PM must clear his stand on Hollande statement: Rahul
SPARKS FLY Calls for JPC on Rafale deal; playing into enemy hands, says Prasad NEW DELHI:
Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday to clear his stand over the purchase of 36 Rafale jets from Dassault and demanded a joint parliamentary committee probe into the deal, a day after former French president Francois Hollande fuelled controversy by saying his nation was given no choice on the Indian partner for the aviation manufacturer.
The principal Opposition party has alleged that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government chose Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for an offset deal in the deal $8.7-billion purchase initiated in 2016.
The ministry of defence said on Saturday “unnecessary controversy” was being created by the opposition parties. “The governname ment has stated earlier and again reiterates that it had no role in the selection of Reliance Defence as the Offset partner,” it said.
“As per Defence Offset Guidelines, the foreign Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is free to select any Indian company as its offset partner,” the ministry said.
A report in a French investigative website on Friday quoted Hollande as saying that the Indian government proposed the of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group as Dassault Aviation’s offset partner.
“We had no say in this regard. The Indian government proposed this service group (Reliance Defence), and Dassault Aviation negotiated with (Anil) Ambani. We did not have a choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us,” the website Mediapart quoted Hollande as saying.
Hours after Hollande’s remarks, French aerospace major Dassault said it had made the decision to partner with Reliance Defence Ltd for the deal. The French government also released a statement, saying it was not involved in the choice of the Indian partner and that French companies had complete freedom to select Indian firms.
Gandhi renewed his attack on the government at a news conference on Saturday. “What I am surprised with is that PM is completely silent,” he said.