Sitharaman, Antony trade blows
NEW DELHI: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday responded to Congress leader AK Antony’s criticism of the Rafale defence deal signed between France and India, saying the UPA government failed to make any breakthrough and hence no deals were carved out.
“Deal didn’t happen during UPA. What also didn’t happen during UPA was that between HAL and Dassault they couldn’t agree on production terms. So, HAL and Rafale couldn’t go together. Doesn’t that very clearly say who didn’t go together with HAL, under which govt did that happen,” said Sitharaman in a press conference.
The Defence Minister also said that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government was getting the Rafale fighter jets at a rate nine per cent cheaper than what the UPA dispensation had agreed upon.
Sitharaman’s statement came after senior Congress leader A K Antony on Tuesday lambasted the defence minister on her claim that state-run HAL did not have the required capability to produce the jets in India. Antony had accused Sitharaman of “tarnishing the image of HAL, which is the only company that can manufacture the fighter aircraft in India”,
Senior Congress leader A K Antony Tuesday accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of suppressing facts on the Rafale deal and asked why the government was shying away from setting up a joint parliamentary committee to probe it.
He also accused the government of being “guilty” of “gravely compromising” national security in the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Addressing a press conference, Antony rejected as “completely false” the charges of Sitharaman that an unprecedented intervention by him in 2013 put the “final nail in the coffin” when the cost negotiation committee was giving final touches to the deal.
He also asked if the price of the Rafale fighter jets were lower than that negotiated by the UPA and why it did not buy 126 aircraft instead of 36 from the French manufacturer.
Commenting on the continuous attack by the Congress on the number of aircraft ordered, the defence minister said that the number was fixed after careful assessment.
“The ideal squadron strength is 42; it has been coming down. So, when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi assessed the situation, (we figured) it was our duty to get the Rafale,” said the defence minister.
In a related development the Supreme Court Tuesday adjourned hearing on a plea seeking a stay on the Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Navin Sinha and K M Joseph adjourned the matter till October 10 after petitioner advocate M L Sharma told the bench that he wanted to file some additional documents in the case and sought an adjournment in the matter.
The Defence Ministry Tuesday accorded approval for procurement of military equipment and weapons worth Rs 9,100 crore, officials said.
The procurement will include two regiments of Aakash missile systems, they said.
The acquisition proposals were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the Defence Ministry’s highest decision-making body on procurement. The DAC also approved the design and development of test equipment for guided weapons systems for T90 tanks.
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