Anjali Singh is India’s first woman defence attaché
NEW DELHI: Wing Commander Anjali Singh has become the first woman in the country’s military history to be posted in any Indian mission abroad, with the Indian Air Force sending her to Moscow as a deputy air attaché.
She took charge of her new assignment on September 10, two IAF officials said. The 41-year-old officer is an aeronautical engineer who served with fighter squadrons during her 17-year military career, said an official. Until now, only male officers from the three services were appointed as military attaches in overseas Indian missions.
The change came about during Nirmala Sitharam’s tenure as defence minister when she backed the proposal to give military women more global exposure. “Indian women have made their mark overseas since the time Chonira Belliappa Muthamma became first Indian woman diplomat decades ago. She made her mark and so shall Wing Commander Anjali Singh. It’s a march forward…to Russia, with love,” said Wing Commander Anupama Joshi, one of the first women to join the air force in 1993.
The army and the navy will also appoint women officers as defence attaches in the near future depending on the candidates meeting the requirement.
“Wing Commander Anjali Singh joined @Indembmoscow on 10th Sep as the Deputy Air Attache. She enjoys the distinction of being the first female Indian Armed Forces Officer to be posted as a military diplomat in any of the Indian missions abroad,” the Indian embassy in Moscow tweeted.
She hails from Bihar. She is married and has an 8-yr-old son. NEW DELHI/ KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said, setting political circles abuzz in West Bengal.
Trianmool Congress (TMC) leaders aware of the developments said Banerjee is expected to arrive in Delhi on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a TMC leader familiar with the matter said Banerjee plans to discuss “administrative issues” with Modi. “The chief minister wants to keep political matters and administrative issues separate. This appointment was sought earlier and has no connection with any recent incident.”
Another TMC leader said during the meeting, the chief minister might also protest against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders demanding a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal. Bengal’s Opposition parties, however, attacked the state government over the timing of the meeting, which comes against the backdrop of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking custody of former Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar as part of its probe into the Saradha chit fund case.
“Rajeev Kumar has nearly ruined his career by trying to suppress misdeeds of Bengal’s ruling party leaders. Now that the noose around him has tightened and other officers in Mamata Banerjee’ government have started to panic, she is out to protect her nephew (and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee) and herself.
It is easy to see that Rajeev Kumar is the stepping stone to Kalighat (where the chief minister stays),” said Left legislator Sujan Chakraborty.