India calls army chief's age row 'unfortunate'

India yesterday described as "unfortunate" a lawsuit filed by the chief of its army asking for his birthday to be changed, which would allow him to remain in office for an extra year.
The defence ministry broke its silence over the development, which has led to an embarrassing clash between the government and India's 1.13-million-strong military, the fourth largest in the world.
"It is an unfortunate development and it is not a healthy precedent either for the defence ministry or the armed forces," India's junior defence minister Pallam Raju told the CNN-IBN television channel.
General VK Singh on Monday petitioned the Supreme Court asking for his birthday to be changed on official records to prevent him being forced into retirement in May.