Border issues kept Defence Ministry busy in 2013

Volatility on the LoC, frequent incursions by Chinese troops and sinking of submarine INS Sindhurakshak in Mumbai were among the major issues that kept the Defence Ministry busy in 2013.
Induction of long-delayed aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya into the Navy, alleged sex scandals in the force, continuing brawls between jawans and officers in the Army and tussle between the IAF and the HAL over the trainer aircraft also made headlines.
The Herculean effort made by the Army and the IAF during the flood relief operations in Uttarakhand earned bouquets for the Defence Ministry along with the successful activation of the nuclear reactor on board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant.

Former Army Chief Gen V K Singh, who became the first four-star General to drag the government to the Supreme Court over his age issue, continued to make headlines with reports suggesting that he had used a snooping unit under him to destabilise the Jammu and Kashmir state government.
He also created a controversy when he claimed that politicians in Jammu and Kashmir were paid for getting certain jobs done.
The year began with the beheading of Indian troops in Poonch by Pakistan Army's border action team which crossed over and beheaded one soldier and mutilated the body of another.

Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh retaliated strongly, saying India reserves the right to respond at the place and time of its choice to handle the matter.
The government also temporarily took a hard line on the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself, saying that with such incidents, "it cannot be business as usual with Pakistan".