National Herald case: Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar attack BJP over FIR against Sonia, Rahul
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday accused the BJP of "political revenge", after the Delhi police registered an FIR against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald case.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar termed the Delhi police's move as "unfair" and said, "There is a limit to harassment."
The Delhi Police has filed an FIR against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and other accused in the National Herald case on a complaint by the ED as part of the agency's money laundering probe into the high-profile case that alleges that the first family of the party "abused" their position for personal gains.
"It is being done politically. BJP is trying to take political revenge," Siddaramaiah told reporters in response to a question.
Shivakumar accused the Centre of "engaging in vindictive politics".
"There was no need to harass. It (National Herald) is not Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi's property. They were just the custodians of the shares as party presidents... from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru it has been there. It is not their personal property, they have already declared. Young India or National Herald belongs to a political party," he said.
Noting that the Gandhi family are the custodians of the Congress party, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief said, there are other members also.
"During the time of Vohra ji (Motilal Vora) and Ahmed Patel ji, decisions have been taken to protect the interests of the Congress party. When the party was dying at the time of Kesri ji (Sitaram Kesri), we all went and begged Madam (Sonia Gandhi) to take up the responsibility (of Congress). Under her leadership, we have ruled this country for ten years, with an economist (Manmohan Singh) as the PM, and the Congress party is going ahead," he said.
Alleging "political torture" by the government at the Centre in connection with the case, the Deputy CM said, "It is jealousy, Rahul Gandhi never cares for such things. Even if you put him in jail, he won't care."
"It is not good. I appeal to the central government. This vindictive attitude will not give you fruits, it will only show your ethical values. Let's face politically on the streets, in public and elections. Not by harassing, by misusing various institutions," he added.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
