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“India examining all options”

— Photo: Anu Pushkarna

Defence Minister A. K. Antony meets the services chiefs General Deepak Kapoor, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, and Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major during the 28th meeting of the Kendriya Sainik Board Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday reiterated that Pakistan should act against terrorists and dismantle terror outfits operating from its soil. That Islamabad was making no “serious attempt” to do so was a matter of concern, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said.

Referring to the ongoing encounter in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir, the Defence Minister said: “Even then [in cold climate], militants are trying to infiltrate into India and create trouble. If this is the case now, after winter, there will be problems in summer. Even after infiltration, there is no serious attempt by Pakistan to dismantle terror outfits … that is our major worry.”

He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a function of the Kendriya Sainik Board here.

Elaborating on what India expected from Pakistan, the Minister said those who gave support and direction to the militants should be acted against and Islamabad must take apart more than 30 terror outfits running there.

“It is the duty of the government of that country.”

He said that while India was “examining seriously all possible and available options, there is no time limit” and hoped that the world would react seriously to the evidence India shared with other countries on the Mumbai attacks.

Mr. Antony said the Kendriya Sainik Board had decided to provide full training facilities to some 16,000 service personnel who retire each year and also expanded the coverage of the extended contributory health scheme by adding 196 polyclinics in different parts of the country.

After presiding over the 28th meeting of the board, the apex body which formulates policies for resettlement and welfare of approximately 30 lakh ex-servicemen and their widows, the Minister said every year servicemen were retiring at a younger ages between 35 and 40 years. He said while there existed a system of giving training for them so that they could get better opportunities in private sector and public sector, there was no pre-placement training before actual release which would be provided now.

The board also decided to expand the ECHS scheme, which now has 227 polyclinics, by adding 196 more throughout the country. The effort was to see that healthcare was available to ex-servicemen in the remotest of areas. The Defence Minister urged State governments to show greater interest since ex-servicemen depend on them and also attend to their problems with sympathy.

The eighth paragraph of a report "India examining all options: Antony" (January 8, 2009) was "After presiding over the 28th meeting of the board, the apex body which formulates policies for resettlement and welfare of approximately 30 lakh ex-servicemen and their widows, the [Defence] Minister [A.K. Antony] said every year servicemen were retiring at a younger age between 35 and 40 years." A reader wondered whether this meant that all 30-lakh ex-servicemen are no more. The sentence could have been rephrased as "approximately 30 lakh ex-servicemen and the widows of ex-servicemen".

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