340 defence personnel killed in past 3 years: Govt

In the last three years, 340 defence personnel have been killed inside and outside the country, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said 27 Indian Army troops have been killed in ceasefire violations across the Line of Control in the last 10 years and 523 such violations have taken place in the past three years.

As many as 340 soldiers have been killed inside and outside the country in the last three years, he said answering a written query. The highest casualty was suffered by the army as 217 personnel were killed in India and 14 were killed outside the country in United Nations peacekeeping and other operations.

The navy also suffered a loss of 89 personnel inside the country while one person lost his life outside. Answering another query, the defence minister said that the Defence Research and Development Organisation has not started any project to develop robots who can work like soldiers posted at the border.

"However, the DRDO has developed Remotely Operated Vehicle ‘Daksha’, which is an automated mobile platform for multi-purpose payloads. It is an electrically powered state-of-the-art Robot capable of being remotely controlled over a distance of 500 metres line-of-sight and can be utilised continuously for three hours before recharge," he said.

Asked if the ministry has agreed to hand over the security of Indo-Myanmar border to the Border Security Force, the minister said "the Defence Ministry has proposed MHA proposal to assign border guarding responsibility of the Indo-Myanmar border to the BSF subject to certain conditions."