Sharad Pawar, AK Antony briefed on China and Pakistan

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 16

Two former Defence Ministers—Sharad  Pawar and AK Antony—were given a 75-minute briefing on China, Pakistan and the new threat of drones on Friday.

The briefing was conducted at the invite of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was present at the meeting.  Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane provided the military update.

Sources said the briefing was an update on prevailing conditions along the borders and also the ongoing military standoff with China in Eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The two former ministers were also briefed about the impact of recent ceasefire agreement with Pakistan and the threat posed by Drones.

The two former defence ministers had some points on the situation which were clarified by the CDS and the Army chief.  In the past Government’s have taken into confidence senior opposition leaders on sensitive matters and updated them on facts.

Pawar was Defence Minister (May 26, 1991 to March 3, 1993) in the PV Narsimha Rao Government while AK Antony was Defence Minister (Oct 25, 2006, to May 26, 2014) during the two tenures of the Manmohan Singh UPA Government.

Besides Pawar and Antony the only other surviving Defence Ministers are Nirmala Sitharaman of the BJP and Mulayam Singh of the Samajwadi Party.