In a sharp reaction to Defence Minister A K Antony's comments on the Army chief's age row, BJP on Wednesday said the defence forces fall under the jurisdiction of the government and it cannot run away from its responsibility in the "failure" to sort out the matter.

"The Army works under the defence ministry. Army is an institution and the way the government has handled this whole issue is unfortunate. We respect the Army," BJP Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

He insisted that the whole issue should have been sorted out in the department itself through discussions and dialogue and should not have come out in the open.

Antony on Wednesday said the army was to be blamed for not solving the age row of General V K Singh for 36 years and maintained there were no civil-military issues here.

"If the defence minister has said this, he is trying to run away from his responsibility," Prasad said.