No talks of kickbacks in Agusta chopper deal during my tenure: Ex-NSA

Former national security adviser (NSA) MK Narayanan said on Wednesday that there were no talks of any kickbacks during his tenure in the AgustaWestland chopper deal. He said the deal was carried out according to decisions taken by the earlier National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

“(When) I left in 2010, there were no talks of any kickbacks. After I went to West Bengal (as governor), I came across what was coming in the newspapers (on the deal),” he told a TV channel.

Narayanan was the NSA under the then Congress prime minister, Manmohan Singh, from January 2005 to January 2010.

He said he was not aware of the then Italian prime minister calling up Singh on the issue.

“I am not aware of any call from the Italian prime minister to Manmohan Singh. As the national security adviser, I only reiterated (the position) what the previous NDA government had decided. No one from AgustaWestland ever approached me,” said Narayanan.

He said he did not want to get involved in the crossfire between the two governments, headed by the Congress and the BJP respectively on the deal.