CHINESE LAVISH/LARGE GIFTS TO INDIAN POLITICIANS

Chinese 'gifts' worry India
Ramananda Sengupta
November 29, 2006 12:56 IST

A senior Indian intelligence official has expressed concern over what he described as the "dramatic increase" in Chinese attempts to woo Indian politicians and business leaders with gifts, some of them "phenomenally lavish."
Reacting to a story in Businessworld magazine, which refers to Chinese attempts to buy influence in India, the Indian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said while this is nothing new, what is of concern is the sudden and dramatic increase in the number of "influential Indians" being tapped by the Chinese.
The recipients of these gifts "spanned the political spectrum", the official said, expressing his "serious worry over this alarming trend, which has increased in leaps and bounds over the past three or four years."
Indian intelligence agencies, however, could do nothing much beyond "keeping an eye on the recipients" and bringing this to the attention of the Prime Minister's Office and the National Security Council, since there were "major political implications," the official said.