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| India-Pakistan |
| US links Indian govt in weapons conspiracy |
| 2007-04-05 |
| WASHINGTON - An Indian top executive at a US firm was charged Tuesday with shipping restricted weapons technology to the Indian government in a case that could put a pending bilateral nuclear deal under extra congressional scrutiny. Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 46, CEO of Cirrus Electronics, was arraigned before a US magistrate judge on charges of smuggling technology linked to development of aircraft, missile and aerospace systems, government attorneys said. He and his company’s international sales manager, Mythili Gopal, 36, were arrested on March 23 following joint investigations by the FBI and commerce, customs and immigration agencies. Gopal is to be officially charged on April 17. Facing a 15-count indictment, they were charged with acting as ”illegal agents of a foreign government” and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Arms Export Control Act. The indictment also charged other Cirrus employees AKN Prasad of Bangalore, India, and Sampath Sundar, 47, of Singapore, for their roles in the alleged offenses. “These arrests put a network of technology smugglers out of business and demonstrate that we have no tolerance for weapons proliferators who illegally supply entities with weapons technology,” said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 The news of the arrests has created a stir in the nuclear establishment here with sources pointing out that instead of loosening the high-tech controls against India, the US authorities are doing the exact opposite. The sources pointed out that the export of items such as heat resistant SRAMs, capacitors, semi conductors, rectifiers and resistors were permitted by the US to Israel and China, but clearly, as the arrests of the officials have indicated, not to India. “US reluctance to loosen computing and space technology controls against New Delhi goes against the rationale of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership between the US and India — an initiative that supposedly paved the way for the nuclear deal,” the sources said. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-05 17:56 |
| #5 Above was from Times of India. The fact that VSSC and HAL are on the "entity list" of (Clinton administration imposed) sanctions doesn't mean that stuff can't be sold to them. It just requires a waiver. It may take 5 years for State to grant it but not even Foggy Bottom folk would be so dense as to jeopardize the sale of hundreds of GE404 jet engines by stopping the sale of processors for the flight computers of the same planes, processors you can find in any old Laser printer. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-05 08:07 |
| #4 What is hugely embarrassing for New Delhi is that the indictment suggests the Government of India is co-conspirator in the case, citing Sudarshan and Mythili Gopal's meeting with an unnamed Indian official. The duo is said to have discussed the purchase of 500 i960 microprocessors with an Indian Embassy official. Equally embarrassing for the Bush administration is that its law enforcement is using such seemingly minor infractions to undermine the White House's initiative to forge strategic military ties with India. The administration itself, Indian officials say privately, has been inept in removing several Indian establishments from its entities list at a time the two countries are talking of joint space missions. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-05 07:07 |
| #3 More than 20 years ago, the chip firm Intel embarked on a project to produce an advanced microprocessor subsequently named the i960. Introduced in the late 1980s, around the time India was embarking on its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project and with US commitment to supply its General Electric engines for it, the microprocessor had a brief run of success like most new chips do. By the mid-1990s, the i960's price/performance ratio had fallen behind competing chips of more recent design, including products from the rival AMD and other chipmakers. Intel disbanded its i960 team, sending some of them to work on the P6 Pentium. The i960 itself was nearly forgotten by the industry, and except for its continued use in some slot machines, was considered all but defunct. But not by some Indian businessmen conniving with the Government of India, according to U.S investigators. In a 15-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed in Washington DC on Friday, authorities have charged Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 46, and Mythili Gopal, 36, of conspiring to circumvent U.S. Arms Export Control laws to purchase U.S. electronic components - mainly the i960 microprocessor - for use in the Indian missile program by sending them to proscribed Indian entities using false end-user declarations. Sudarshan is expected to be produced in a DC Court on Monday, while Mythili Gopal has been released after an appearance in a court in South Carolina. The case, which has baffled, and even amused, Indian experts, would indeed be funny if it was not so severe, with grim consequences for growing US-India ties. That versions of the i960 have military application has long been known, as also its use in India's LCA program. But the chip is of such vintage that no one expected it to be a sensitive item that is on an export control list. "These days, you can buy more advanced stuff off-the-shelf in a Circuit City," one Indian expert familiar with the technology told ToI, not wanting his name in print. Indeed, the full specs of the i960 microprocessors is available on the Intel website |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-05 07:06 |
| #2 They exported resistors, capacitors and Intel i960 processors. They claimed the recipient was NPOL (the Indian Navy's Oceanography lab), which is not on the "entity list" and is ok to ship stuff to. The actual recipient was VSSC (which is on the entity list and requires a waiver). VSSC is actually not in the missile business. LOX/Kerosene and LOX/LH engines are not suitable for ballistic missiles. Not when the Indian DRDO already has large diameter solid fuel engines. The i960s (an obsolete processor) which they could have salvaged from old laser printers was destined for HAL in Bangalore. The FBW computers of the Tejas jet use this processor. Ironically the FBW software was actually tested on an F-16 by Lockeed Martin. The engines of the Tejas are supplied by General Electric. The MMR of the Tejas is being converted to use ADI's Blackfin Sharc processor. 3 generations of this processor have actually been completely designed in Bangalore. Indian critics of the US-India nuclear deal have also seized upon these arrests. They are asking why the Indian PM Singh wants to but F-18 fighters from the US when even obsolete processors are under sanctions. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-05 06:54 |
| #1 I blame the US government on this one. Stoopid beyond words. Sorry, but no foreign nationals in sensitive positions. They should be third generation Americans before this is considered. Political correctness costs us again. Might as well tell Rosie O'Donnel all about whatever that guy exported to India because it's not stopping there. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-05 03:01 |