P.M. BRIEFING : Dealings Halt in Arms Scandal
India announced today it will suspend business with the Swedish arms giant A. B. Bofors until the firm identifies recipients of massive kickbacks it allegedly paid to win a $1.3-billion artillery contract.
India purchased 400 guns in the scandal-tainted deal and the decision will apparently affect reported long-term plans to manufacture domestically another 1,200 of the 155-millimeter howitzers under a technology transfer arrangement, as well as ammunition and various accessories.
The announcement in the upper house of Parliament by Prime Minister V. P. Singh to suspend business was in response to a charge that his government had done nothing since taking power on Dec. 2 to fulfill a campaign pledge to track down and prosecute wrongdoers in the deal.
The Bofors scandal was a major reason for the electoral defeat of Singh’s predecessor, Rajiv Gandhi, who was also defense minister when the contract was awarded in 1986. Gandhi could never escape the stigma of high-level corruption associated with the deal despite his repeated denials.
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