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Gowda warns against T-90 tank deal

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda today warned the government against going ahead with the Rs 50 billion T-90 tank deal with Russia. He said national interest should not be jeopardised due to unscrupulous elements and vested interests.

Addressing a news conference here, he said the T-90, which is to be inducted into the army, besides being expensive had also not been tested under Indian weather conditions. The tank, which was still under trial, was not likely to be inducted even into the Russian army.

The former prime minister, however, declined to reveal the identity of the arms peddlers who he said were forcing the government to accept the deal, only saying that an inquiry would reveal the truth. He, however, said the first Indian delegation that had evinced interest in the controversial tank had done so last February, when the UF government headed by Inder Kumar Gujral was in power.

''Without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this exercise, I would earnestly urge Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to allay the fears that have erupted because of the hush-hush manner in which the deal is being pushed through,'' he said.

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