By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI
NEW DELHI — India’s newly elected government will not cancel defense contracts or blacklist overseas defense companies until charges leveled against them are proved by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a Defence Ministry source said.
That decision came in the form of a directive from Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley during a recent meeting of senior MoD officials.
Between 2005 and 2009, the ousted United Progressive Alliance government had barred Singapore Technologies Kinetics, Israel Military Industries (IMI), Zurich-based Rheinmetall Air Defense, Corporation Defense Russia and South African company Denel from doing defense business in India for the next 10 years.
While the CBI recommended barring these companies, none of the charges that they received kickbacks have been proved.
Even the chiefs of the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy who had met Jaitley criticized the blanket blacklisting and cancellation of orders of some overseas defense companies, the MoD source added.
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