In February, during the Aero India air show in Bengaluru, a video emerged, showing Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh "rebuking" state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) over the delay in delivery of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas to the IAF.
“I can only tell you what our requirements and our worries are. You have to alleviate those worries and make us more confident. At the moment I am just not confident of HAL, which is a very wrong thing to happen,” the IAF chief was heard telling to the HAL official in the video.
"HAL is our company, we have all worked there. But I find that HAL is just not in mission mode...I was promised that when I come here in February, 11 Tejas Mk1As would be ready. And not a single one is ready," he had said.
Now, during a recently held media conclave, the IAF chief cleared air on the incident, saying it was a "friendly talk" with people with whom he had trained together.
He termed the defence news website leaking the video of the incident "ridiculous" because "somebody leaking into what you are talking privately is wrong."
He said he was talking to his colleagues from HAL with whom he trained. "My intention was to get to their conscience but the way it came out was not right," he added.
After the video went viral, HAL came out saying while the concerns raised by the IAF chief were understandable, the delay was not because of laziness. "There have been technical issues which have got sorted out. The concern of the Air Chief is understandable," HAL Chairman and Managing Director D.K. Sunil had said.