Siachen issue, Sam Manekshaw among other controversial defence episodes under Manmohan Singh's era

Singh also faced charges of a coup brewing, saw his government being dragged to the court by then Army Chief Gen V K Singh on his date of birth and was at the receiving end for a defence scam involving the purchase of AgustaWestland VVIP helicopters.

New Delhi: From his idea of turning the Siachen glacier into a 'mountain of peace' to not turning up at the last rites of the country’s best known soldier Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, military controversies dogged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

His ten years at the helm also saw a sitting Army Chief taking the government to the court on his date of birth, allegation of a coup and political shadow stalling a mega defence deal to buy over six squadrons of fighter jets for the IAF, raising questions on the Prime Minister’s control on the government he runs.

Early in his tenure, Singh visited the Siachen base camp where he suggested converting the glacier – the world’s highest battlefield – into a mountain of peace. Even though the idea came amidst an ongoing peace process with Pakistan, it didn’t find favour among the military who were suspicious of the western neighbour.

Sensing the mood among, Singh never pursued the idea of demilitarising the glacier, but he was under attack from the hawks as well as a section of the military for giving out such an idea in the first place. Some accused him of doing so under US pressure.

Singh and his defence minister AK Antony were also heavily criticised for not attending the final journey of Sam Bahadur – the architect of India’s most famous war victory in 1971. The government was represented by the Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju.

None of the Service Chiefs were present at the funeral. The Army was represented by the Vice Chief as the Chief of the Army Staff Gen Deepak Kapur was in Russia. The Leader of Opposition LK Advani telephoned Singh and sought to know why the national flag was not flown at half-mast in the memory of the Field Marshal.

Singh faced charges of a coup brewing, saw his government being dragged to the court by then Army Chief Gen V K Singh on his date of birth and was at the receiving end for a defence scam involving the purchase of AgustaWestland VVIP helicopters.

The UPA government’s failure to conclude the 126 medium multi role combat aircraft deal after ten years of negotiations was cited by Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders as a key example (along with 2G, coal and VVIP chopper scams) of Manmohan government’s inefficiency and failure, leading to its fall in 2014.

The aircraft deal, however, didn’t materialise even in the 10 years of the Modi regime.