The decks have been cleared for India’s biggest ever global defence tender to acquire 126 multi role combat aircraft. Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday said the Defence Acquisition Committee (DAC) will meet within a fortnight to finalise the tender document.“The DAC will meet within a fortnight and decide on the RFP. All negotiations are over and now it is a question of formalities,” the Minister told media persons after inaugurating a two-day annual Unified Commander’s Conference.He indicated that issues like factoring in life-cycle costs and clauses of the offset policy have been resolved by saying that the final Request for Proposals would be issued within “one or two months”.Meanwhile, Air Chief Marshal F H Homi left on Monday for a five-day France visit. He will attend the Paris Air Show that will showcase contenders for the contract like the American F-16 and F/A 18 Super Hornet, the French Rafale, Russian MiG 35 and the Swedish Grippen.Speaking on the LTTE threat, the Defence Minister said that while their activities were being watched closely, the ultimate solution to the problem lay in political agreement. “Sri Lanka is a sovereign country and our immediate neighbour with whom we have cordial relations and are committed to protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity. In terms of support and equipment, we will give whatever support is required by Sri Lanka, but the ultimate solution remains a political one,” he said in his inaugural address at the conference.Expressing concern over the resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan, the Defence Minister referred to Pakistan by saying that “certain vested interests are trying to scuttle our role in rebuilding Afghanistan”.Regarding the stress on infrastructural development along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by China, Antony said that the PMO, along with the MoD, had taken measures to build roads and other infrastructure on the Indian side as well. “The military capabilities of the neighborhood are being watched carefully and the Indian Government’s main agenda was the modernisation of its armed forces to meet internal as well as external threats,” he said.Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Army Staff General JJ Singh, heads of joint Services Headquarters, Commanders-in-Chief of Andaman and Nicobar Command and Strategic Forces Command, and the Commandants of the tri-services institutions are participating in the two-day conference to discuss strategy to bring about coordination between the Army, Navy and the Air Force.
