NEW DELHI — The Indian Navy has expressed concern to French authorities over the reported leakage of data pertaining to the Scorpene submarines being built for India.
"The Indian Navy has taken up the matter with Director General of Armament of the French Government expressing concern over this incident and has requested the French Government to investigate this incident with urgency and share their findings with the Indian side," according to an Aug. 25 Indian Navy statement. "An internal audit of procedures to rule out any security compromise is also being undertaken."
Meanwhile the matter is being taken up by New Delhi through diplomatic channels to verify the authenticity of the reports appearing in a section of Australian media.
"The documents that have been posted on the website by an Australian news agency have been examined and do not pose any security compromise as the vital parameters have been blacked out," the Navy said.
Meanwhile, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has asked the Indian Navy to bring a report on the probe into the leak within one month, according to a senior official with the Indian Ministry of Defense.
The first French Scorpene submarine built by state-owned Mazagon Docks Ltd. (MDL), based in Mumbai, under technology transfer from French naval contractor DCNS was launched in April 2015.
India had signed a $3.5 billion deal in 2005 to build six Scorpene-class submarines at MDL.
INS Kalvari, first of the Scorpene-class submarines, is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy later this year.
Retired Indian Navy admiral and former service chief, Arun Prakash, said the leak has "badly" compromised the credibility of DCNS.
"If a company cannot protect its customers' confidentiality and interests, it does not deserve business," Prakash said.
The newspaper, The Australian, reported Aug. 24 that more than 22,000 pages detailing the combat and performance capabilities of six Scorpene-class submarines produced by India in partnership with French company DCNS had been leaked.
Vivek Raghuvanshi is the India correspondent for Defense News.
