Thread by @asadowaisi

THREAD: a defense & national security crisis is unfolding before our eyes while Nationalists in Chief @PMOIndia @rajnathsingh could be worried about ANYTHING but this.

On 3.09.2019 an AN-32 aircraft was reported missing. There were 13 people onboard, of which 7 were passengers

For 9 days, there was little news about how India, the next superpower, managed to lose an AIRCRAFT. On 11th, IAF located the wreckage, following which search & rescue operations began. All 13 on board were declared dead, including crew members who may've been in their early 20s

As Parliamentarian & patriot, I decided to ask @rajnathsingh some questions about how this came to be. Unfortunately, Hon'ble Speaker today allowed enough questions prior to mine & so we only have the honour of a written statement from Ministry of Defense

Somethings that the answers obfuscate need to be pointed out. We must hold both the UPA & NDA responsible the loss of these 13 lives. They are both answerable to their families & to the rest of us.

AN-32 has a shelf life of 25 years, we'd acquired 99 AN32s in 1984 from USSR

In 1999, India contracted with Ukraine for the upgradation of 54/99 aircrafts, while 45 were, erm, just forgotten about? The upgradation of these 45 was supposed to be completed by 2013. It hasn't happened as of today. @BJP4India only remembers one other crash on 22.07.17, BUT:

A total of FOUR AN-32s have crashed between 1999-2019. A total of 76 lives lost due to deliberate neglect by the government. Had the AN-32 been upgraded (including airframe, avionics & radar, modern beacon system), would we've lost these lives?

In his answer to my question, @rajnathsingh says we've lost only ONE transporter till June 2019. However, we lost a fighter to Pakistan & another MiG in friendly fire. We've lost total of 10 assets since January 2019. If this isn't deliberately misleading the house, then what is?

If we don't spend enough resources on asset upgradation & safety - we'll continue to lose capable & dedicated to pilots and crew members to sheer incompetence & neglect. It's the responsibility of those in power (it's YOU: @BJP4India) to tell us:

How will you defend India against its enemies (& by your own admission there are a lot!), if:
(1) Defense spending is below what it was during the 1962 war
(2) Defense budget in India hovers around 1.5% while experts require that optimal expenditure is 2%

(3) By 2021, IAF will be down to a meagre 26 squadrons, compared to sanctioned strength of 42. This'll be the number IF the scheduled deliveries of Rafale, LCA Tejas will be done in time
(4) There hasn't been one project under Make in India for a fighter, submarine or minesweeper

(5) We're short on monies to pay for our committed defense liabilities

The proof of anyone's nationalism is in how they treat our serving men & women. @PMOIndia remembers that "humare jawaan seema par ladd rahe hai" all the time except when it actually matters

@PMOIndia @rajnathsingh 3.06.2019*. Apologies for the inadvertent error.