The offer of Rs 14 crore as a bribe to General V K Singh only reinforces the well-known secret that defence deals all over the world have inbuilt corruption mechanisms. But then the armed forces have very little to do with procurements except to raise the general staff qualitative requirement (GSQR) in a particular way. Or maybe paint the indigenous competition, if any, in various shades of dark? Main battle tank (MBT) Arjun is possibly the best example of how an inspired hate campaign could keep the MBT out for so long till only neutral umpiring was able to resurrect it. Perhaps the outgoing chief, who has wasted much time on non-issues, can now focus his remaining time to purge the system from the deep-rooted bias against indigenous systems. The GSQR must be to meet our own geopolitical needs and not what the arms wheeler-dealers offer in their glossy brochures.
Raghubir Singh Pune
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number
