Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Indian Navy on Monday made its displeasure with the CBI FIR in the Barak case known.
Strongly endorsing the Barak missile system the Navy indicated that it will lodge a formal protest against the implication of it's former Chief, Admiral Sushil Kumar.
CBI investigators swayed by dissenting notes on the Barak anti-missile system perhaps did not see the shots of the Barak being fired from the frigate, INS Ganga and successfully intercepting incoming P22 missiles. Both firings result in direct hits.
Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash today gave a thumping clean chit to the Barak strongly endorsing its utility to the Navy.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash says," The probe lies in the eating of the pudding. We fired it on 14 occasions and 12 of them have been direct hits. We use against them low flying surface-to-surface missiles. So as far as we are concerned it’s a very good system. I don’t think there is anything comparable today in any Navy.”
He also put the dissenting noises in the Navy in context.
“What the C&C have said or have been quoted was not about this particular missile. That is about a subsequent development,” Prakash adds.
But most blistering was the Admiral's torpedo aimed at the CBI's modus operandi in naming ex-Navy Chief Sushil Kumar as co-accused in alleged bribery.
Admiral Arun Prakash made it clear that dragging a former Navy Chief into the corruption case for merely putting forward a legitimate requirement is unacceptable to the Navy. The message to the government – please leave the armed forces out of the politics of defence deals.
More candour can be expected behind closed doors at the Combined Commanders Conference on Wednesday.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.