Apart from the politics surrounding the dark Emergency, the Kissinger cables released by Wikileaks also has a bit of juicy stuff for the business too.
According to a report in the Business Standard today, the documents have revealed that two Indian companies linked to the Gandhi family had sought help from the US diplomatic channels to enter into aviation business.
The companies named in the cables are Maruti Heavy Vehicles and Maruti Technical Services, and have been identified as part of the Maruti group, the brainchild of the most controversial late politician Sanjay Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi was a director on one and Sanjay on both.
These companies wanted to connect with two leading plane makers and an avionics equipment company. They had even managed to clinch a deal with one of the global majors, the report said.
The aviation story of Maruti started in 1976, when KL Jalan, managing director of Maruti Heavy Vehicle (P) Ltd, sough the US embassy’s assistance “in arranging a meeting with the president or high-level official of Cessna Aircraft to discuss the sale of Cessna aircraft in India”, the BS report quoted a cable.
Jalan again approached the embassy after four days seeking to contact Piper Aircraft, another plane maker, which actually expressed its willingness to “discuss full distributor requirements on our next visit to India in January 1977”.
10/04/13 First Post
