Asserting that middlemen in defence deals provide "extra potential" for corruption, Russia, one of India's biggest defence partners, has said there should be no role for such people when military contracts are being negotiated and signed.
The remarks by Russia came amidst a ranging controversy over alleged kickbacks and role of middlemen in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal with an Italian firm Finmeccanica.
"In such important fields, that is technical and military cooperation, no mediators (should be there) because any mediator provides extra potential for corruption," Valentina Matvienko, chairperson of the Federation Council, Russian parliament's upper house, said here.
She was replying to a question about role of middlemen and Italy's three-time former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi comments that bribes are a necessary part of doing business globally.
Maintaining that India-Russia defence deals are clean, Russia's highest-ranking female politician said, "During the last 10 years, luckily, we did not see any case of corruption".
"All this cooperation is based on inter-governmental agreements. So no mediators here can be present. It is performed directly through governmental structures that are empowered to do so in the field of military and technical cooperation," she said.
"So that is why it should be done directly on the level of two countries," Matvienko, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladmir Putin, said.
In 2012, Russia's total military exports hit a record sum of USD 15 billion. The biggest importer of Russian military equipment is India, which bought 350 T-90S tanks and ordered another 1,500.
