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Indian deal to buy French submarines is suspicious: MP By Rezaul H. Laskar, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS) India's plans to purchase French Scorpene submarines estimated to be worth $1.8 billion would sound the death knell for efforts to develop a home-grown submarine, a leading opposition MP asserted here Thursday. Besides flying in the face of the government's stated position of promoting the indigenous defence industry, the deal involved technology transfers from a French firm -- DCN-Thomson CSF -- that was under a cloud for allegedly paying kickbacks to secure a defence deal from Taiwan, former minister of state for external affairs Eduardo Faleiro said at a press conference here. Faleiro, a member of Parliament's standing committee on defence, noted that a deal to acquire Scorpene submarines could have serious security implications as the French firm was the sole supplier of submarines to Pakistan. "As far as India is concerned, we don't have a single French-made submarine. In case of a conflict, to whom will the French give logistical support - to their old associates Pakistan or to their new client India?" he said. Pakistan, which has been operating French submarines since the 1960s, ordered three Agosta-90B submarines from DCN-Thomson CSF in 1994. Top Indian defence officials had said last year that France had agreed in principle to sell six Scorpene submarines to India. DCN-Thomson CSF will also transfer technology for making more of the vessels in India. Reports have suggested that the Scorpene deal is likely to figure in discussions between French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who arrived in the country Thursday, and Indian leaders. The purchase of the French submarines is part of the Indian Navy's long-term programme to revamp its submarine fleet, which currently comprises Russian-made Kilo-class vessels and German-designed HDW vessels. But Faleiro noted the government had zeroed in on the French Scorpene without evaluating similar, and less expensive, submarines made by other countries. "The British, Dutch, Germans, Americans and South Koreans have similar products. Why did we choose only the French submarine?" he said. The purchase of the Scorpenes would be a major blow to the Indian Navy's "Project 75" programme to indigenously develop submarines in a consortium with private sector firms, he said. Referring to other "shady deals" that DCN-Thomson CSF was involved in, Faleiro said the firm had allegedly paid kickbacks of 2.5 billion French francs in a deal to sell Lafayette frigates to Taiwan. A French court had convicted then French foreign minister Ronald Dumas in 1994 for his "involvement in this deal". "More recently, Admiral Mansurul Haq, former Pakistan Navy chief, was extradited from Texas, U.S., to answer charges of making money in the Agosta-90B submarine deal," Faleiro said. --Indo-Asian News Service
