NEW DELHI: The VVIP chopper deal didn’t happen overnight for Guido Ralph Hasckhe.
The arms dealer being questioned for his role in the R3,760crore choppergate had travelled to India in 2005 – as a member of the delegation of then Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
Hasckhe – according to transcripts in a probe report by Italian prosecutors submitted before a court – said he was part of Ciampi’s official entourage during the India visit.
HT could not independently verify the assertion, but if true, the assertion points afresh to the tortuous routes foreign governments often take to bag defence contracts, even for private companies.
Hasckhe told the prosecutors that he saw Zappa -Giorgio Zappa, then CEO of Finmeccanica which won the chopper deal – for the first time during the visit of Ciampi in India “I point out that I was a member of the Italian delegation in India.”
Over the past several years, visits by heads of state from major countries invariably involved discussions on arms deals. For instance, French President Francois Hollande concluded negotiations for codeveloping a short-range air defence system worth R30,000 crore on Thursday.
And very often, the heads of state make overt efforts to help companies win deals. British Prime Minister David Cameron even asked India to “reconsider” a R64,500-crore contract awarded to Dassault of France last year. The reason: The Typhoon -- partly manufactured in Britain – lost out to Rafale fighter aircraft from the Dassault stable in France.
CBI TO VISIT ITALY: After registering a complaint, the CBI decided to send its team of investigators to Italy within a week to investigate alleged payment of kickbacks to Indian nationals or entities by an Italian firm to clinch the Rs3, 760 crore deal to supply helicopters
COURTESY:
16 Feb 2013
Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
Charu Sudan Kasturi charu.kasturi@hindustantimes.com
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
The arms dealer being questioned for his role in the R3,760crore choppergate had travelled to India in 2005 – as a member of the delegation of then Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
Hasckhe – according to transcripts in a probe report by Italian prosecutors submitted before a court – said he was part of Ciampi’s official entourage during the India visit.
HT could not independently verify the assertion, but if true, the assertion points afresh to the tortuous routes foreign governments often take to bag defence contracts, even for private companies.
Hasckhe told the prosecutors that he saw Zappa -Giorgio Zappa, then CEO of Finmeccanica which won the chopper deal – for the first time during the visit of Ciampi in India “I point out that I was a member of the Italian delegation in India.”
Over the past several years, visits by heads of state from major countries invariably involved discussions on arms deals. For instance, French President Francois Hollande concluded negotiations for codeveloping a short-range air defence system worth R30,000 crore on Thursday.
And very often, the heads of state make overt efforts to help companies win deals. British Prime Minister David Cameron even asked India to “reconsider” a R64,500-crore contract awarded to Dassault of France last year. The reason: The Typhoon -- partly manufactured in Britain – lost out to Rafale fighter aircraft from the Dassault stable in France.
CBI TO VISIT ITALY: After registering a complaint, the CBI decided to send its team of investigators to Italy within a week to investigate alleged payment of kickbacks to Indian nationals or entities by an Italian firm to clinch the Rs3, 760 crore deal to supply helicopters
COURTESY:
16 Feb 2013
Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
Charu Sudan Kasturi charu.kasturi@hindustantimes.com
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
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