 |
| Modi reportedly made the offer during a secret meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in New York |
February 2, 2016, NewsCrunch
A British arms agent, Christian Michel, has accused PM Narendra Modi of proposing to exchange Italian marines for proof against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in the AgustaWestland corruption scandal.
The MEA dismissed the charge as ridiculous, said The Telegraph, which broke the story. But it is likely to create a political headache for Modi.
Here's why.
1) Christian Michel was the key adviser of AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of the Italian firm Finmeccanica.
AgustaWestland had won a contract in 2010 to supply 12 choppers to India for Rs 3,600 crore. In 2013, Italian prosecutors accused Finmeccanica executives of paying bribes to Indian officials through Michel and another middleman, Ralph Haschke.
Modi allegedly told his Italian counterpart that he would help resolve the case against the two Italian marines in return for any proof to link Christian Michel to any member of the Gandhi family.
3) On December 23, 2015, Michel wrote to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague making the allegation. A copy of the letter was also sent to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Seas, Hamburg.
4) Here is the the real bad news for Modi.
The PCA which is dealing with marines case, is empowered to consider Michel's letter as valid deposition. If it does so, it can ascertain if the two prime ministers indeed met in New York and if there was any basis to the allegation.
It would be difficult for Modi and team to predict Italian response to these questions and that would give them a hard time.
4) Here is the the real bad news for Modi.
The PCA which is dealing with marines case, is empowered to consider Michel's letter as valid deposition. If it does so, it can ascertain if the two prime ministers indeed met in New York and if there was any basis to the allegation.
It would be difficult for Modi and team to predict Italian response to these questions and that would give them a hard time.
5) Michel who works in Dubai told The Telegraph: "I know these are serious allegations, but I stand by them."
He has even offered to divulge to PCA the sources, which gave him the information on the secret Modi-Renzi meeting.