India frees Latvian pilots in advance of Putin visit

India has released five Latvian pilots, serving life terms for waging war against the country. The move follows pressure from Moscow ahead of the visit by the Russian President, Mr Vladamir Putin, to Delhi later this year. Security officials yesterday admitted that the weekend release of Alexandre Klichine, Oleg Gaidash, Igor Moskvitin, Igor Timmerman and Antimenko Eugueni from Calcutta jail for dropping arms over eastern India in 1995, was also linked to military hardware India wants from Moscow.

India is closing negotiations with Russia for 310 battle tanks, an aircraft carrier, naval fighter jets and a range of missiles and missile delivery systems. India took delivery of one Russian "Kilo" class submarine last week and has ordered three frigates currently being built in Russian shipyards.

The issue of the pilots' release was raised by Russian officials during the recent visit to Moscow by the Indian Foreign Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, and the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes. "The decision [to release the Latvians] was basically a goodwill gesture in anticipation of Putin's visit. We have been toying with the idea for sometime," a Home Ministry official said, declining to be named.

The Latvians leave behind British arms dealer, Peter Bleach (48), sentenced with them in February, in a maximum security cell in Calcutta's Presidency jail.

The jail houses nearly four times the number of around 900 inmates for which it was built. Bleach, allegedly connected to British intelligence, has appealed against his sentence and awaits the outcome.

His counsel has expressed optimism about Bleach's quick release. "My client today stands on a different footing, primarily because the case against the co-accused [the Latvians] does not exist anymore in this country," Mr R. K. Khanna said.

The Latvian pilots flew a Russian Antonov An-26 cargo plane from Bulgaria, where it was loaded with various arms and munitions, including assault rifles and rocket launchers to India via Karachi in Pakistan. The aircraft air-dropped these over Purulia, a remote district in Bengal state on the night of December 17th, 1995.

A Danish national, Mr Neils Christian Neilson, alias Kim Davy, was reportedly on board, but slipped away in Bombay after the aircraft was forced to land by Indian air force fighters in Bombay. Bleach was arrested on board the aircraft.

Key questions about the conspiracy remain unanswered. It is still not known where the arms originated, and who was the mastermind behind their delivery.