India's dealings with Westland Helicopters, before it merged in March 1999 with Italy's Finmeccanica subsidiary to become AgustaWestland, were technically problematical and politically questionable.
With the latest AgustaWestland helicopter import scandal, it is time to re-examine the role of the ubiquitous but ostensibly banned defence agents, middlemen, intermediaries, brokers, consultants, weapon merchants or reps as they are variously known, says Rahul Bedi
Underneath the corruption scams plaguing the defence forces is the ubiquitous but banned defence agent or middleman representing myriad overseas vendors who eases their material into India through the corrupt and complex bureaucratic corridors of the country's civil and military establishment, writes Rahul Bedi
Trials in support of the Indian Air Force's procurement of six multi-role tanker transports for around $2 billion (around Rs 10,000 crore) involving Europe's EADS and Russia's Rosonboronexport have been completed recently and the rival commercial bids are expected to be opened early in the new year.
Military sources said the parameters drawn up in support of the sniper rifle requirement in the tender issued in August 2009 appear to have been by framed by ill-informed officers with seemingly little or no field experience, says Rahul Bedi
Carrying colourful toy aero-planes as holy offering, scores of aspiring migrants to the West, flock daily to a gurdwara at the end of a winding, dusty village road in Punjab, confident that their wishes would soon be fulfilled
Security experts say that after publicly condemning Pakistan for its role in the bin Laden debacle, threatening it with sanctions and cutting off crucial aid, the US would quietly re-calibrate its security ties with Islamabad over the next few weeks as it could ill-afford to alienate it. Rahul Bedi reports
With the incremental improvement in ties with Pakistan, the proposal to open the corridor from DBN to the Kiratpur Sahib gurdwara some 4 kilometres away on the Pakastani side, founded in memory of Sikhism's founder Nanak Bedi has once again been resurrected.
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