Bhagwat a habitual liar in George8217;s book

NEW DELHI, April 13: The Government has claimed that Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat had personally vetted'' the Rs 2,200-cr MoU for the purchas...

NEW DELHI, April 13: The Government has claimed that Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat had 8220;personally vetted8221; the Rs 2,200-cr MoU for the purchase of Admiral Gorshkov, the Russian Air Defence Ship. And it was only after Bhagwat8217;s OK, that the MoU was signed. This is one of the string of rebuttals issued by the Defence Ministry in a 130-page document to be circulated to all MPs just before Parliament resumes. It is being seen as the Government8217;s official reply to Bhagwat8217;s affidavit.

While Bhagwat has said that it was the Defence Ministry which pushed for Gorshkov despite his opposition, the Government claims that at a meeting of the Indo-Russian Defence Cooperation 8212; attended by then Principal Secretary N N Vohra to the PM I K Gujral 8212; Bhagwat had said: 8220;While our own ADS is under construction, the Russian offer is attractive.8221;

The untitled document, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, paints a detailed account of how Bhagwat took 8220;keen interest8221; in getting the Russian ADS and was himselfin regular touch with defence dealers, including Admiral S N Nanda. The Ministry also claims that contrary to Bhagwat8217;s allegations, no contracts for the purchase of submarines had been signed during Fernandes8217;s last visit to France.

According to the document, it was Bhagwat who had proposed 8212; in December 1997 8212; that a high-powered delegation be sent to Russia for further talks on Gorshkov. And it was at his requestduring his visit to Russia in August 1998that the Russian Design and Development Bureau handed him documents relating to its modernisation and repair costs. And it was Bhagwat who proposed last October that the Russian offer 8220;needed to discussed face to face at the earliest.8221; Finally, the MOU was signed with Russia only after the Naval headquarters vetted it in November 1998. 8220;The MOU was signed during the tenure of Bhagwat and for him to disown all this now means questioning his own bonafides,8221; says the MoD.

The MoD says that Bhagwat8217;s insinuations of 8220;celebrations pursuant to hisdismissal8221; are the product of a 8220;completely malicious and pathologically lying character.8221;

About Admiral Nanda, the MoD has asked Bhagwat to explain as to why despite this person8217;s 8220;allegedly corrupt and vile character8221; he Nanda has been a permanent invitee to all receptions and investitures at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, and all official naval receptions including those held during the tenure of Admiral Bhagwat and including those held at his residence.

The document claims that Fernandes met Nanda only once and that too at his office in response to a request by Nanda in his capacity as former Naval Chief. The MoD has denied that any MoU, protocol or any kind of agreement on any specific procurement of defence material was signed, leave alone any contract with France when Fernandes visited France. It asserted that there had not been a single instance where the government went in for imports when the Naval headquarters wanted procurement indigenously. Bhagwat did not refer a single case of anywrongdoing in defence purchases during his tenure ever, says the MoD.

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As for Bhagwat8217;s charges of gunrunning against Fernandes, the MoD has said that several operations like Leech were undertaken against poaching and infiltration activities based on surveillance and patrols by the Indian Navy during April 1998-March 1999. Two trawlers, 30 dongis and a large number of Srilankans, Burmese, Thais and others were captured.

The document also reveals that repeated attempts were made by the government including the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister to counsel the defiant Bhagwat. It discloses for the first time that 8220;PM himself had advised the CNS to rectify his behaviour. The PM was so perturbed that he had also called a meeting on November 27, 1998 to discuss these issues at which the Home Minister L K, Advani and Defence Minister were also present.8221;