Indian Defence Ministry unearths corruption in defence deals

NEW DELHI—The vigilance authorities of Indian Defence Ministry have unearthed wrongdoings in some ongoing defence deals and the government announced to conduct probe into such irregularities.
Addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, attached to his Ministry here on Monday, Indian Defence Minister A K Antony said “every reference from any responsible quarter on issues of corruption will be taken cognizance of and necessary probe will be carried out by the Ministry or the organizations under it.” In the past there have been controversies relating to deals with some companies “under cloud” and we will not proceed unless those doubts are cleared. “We will not tolerate corruption,” he said.
The process of modernization of armed forces will not be carried out at the cost of transparency. India now sources its equipment and platforms from many countries including Russia, UK, France, Germany, Israel and of late, the United States. Referring to India’s relationship with Russia in defence field, he said India will not abandon old friends for improving relations with new ones. With Russia, he said India has signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the Joint Development and Production of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft last month. He admitted that there was some delay in the delivery schedule of the Aircraft Carrier Admiral Gorshkov but said that the two countries are trying to find a solution to the issues involved.—Agencies