Ajai Shukla (“Israel develops capabilities, India pays”, February 9) has raised a very important issue of India’s defence purchase strategy. According to Shukla, India has been handing out contracts worth vast sums of money, for instance, to the Israelis who then use the opportunity to get expertise, and this will allow them to sell these services to other countries. It is natural, therefore, for Shukla to ask why such contracts cannot be given to Indian firms that can also then learn at the client’s expense. The defence ministry and the standing committees of Parliament should be asking such tough questions.
Gaurav Kumar, New Delhi
Readers should write to:
The Editor, Business Standard,
Nehru House,
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002,
Fax: (011) 23720201;
letters@bsmail.in
