Defence Minister Antony reviews security situation

New Delhi, Nov 15: Defence minister A K Antony on Tuesday reviewed the overall security situation in the country at a meeting with the three service chiefs. Antony was given a detailed assessment at the montly meeting chaired by him, sources said.

Besides Army chief General V K Singh, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, defence secretary Shashikant Sharma was also present at the meeting.

Issues like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, situation in North-Eastern states, naval preparedness along the Indian coastline and deployment of forces along the borders figured at the meeting.

J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah is pushing for revocation of the controversial AFSPA from some parts of the border state while the Army is opposed to it.

Antony had earlier in the day stressed on the need to draw up collective and innovative measures to effectively counter the menace of terrorism.

Addressing the Fifth South Asia Seminar organized by Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), the defence minister had said, "Security today is closely dependent on physical, economic, geostrategic aspects of security as well as to political developments."

Highlighting the need for an all-round cooperation among the South Asian countries, he said, "We can ensure regional stability and contribute in each other's growth... India is paying special attention towards increasing defence cooperation with a large number of friendly countries."

PTI