Who is Sudhir Choudhary? And what makes him such a big arms agent in India and Israel?
Who is Sudhir Choudhary? And what makes him such a big arms agent in India and Israel?
As disclosed by DNA in its report of March 27, Choudhary is a key player in the Rs 10,000 crore contract signed by the government with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on February 27 to jointly develop medium-range surface-to-air missiles (MRSAM) for the air force.
The controversial deal, now in the thick of a political storm over alleged kickbacks and the payment of 6% “business charges,” has become a major political issue in Kerala, home state of defence minister AK Antony. The CPI(M) has called for suspending the deal.
According to DNA research, Choudhary, whose nickname is Bunny, enjoys almost complete immunity in the Israeli media because of the military censorship under “national interest.” In India, Choudhary is related by marriage to a Union minister and is said to be the key driver behind many arms deals.
Choudhary and his family have made so much money from arms deals that he holds significant stakes in defence firms in Israel and Russia that are supplying sensitive military systems to India, according to DNA investigations and Israeli media reports.
Now operating out of London following the Central Bureau of Investigation’s cases against him, Choudhary is believed to be in poor health, being a diabetic with a heart condition.
According to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, “Following IAI (which first discovered the power of Choudhary), other defence industries in Israel discovered Choudhary’s contacts in India to be of great importance.”
Choudhary is a stakeholder in Sukhoi, a Russian company that provides fighter planes to India. “He is a part-owner of the firms he represents in India. Another characteristic of his activities is the large number of offshore firms he registers in tax shelters in order to make it difficult to follow his activities, as well as his profits,” Haaretz said last week.
DNA’s own investigations have shown that Choudhary and family hold a 50% stake in the Israeli defence conglomerate Mikal, which owns artillery gun-maker Soltam. Soltam is vying for several artillery contracts in India.
The Israeli newspaper names Uri Manor, a former IAI engineer, as one of Choudhary’s key liaison men in Israel. It also names a former director-general of the Israeli defence ministry, Amos Yaron, as yet another of Choudhary’s business contacts in Israel. The director-general is the senior-most bureaucrat in the Israeli set-up.
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