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'IAF supported army in Kargil'
Published on Thu, May 11, 2006 at 19:43, Updated on Thu, May 11, 2006 at 19:59 in 
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Leh: Air Officer-in-chief of the Western Command, Air Marshal A K Singh on Thursday refused to agree with former Army Chief V P Malik’s accusation in his recently released book on the Kargil war, that IAF had delayed joining hands with the Army.
Singh termed it as incorrect that there had been any delay on IAF's part in joining hands with the Army or that it had risen a bit late to the occasion to ward off the enemy threat.
"I was in charge of all operations during the Kargil War. There are several dichotomies in what he (Gen Malik) has said. The Air Force cannot be blamed for any delay. We made 3000 sorties during the war period," he said.
He said what Malik has written is his "individual perception and it is not on official record".
Singh was replying to various questions on possibility of de-escalation of Siachen asked by reporters from Chandigarh and Delhi for whom the IAF had arranged a two day trip to Siachen, Thoise and Leh.
The Air Marshal stressed that when 65 to 70 per cent of the IAF's purchases are to assist the Army, then there was no reason why they would have swung late into action.
Defending his Force and putting the ball in the Army's court, he said that whether Army had faulted in analysing how many invaders had entered our territory or how much intelligence had poured in or was not "pondered over" was a different issue.
He said his Force was laying much emphasis on working in coordination with the Army and sharing intelligence wherever it was required.
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