In a major security lapse, a “secret” file of the Indian Air Force on the ongoing `42,000-crore (over $11-billion) Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal process went missing and was recovered. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry.
The IAF confirmed late on Friday evening that an inquiry had been ordered after the file — on the “offset” provisions in the 126 (fighter aircraft) MMRCA acquisition deal — was recovered but did not disclose the circumstances in which the file was recovered. The IAF also refused to confirm a TV report which claimed that the file had been found on the roadside in south Delhi’s Khel Gaon Marg by a security guard.
A top IAF officer told this newspaper that the “secret” file had gone missing after it was sent to the ministry of defence (MoD), but there was no official comment or confirmation from the MoD on this. The top IAF source said the inquiry would be conducted jointly by the IAF and the MoD since the file belonged to the IAF and had gone missing after it was sent to the MoD. The file was marked “secret” but was not in the most sensitive “top secret” category, IAF sources said.
Currently, the IAF report on technical evaluations of the MMRCA deal process is being examined by the MoD. The IAF had earlier completed flight trials of aircraft from six global vendors competing for the multi-billion-dollar deal.
But the fact that a “secret” file on the offset provisions of the MMRCA deal went missing and then was recovered indicates a sorry state of affairs. Incidentally, India’s offset policy makes it mandatory for foreign companies to invest at least 30 per cent of the amount in India for any armament procurement valued at `300 crore or more. But the government had earlier finalised a 50 per cent offset clause in some of the big-ticket defence deals which run into billions of dollars.
Curiously, the issue of offsets had reportedly become a major point of contention between the MoD and some of the global vendors amid concerns that this may affect the pace of military modernisation. Just recently, a senior IAF officer who has now retired had pointed out that foreign vendors were finding it difficult to understand India’s offset policy.