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India's arms purchase hits a
roadblock
By Siddharth
Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Political
squabbling in New Delhi is threatening to blow
apart India's massive US$15 billion-plus military
modernization exercise, one that involves
prominent arms manufacturers from a number of
countries, including the United States, in the
fray to win lucrative contracts.
The
Indian government has ordered a probe into
allegations of kickbacks in defense deals under
the previous regime led by former prime minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Apart from issues of
corruption, there is reason to believe that the
inquiries also smack of a personal vendetta
against former defense minister George Fernandes
by the United Progressive Alliance's ruling
Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi, as well as
key coalition partners, the left parties.
Sonia's late husband Rajiv Gandhi's
political career was marred by similar allegations
into the Bofors gun deal in 1986, with Fernandes
among the most vocal of critics. Fernandes also
managed to raise the hackles of Indira Gandhi,
Sonia's late mother-in-law and role model, quite
often. There are fears, however, that all of this
politicking may end up hurting only the Indian
armed forces' modernization aims, while the
corrupt will never be caught and the truth will
lie hidden in the murky world of middlemen and
underhanded defense contracts.
Indeed, there are opposing forces at play. There is
the matter of India commanding the best price
for taxpayers' money and the best technology
and equipment for the nation's security, versus
the seamier side of kickbacks and middlemen who
swing deals by greasing palms. Also, there is the
threat of slowing down the process of arms purchases
due to fears in the bureaucracy of another
future witch-hunt.
Arms manufacturers
from the US, Italy, France, Russia, South
Africa and Israel, with active backing from
their respective governments, are lining up to ink deals
with India for the supply of military equipment
ranging from fighter aircraft to submarines, jets,
radars and more. However, New Delhi's latest move to
ask the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
to probe arms deals signed by the previous
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government during and
after the 1999 Kargil border conflict with Pakistan
may throw a further wrench into the process of arms
purchasing, which is quite protracted in any case.
At stake is also the ploy of trying
to besmirch political opponents who were
the erstwhile powers. The left parties, a
crucial coalition partner of the Congress-led
government, have provided whole-hearted support for
the investigations as they resent Fernandes, who was
a firebrand trade-union (the traditional support
base of the left) leader at one time. This is not
to hint that Fernandes is above board. Fernandes'
tenure as minister was turbulent, with a website
filming defense officials hungry for money and
women in the company of journalists masquerading
as arms dealers. Another allegation against
Fernandes related to the purchase of over-priced
coffins meant for soldiers killed during the
Kargil conflict as well as other fast-track
procurements during the low-intensity war.
What has caught the government on
the wrong foot, however, in the current imbroglio
is that an initial affidavit filed by the
government in the Supreme Court did not mention
any wrong-doings in defense deals under Fernandes.
As a matter of fact, it provided a "clean chit"
to the deals. "There was no violation of
any financial rules of the government or the
defense procurement procedures" in the
emergency procurements, the affidavit told the court
in response to a public interest case that
had demanded a judicial probe into these
purchases. Predictably, Fernandes went to town about how
he was vindicated. However, pressure from the
left and Sonia, who has often faced the brunt
of Fernandes' personal tirade against her
foreign origins (she is Italian-born), forced a new
inquiry.
One immediate casualty
has been the further deferring of the purchase
of French Scorpene submarines. The Indian navy
was looking to ink the $3.2 billion deal finally,
which has been under negotiation since 2002,
until politics took over. The problem is made more acute
by the fact that a part of India's
existing fleet comprising Soviet Foxtrots and Kilo-class
submarines are to be decommissioned in the next
five years.
The CBI has also been asked to
look into all contracts with Denel, a South
African firm accused of paying kickbacks to
influence a deal to sell anti-materiel rifles to
the Indian army. The contract for supply of
bunker-buster rifles was clinched with the
previous BJP government two years ago and part of
the arms shipments have already been made. Denel
has denied any foul play and issued a statement
saying that the deal went through the proper
channels and was above board.
It can be
recalled that the allegations of kickbacks from
Sweden's Bofors firm to clinch the sale of 410
howitzers to the Indian army in 1986 in a deal
worth $1.3 billion ultimately led to Rajiv Gandhi
being ousted as prime minister. Though the Bofors
guns played a key role in the Kargil conflict, the
scandal created major delays in the purchase of
modern weapons further on, with Defense Ministry
bureaucrats and military officials chary of
clearing arms purchases for apprehension of later
allegations of bribery.
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has already gone on record to say
that the "defense scandals" will impact the arms
purchase. "We have to make every effort to ensure
that these recent events do not create a
disincentive for taking timely decisions regarding
armaments [purchases]," he said.
Several military officials have also
expressed concern that the government decision will
harm India's strategic interests. "This is not the
first time that politicking has hit us when we
need weapons. Look what happened during the Kargil war
- spares and 155mm guns were unavailable, and this hits
the combat efficiency of the army," retired
Lieutenant-General Vijay Oberoi, a former vice chief of the
army, has been quoted as saying. "The biggest
loser in the Bofors controversy was not the
Congress Party or Rajiv Gandhi, but the army,"
Oberoi said.
Among the countries that could feel the pinch
will be the US, which has been pushing for
more business with India in every sphere. US
President George W Bush and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice have been personally
promoting the sale of passenger aircraft
manufactured by Boeing. This week, India's state-owned
flagship carrier Air India announced that it was
going ahead with the purchase of 50 aircraft from
Boeing in a deal worth more than $7 billion, though
rival Airbus has already cried foul.
Apart from civilian deals, the US
is also looking for increased military cooperation
with India as a follow-up to the Next
Step in Strategic Partnership agreement signed between the
two in 2003 that seeks to enhance ties
in every sphere, including military exchange. The
US offer includes the much-touted
Patriot anti-missile defense system that tackles aircraft and
also tactical and cruise missiles, C-130
stretched medium-lift transport aircraft, P-3C Orion
maritime surveillance planes, and F-16 fighters. The US has
also offered Perry-class frigates and Sea Hawk
helicopters, while special-operations forces will be looking
at chemical- and biological-protection equipment.
Last month, in a knee-jerk
reaction to the US decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan,
Delhi announced new defense orders to Russia,
Germany, Italy, Israel and Qatar worth $746
million. But with the current imbroglio, the
files that traverse government departments at a
slow pace in any case will possibly come to a
standstill.
Siddharth Srivastava
is a New Delhi-based journalist.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information
on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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