Indian Govt. irked with Gen. Singh not taking clearance for award.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: India’s Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh has come under fire from his own government for accepting an American military award earlier this month without prior approval from New Delhi.
Gen. Singh was awarded the Legion of Merit by the US Army, the sixth-highest military honor in America. He was also inducted into the US Army War College (USAWC) International Fellows Hall of Fame, and toured various military facilities around the country, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Benning in Georgia. Gen. Singh was in the US from Dec. 2-5
According reports, the Indian Defence Ministry only learned of Gen. Singh receiving the award from the media, not from Singh himself. This has apparently irked them, as Gen. Singh should have requested permission to accept an award from a foreign military.
Gen. Singh is not the first Indian army official to receive the Legion of Merit – four others, including Chief of Army Staff Gen. Rajendra Singh and Field Marshall K.M. Kariappa have also had the honor bestowed upon them. It is unclear whether or not they went through the proper channels before accepting their awards, however.
Now, Gen. Singh will not likely be called in front of government officials to explain why he did not inform them about the award, and why he did not list it on his official itinerary prior to leaving India. It is unclear what kind of punitive action the government may take, if any.
Gen. Singh is an alumnus of the USAWC, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, having completed a course there in 2004. During his visit to the US earlier this month, Gen. Singh also gave a keynote speech to the USAWC graduating class of 2013-2014, and held strategic discussions with US military leaders about a wide range of issues involved with the US-India bilateral relationship.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com