AMN
President Pranab Mukherjee’s remarks to a Swedish daily on Bofors issue has sparked off a big controversy with India protesting publication of slip of tongue comments and the newspaper alleging that the Indian Ambassador had asked it to retract the relevant portions. Editor-in-Chief of the daily Peter Wolodarski has claimed that Indian envoy to Sweden Banashri Bose Harrison warned that the planned state visit by the President was at risk of being cancelled.
In a letter to Wolodarski, Ms Harrison wrote to convey disappointment of the authorities in Delhi regarding the manner in which the interview was presented.
She said that the President was not shown the courtesy and respect that he deserves as a head of state to which the paper said that they conducted the interview in the same manner as they do whenever they interview other heads of state and government.
Speaking to editor-in-chief of DN, Peter Wolodarski on the Bofors scandal, Pranab Mukherjee had said: “First of all – it is yet to be to be established that there was a scandal. No Indian court has established it, he reminds us. 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.”
Meanwhile, the newspaper in its e-edition claimed that in a telephone conversation with it prior to the publication of the article, the Ambassador made a direct request to retract sections of the interview mentioning Bofors.
India has denied that it had asked the Swedish newspaper to retract portions of its interview with Mr Mukherjee.
During the interview, ahead of his visit to Sweden next week, Mr Mukherjee had said the Bofors wasn’t a scandal, but rather a media trial.
President Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Sweden on a three-day official visit from May 31 to June 2, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed. MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup took to twitter to share the information.