Former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan was arrested in an espionage case in 1994. This old matter has suddenly come to surface again when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the bail pleas of two retired Kerala police officers last week. Opposing their bail, the CBI now claims that Nambi was falsely implicated in a concocted case by these two, thereby delaying the development of India’s cryogenic technology. While informing the Kerala High Court that the two retired officers had played an active role and concocted an espionage case, the CBI has tried to bring in a global ramification and justify a very unjustifiable act of the government of India.
It is said that a panel was formed in the 1990s which studied the developments regarding the Nambi case for almost two and a half years. It was only after the report was received that the scientist was arrested along with the then ISRO Deputy Director D Sasikumaran and Fousiya Hasan, a Maldivian national. The CBI, in its probe back then, had held 16 other police officials, including Intelligence Bureau officers in Kerala responsible for the illegal arrests. The present act of opposing the bail by the CBI, however, has been deliberately much publicised.
The CBI now claims that there was an international involvement in the fabrication of the case against Nambi Narayanan and his the then deputy. It is said that India was trying to get the cryogenic technology from the Russian Space Agency Glavkosmos. This technology would have been helpful in sending heavy satellites into deeper space. The CBI’s story now takes an interesting turn. It is now being told that Joe Biden, who was then a Democratic Party senator during Republican George Bush Senior’s Presidency, turned out to be the biggest saboteur of India’s ambitious space programme. He supposedly opposed the Russia-India agreement for supply of two cryogenic engines to India.
Dragging in the name of Joe Biden in this old case and some Indian media claiming that CBI is on its way to prove that Nambi’s sacking and arrest was a Biden-led conspiracy against India weaves a new narrative to justify a huge diplomatic faux pas committed by the Indian leadership. The 1990s senator Joe Biden has, in the meanwhile, become the President of the United States of America, defeating Donald Trump with one of the largest winning margins in American Presidential election history. With this in the background, Indians may wonder why has the CBI set out on such a dangerous path of collision with the US President. Most Indians are very aware of the investigative prowess of the CBI. When the efficacy within the country is so very clouded, it is impossible to imagine how an international investigation of such a monumental nature can be handled by this outfit.
Hark back to the recent history of Donald Trump’s campaign. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters and the Indian embassy had organised a massive meeting titled ‘Howdy Modi’ at Dallas, Texas. Trump had also been invited to that event. In his address to the Indian diaspora, PM Modi himself had endorsed Trump’s reelection by chanting ‘Ab ki Baar Trump Sarkar.’ Obviously, time proved that utterance to be a grave diplomatic error on the part of India. Added to this came the hesitancy demonstrated by India in congratulating new President Joe Biden after his win. While Russia and China purposefully delayed their congratulatory messages, India’s leadership seemed dazed and could not comprehend the changed US political scenario. Now, the effort has probably begun using the CBI to prove a point to the domestic news consumer. Word is being spread that Joe Biden was indeed a long-time enemy of India’s interests. India’s leadership is most likely playing the nationalistic card of having taken the risk to bravely stand up and campaign against someone known for his inimical attitude towards India.
It may be noted that Joe Biden was just an opposition senator in the 1990s. It seems doubtful whether he could have influenced an Indo-Russian treaty while he was not in power. On the other hand, let us hypothetically assume Joe Biden was indeed instrumental in thwarting India’s space ambitions by destroying the Indo-Russian tradeoff. Let us also assume the CBI succeeds in proving his finger was truly in that pie. That may only go to prove Biden’s love for America and his mettle as an individual politician. It may even bolster his image as a patriot in his country. While not damaging Joe Biden in any which manner, this could put India as a country personally vindictive towards the present US President. India can easily afford enmity with Pakistan. But the US is a whole different deal.