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“Suspend defence deal with Israel”

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government forthwith suspend the air defence missile deal it had struck with Israel and order a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to the purchase and the alleged kickbacks involved in it.

CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury alleged that the Rs. 10,000-crore deal smacked of large-scale corruption, particularly because it had been signed just three days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha election. He said the deal involved a business charge totalling Rs. 600 crore as “kickbacks,” which was almost 10 times higher than what was given in the Bofors deal.

The CPI (M) wondered where the money had gone particularly in the light of the Israeli agent claiming that he had not received his share of the business charge.

He said Defence Minister A.K. Antony should come clean on the matter as it jeopardised India’s self-reliance and because the country was seeking to purchase what the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) was yet to develop and test.

Mr. Yechury questioned the rationale behind entering into a deal with the IAI because the CBI was investigating the Barak missile deal on the issue of kickbacks. He sought to know why the company had not been blacklisted in the first place like the South African firm Denel, which was also under scrutiny of the CBI in the same deal.

Baseless charge

Meanwhile, Congress media chairperson Veerappa Moily shot down the CPI (M)’s demand for a CBI probe into the deal as preposterous and baseless. He said that the CPI (M) should first make out a case, arguing that it was not well reasoned.

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