M A I N   N E W S

USA, UK tried to sabotage Indo-Soviet defence deals
Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 6
At a time when bilateral relations between India and the USA and between India and the UK are at an all-time high, reports in the foreign media suggest that Washington and London had attempted to sabotage New Delhi’s defence deals during the cold war period.

As part of efforts to further improve relations, India awarded a Rs 8,000-crore deal for the supply of Hawk advanced jet trainers for the Indian Air Force to British Aerospace Systems three days back.

On the other hand, India and the USA are presently involved in high-altitude exercises in Ladakh, which are part of the process of improving military relations between the two countries. The USA had recently given its green signal to Israel for the sale of the Phalcon airborne early warning, command and control systems to India.

This closeness has emerged only in the last two years, specially after the USA faced the 9/11 terror strikes and Washington and London together took over the task of fighting terrorists around the world. India has emerged as a strategic partner in the scheme of things for both the USA and the UK.

Reports in the western media suggest that both the USA and the UK had made efforts to sabotage Indian defence deals in the cold war era. Official papers released last month in London revealed how the UK and the USA tried to derail India’s attempts to equip the Air Force with Soviet warplanes.

A top-secret dossier from the Dominions Office, which dates back to 1962, reveals that President John F. Kennedy offered to arrange covert payments of several million dollars to the UK to underwrite part of the cost of a British alternative to the Soviet MiG-21s, which now form the frontline of the Indian combat aircraft.

Reports, however, point out that the USA was unsuccessful in its attempts. Chinese aggression against India in 1962 played a vital role in the foiling of the attempt as New Delhi took an immediate decision to beef up its Air Force and the Soviet Union was at hand for it.

Russia, incidentally, still remains India’s close military ally despite the growing Indian closeness to the USA and the UK.

Reports say when relations between India and the Soviet Union started warming 41 years ago, it caused a lot of anxiety to President Kennedy and UK Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan. The warming up of relations was seen as Soviet Union extending its influence over South Asia.

This was further compounded with reports that India was looking at purchasing the Soviet-made MiG-21s, which were then the state-of-the-art aircraft. This prompted Kennedy and Macmillan to go about attempting to thwart the deal.

The dossier apparently reveals that they secretly agreed that the UK — then India’s traditional supplier of military hardware — offer New Delhi a squadron of its electric lightnings at a price comparable to that set by the Soviets for the MiG-21s.

However, the snag was that the price tag on the Russian planes was only about one-third of the cost of the lightnings and the UK could not afford to pay the difference.

“So, as the file reveals, Mr Kennedy offered to pay, in secret, up to three-quarters of the cost”, reports in the western media say.