December 21, 2025 09:05 am (IST)
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India objects to Swedish daily's coverage on Pranab's interview related to Bofors
New Delhi, May 27 (IBNS): A new row has sparked over the Bofors Scam with a Swedish newspaper printing comments of President Pranab Mukherjee on the same controversy focusing on whether politicians took kickbacks in exchange for buying artillery guns made in Switzerland.
India has strongly opposed to the publishing of the comments of Mukherjee related to the controversy.
The Indian ambassador to Stockholm, Banashri Bose Harrison, has said in a letter that: "It was both unprofessional and unethical on your part to include in the report an off-the-record correction by the President after the interview had ended, about a slip-of-the-tongue during the interview."
"I am told at that point you sympathized with him and said it can happen to anyone. After that, to include the same in your report in a most condesconding manner as you have one does not befit the high standards normally expected from a leading newspaper or a professional journalist," the letter further said.
The newspaper Dagens Nyheter, in a report on Wednesday, claimed that prior to the publishing of the report, the envoy had asked it "to retract sections of the interview mentioning Bofors".
In fact, they also claimed that the envoy also warned that if the portion was not dropped, Mukherjee would not visit Sweden in the end of this month.
Reacting to India's letter, Peter Wolodarski, the paper's editor-in-chief said, "I find the Ambassador's reaction regretful. It is surprising that someone representing the world's largest democracies is trying to micromanage which questions we should ask a head of state, and which answers should be published."
This comes after the President made comment on a subject that once rocked the nation and caused defeat of the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress Government and still remains a topic of varied opinions.
"First of all - it is yet to be to be established that there was a scandal. No Indian court has established it," Mukherjee had said in an interview given to Swedish daily Dagens Nyhetter at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
He said, "I was the defence minister of the country long after Bofors, and all my generals certified that this is one of the best guns we are having. Till today, Indian army is using it. The so-called scandal which you talk of, yes, in the media, it was there. There was a media trial. But I’m afraid, let us not be too much carried by publicity."
However, even after all these controversy, India on Wednesday confirmed that President will visit the Swedish nation as scheduled.
"First ever Presidential @RashtrapatiBhvn visit from India to Sweden will take place from May 31- June 2 for consolidation of bilateral ties," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
In 1986, when the Congress was in power, Swiss arms manufacturer Bofors signed a Rs. 1,500 crore contract to supply Howitzer guns to India. The Swedish media reported that the company had to pay massive kickbacks to Indian politicians and defence officials.
The case triggered a fierce opposition campaign leading to the defeat of the Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1989.
Mukherjee had been finance minister and defence minister in Congress-led governments.
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