India Arms Sales

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes resigned as a corruption scandal involving a fake arms deal secretly filmed by journalists shook the government. Fernandes said the allegations against him were "completely false" and suggested that they had been made in order to undermine national security and morale. The scandal erupted this week when the Tehelka.

India has halted all arms sales and transfers to Myanmar, a development that could increase international pressure on the military government that crushed pro-democracy protests led by monks this fall. The Indian government's decision has not been officially announced, but diplomatic sources said it had been privately confirmed by New Delhi to top U.S. officials. A spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Washington declined to comment.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed Krishna Chandra Pant as India's defense minister to replace Vishwanath Pratap Singh, 55, who resigned under pressure after ordering a controversial investigation into arms deals. Pant, 56, had been minister of steel and mines. Senior members of the Cabinet and Gandhi's Congress-I Party said they urged Singh's replacement after he ordered an inquiry last week into a $23-million commission paid to an agent for buying foreign arms.

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes resigned as a corruption scandal involving a fake arms deal secretly filmed by journalists shook the government. Fernandes said the allegations against him were "completely false" and suggested that they had been made in order to undermine national security and morale. The scandal erupted this week when the Tehelka.

It was with deliberate drama and flourish that then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi stood atop the conning tower of a Soviet-built nuclear submarine on the morning of Feb. 3, 1988, and proclaimed to the region and the world that India's military might was finally coming of age. "Those who conquered us from the sea ruled us as alien masters," he declared that day to the applause of India's senior naval officers.

India has halted all arms sales and transfers to Myanmar, a development that could increase international pressure on the military government that crushed pro-democracy protests led by monks this fall. The Indian government's decision has not been officially announced, but diplomatic sources said it had been privately confirmed by New Delhi to top U.S. officials. A spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Washington declined to comment.

It was with deliberate drama and flourish that then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi stood atop the conning tower of a Soviet-built nuclear submarine on the morning of Feb. 3, 1988, and proclaimed to the region and the world that India's military might was finally coming of age. "Those who conquered us from the sea ruled us as alien masters," he declared that day to the applause of India's senior naval officers.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed Krishna Chandra Pant as India's defense minister to replace Vishwanath Pratap Singh, 55, who resigned under pressure after ordering a controversial investigation into arms deals. Pant, 56, had been minister of steel and mines. Senior members of the Cabinet and Gandhi's Congress-I Party said they urged Singh's replacement after he ordered an inquiry last week into a $23-million commission paid to an agent for buying foreign arms.