E-Paper
Left slams Govt over Barak deal
The Left parties have fired another salvo against the UPA for striking deals with Israeli defence companies, reports Sutirtho Patranobis.
The Left parties have fired another salvo against the UPA for striking deals with Israeli defence companies in spite of largescale allegations of corruption against them.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, they criticised the UPA for its reluctance to take action against companies from Israel though arms companies from other countries have been blacklisted namely, the Swedish company Bofors and South Africa's Denel, for doling out kickbacks. Israel is India’s second largest arms supplier.
The letter was signed by the general secretaries of the four Left parties — CPM's Prakash Karat, CPI’s AB Bardhan, Forward Bloc’s Debabrata Biswas and RSP’s TJ Chandrachoodan. The deal they highlighted was the Barak missile deal, which the NDA had struck with the Israel Aircraft Industries in 2000. According to the Left, since then, fresh evidence has emerged indicting Israeli companies.
