Defence Minister Arun Jaitley assured the Lok Sabha today that the country’s defence forces are fully prepared to thwart threats to its sovereignty from any quarter.
Intervening in a discussion on the Demands for Grants under his Ministry, he said all needs of the three services in every critical area have been met. Funds are no crunch. Mr. Jaitley gave a break-up of the equipment the defence forces have been provided with since the present government took over.
Besides importing requisite armaments as per their demands, the public sector undertakings have been fully involved in producing equipment for the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force. Utmost transparency has been ensured in procuring defence equipment from abroad.
The defence forces have already been paid two instalments of arrears under the One-Rank-One-Pension Scheme, OROP. The third instalment is to be paid shortly, Mr. Jaitley said. The discussion is continuing.