he told The Hindu when asked about the Modi government’s view.
“So I will put up my proposal… Let it be discussed by various people concerned and then we will come to a conclusion. I believe that there should be a body, which will see the integration of forces,” he said at his South Block office.
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Pointing out that the situation on the Line of Actual Control with China was better than earlier, Mr. Parrikar said he viewed China as a “healthy competitor” in the economic field, whose success in manufacturing he would like to replicate in India.
On the boundary question, the Defence Minister felt that slowly, over a period of time, issues with China would cool down and get resolved but if someone “expects overnight resolution, that might not be possible”.