According to latest WikiLeaks revelations, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi may have worked as a middleman for Swedish company Saab-Scania, which had tried to sell its Viggen fighter aircraft to India in the 1970s.
However, Saab-Scania eventually could not seal the deal, which went to British SEPECAT Jaguar. According to a report published in the Hindu, Rajiv was considered to be a valuable negotiator because of his family connections, states the paper, citing the Kissinger Cables, the latest bunch of classified cables of the US administration released by WikiLeaks.
According to the report, Rajiv Gandhi became the negotiator for the Swedish company Saab-Scania, when it was trying to sell its Viggen fighter aircraft to India in the 1970s, much before he became the prime minister.
The first cable said that Air Marshal OP Mehra’s son-in-law was the chief negotiator for the competing Mirage, but it does not give his name. “Our colleague describes Rajiv Gandhi in flattering terms, and contends his technical expertise is of a high level. This may or may not be. Offhand, we would have thought a transport pilot is not the best expert to rely upon in evaluating a fighter plane, but then we are speaking of a transport pilot who has another and perhaps more relevant qualification,” the cable read, said the report.
Meanwhile, the main opposition party BJP has slammed the ruling Congress over the fresh WikiLeaks allegations involving Rajiv Gandhi.
