National security compromised under Modi rule: Congress

Ahmedabad: Congress claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has put the national security at stake by drastically reducing defence sector spending.

Congress national spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters here that the NDA government has failed miserably to meet the expectations on defence and national security fronts.

"Out of the total sanctioned budget for defence, Modi government has not utilised more than Rs 28,000 crore. Thus, the defence spending remained just 86 per cent. Such failure in defence spending has put our national security and national interest at stake," claimed Singhvi.

The Rajya Sabha MP accused the BJP government of curtailing spending on Mountain Strike Corps (MSC), which was created during UPA rule to keep a vigil on Indo-China border.

"MSC was created under UPA government. We have allocated Rs 85,000 crore for it. However, that budget was reduced by 50 per cent by Defence Ministry in April," he said.

Singhvi questioned the manner in which Modi announced to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.

"This could be the biggest scam of this government as no standard procedure is followed. It seems that the deal has been done for personal promotion," Singhvi alleged.

He said Modi is making foreign visits to build his own image at the cost of national security.

The Congress leader also criticised the Government on the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for retired Army personnel and asked why no money has been allocated for it yet.

Drawing attention towards the recent increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan on Indo-Pak border, Singhvi said 746 incidents of ceasefire violation occurred which was 96 in 2013-14 under UPA regime.

"As per the BSF Director General, this is the highest number of violations in one year after Indo-Pak war of 1971," he said.