AgustaWestland scam once again bought into focus the role of middle men in defence procurement.While the then Congress government rubbish any scam or bribes paid to the middle men, current BJP government are baying for Sonia Gandhi's blood.
What however no one can deny is the role of middle men in arms procurement by Ministry of Defence. Many experts say Agustawestland shouldn't go in Bofors way where criminals got scot free. One cannot forget the controversies involved over the purchase of German submarines just four years after Bofors; Sukhoi 30 jets from Russia, Israeli Barak missiles etc.
All these affected the modernisation efforts by the army after the 1962 Himalayan blunder. Even in Kargil 1999, army fought with substandard weapons. Due to India getting struck with Nerhuvian idea of government led development,India is now 20 years behind China in defense design as it adopted free market.
Experts call for realistic defence procurement policy about the role of middlemen as all the scams were influenced by bureauctras and politicians. All governments be it Congress,Janta Dal and NDA benefitted as money trail not been detected.
