'Italy May Out PM Modi Meeting If...': Agusta Middleman's New Claim To NDTV

Dubai:

Italy will out a private conversation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he allegedly asked for information against Sonia Gandhi if Delhi does not release an Italian marine arrested for murder, claims Christian Michel, who allegedly served as a middleman for a corrupt helicopter deal struck when Mrs Gandhi's party, the Congress, was last in power.

Mr Michel's recurrent claim about PM Modi meeting with the Italian premier in New York has been denied by the government. But speaking to NDTV in Dubai, Mr Michel took his earlier disclosure up several notches by stating that if India does not allow a marine detained since 2012 to travel home, Italy "may do something unpleasant" in retaliation - "admit to a meeting" between its leader, Matteo Renzi, and Mr Modi.

Mr Michel says that what India and Italy have denied so far is a formal encounter on the sidelines of a UN summit. He says what he's talking about is a "casual brush-by meeting which has plausible deniability attached to it."

The Foreign Ministry told NDTV it stands by an earlier statement that denied an official meeting, but it did not respond to a specific query on an informal encounter.

In 2010, the Congress-led government ordered a dozen helicopters for use by VVIPs from Agusta, an Anglo-Italian firm. Because Agusta executives were suspected of paying bribes abroad, Italy began investigating the contract. The deal was cancelled in 2012 after evidence of wrongdoing began emerging.

Last month, a Milan court concluded bribes had been paid after deliberating upon evidence that included letters and notes from consultants and executives of Agusta. Mr Michel confirmed to NDTV that one of those documents is a note from him that mentions Mrs Gandhi as "the driving force" of the acquisition of new helicopters, though he stressed that no bribes were paid to her and that given her power, it was natural for her to top a list of politicians to be lobbied.