New Delhi:

Pointing out a “glaring instance” of politics destroying an extremely significant piece of intelligence shared between two nations, a security expert on Thursday said that Israel had shared with India certain transcripts about the possible threat to the life of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that went missing after the assassination of the top Congress leader in 1991.

“In recent history, in the last three-four decades, the most critical information Israel shared with us was certain transcripts relating to possible threat to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s life. Eventually, as the situation played out, the threat materialised… Once he was no more, the political dispensations were very different.

“Nations had to work with each other on a day-to-day basis. The situation arose where that particular piece of intelligence got misplaced, removed, or whatever,” said Namit Verma during a discussion titled ‘Intelligence Cooperation and Security Challenges in the Emerging World Order’ organised by the Usanas Foundation.

Mr Verma, according to the programme’s host and Usanas founder Abhinav Pandya, has been an “expert on global geopolitics with specialisation in security matters” for decades, having also “worked closely with the government on various critical matters of security and foreign policy”.

“In India, we reconstructed the material based on the correspondence with other files. We sought another copy of the transcript, but Israel never provided it. There can’t be a more glaring instance of how politics plays out in sharing intelligence between nations.

“At that point, India was critical, the Soviet Union wasn’t disintegrated and India was a backchannel between the US and the Soviets. Rajiv Gandhi was part of that communication,” he mentioned during the discussion which was also attended by two Israeli security experts, Joseph Rozen and Kobe Michael, the latter having served as Deputy Director General and head of the Palestinian division in the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

Mr Verma said that such incidents have happened whenever global equations are changing or the existing order is challenged.

“This particular transcript effectively said that the payment had been made… It said that ‘Godman’ has made the payment… What could be more obvious… On the backchannel, all this information was documented and our intelligence agencies were aware of that. They asked for security to be provided which the government of the day did not provide,” the expert told the virtual gathering.

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New Delhi:

Striking an emotive note, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday remembered her “life partner” Rajiv Gandhi while speaking on the women’s reservation bill and said his dream would be fulfilled with the passage of this legislation.

Extending her party’s support to the women’s reservation bill, the Congress parliamentary party chief demanded that the quota be implemented immediately and SC, ST and OBC women also be given reservation following a caste census.

While putting forward strong political points on the bill, she also injected a personal note when she recalled former prime minister and her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s efforts to secure reservation for women.

“This is a very poignant moment in my life. It was my life partner Rajiv Gandhi ji who for the first time had brought the constitutional amendment for participation of women in local bodies, but it was defeated in the Rajya Sabha by seven votes. Later, the Congress government under the leadership of prime minister P V Narasimha Rao got it passed,” she said in the Lok Sabha.

Today, as a result of that, there are 15 lakh elected women leaders through local bodies across the country, she added.

“Rajiv Gandhi’s dream is only half fulfilled. It will be fulfilled with the passage of this bill. The Congress supports this bill,” Mrs Gandhi said.

The constitutional amendment bill was introduced in the Lower House on Tuesday. It was the first bill introduced in the new Parliament building.

The bill provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The reservation will come into effect only after the completion of the census and delimitation exercise.

Rajiv Gandhi first introduced Constitution Amendment Bills for one-third reservation in panchayats and nagarpalikas in May 1989. It was passed in the Lok Sabha but failed in the Rajya Sabha in September 1989.

Later, then prime minister Narasimha Rao reintroduced Constitution Amendment Bills for one-third reservation for women in panchayats and nagarpalikas in April 1993. Both bills were passed and became laws. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)