New Delhi: In the tenth episode of its ‘Hum Adani Ke Hai Kaun’ protest series questioning the ‘relationship’ between PM Modi and the Adani conglomerate, the Congress Wednesday raked up billionaire Gautam Adani’s defence dealings with Israel.
The party alleged that the prime minister used national security policy and his long-standing defence relationship with Israel to “enrich” his “corporate cronies”.
In its first question, the Congress claimed the billionaire joining PM Modi on a number of his foreign trips, including his 4-6 July 2017 visit to Israel, influenced the relationship between the two countries.
The party says that after the trip, the Adani group was given a “powerfully lucrative role” in the India-Israel defence relationship. It further alleged that with the PM’s “blessings”, the Adani group has set up ventures with Israeli firms “covering areas as varied as drones, electronics, small arms and aircraft maintenance.”
“Given that the Adani Group has faced credible allegations regarding offshore shell companies for some years, is it in the national interest to hand over such a critical defence relationship to one questionable conglomerate? Is there a quid pro quo for you and the ruling party?”, Congress asked in the first question.
The second question Congress posed was regarding the government’s role in facilitating an Adani drone monopoly. The party said that India has several established public sector firms like Hindustan Aeronautics and Bharat Dynamics, to develop, manufacture and operate drones for civil and military applications. Yet, the government set up the joint venture, Elbit, to manufacture drones with the Adani Group when the latter had no prior experience in the defence sector, the party claimed.
“On 1 September 2021 this acquisition began paying off after Alpha received an order for 100 attack drones from the Indian Army. Why is the government taking advantage of our armed forces’ emergency requirements and facilitating an Adani drone monopoly at the expense of startups as well as established Indian firms?”, read the Congress’ second question.
In the third question, the party again put forth the same argument. It said that India had numerous companies that also manufactured small arms for military and commercial use. However, in September 2020, Gautam Adani bought a majority stake in the Gwalior-based PLR systems, which manufactures a range of small arms in collaboration with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), the party said.
IWI weapons like the Tavor assault rifle, Galil sniper rifle and Negev light machine gun are already in service with the Indian Army, the Israeli firearms manufacturer stated, alleging that this acquisition by the billionaire, was “simply handing over a longstanding defence relationship to your friend.
Also read: Hum Adani Ke Hai Kaun, Day 9: Congress questions Modi’s ‘foreign policy’ in Bangladesh deals