RAFALE CRASH LANDS ON MODI GOVT
Indian govt gave us no choice but to partner Ambani: Former French president Hollande
In a dramatic twist to the ongoing Rafale controversy, former French president Francois Hollande has dropped a bombshell.
He has said in a media interview that French defence giant Dassault Aviation was given no choice but to partner with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence for the offset clause in the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Hollande's reported statement contradicts Indian government's claim that the agreement between Dassault and Reliance was a commercial pact between two private parties and the government had nothing to do with it. It also reinforces the allegation of crony capitalism that is being made against the Modi government.
In an article published by French journal Mediapart, while responding to a question about who selected Reliance, Hollande said it was the Indian government that proposed Reliance's name and Dassault had no choice but to accept.
"We did not have a say in that. The Indian government proposed this service group, and Dassault negotiated with Ambani. We did not have a choice, we took the interlocutor we were given," said Hollande. The interview was published in French and excerpts of Hollande's interview were tweeted by French Newspaper Le Monde journalist Julien Boissou.
Congress leader Manish Tewari on Friday immediately tweeted this article and asked Hollande, "President (Former) Francois Hollande should also enlighten us how the price went up from 590 crores in 2012 to 1690 crores in 2015 per Rafale fighter jet? Escalation of a mere 1100 crores. I am sure the Euro equivalent would not be a problem to calculate."
Responding to Congress attacks on the government for keeping Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) out of the Rafale deal under the offset clause, both Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have been constantly stressing that Dassault and Reliance got into an agreement on their own.
Responding to the latest twist, the Defence Ministry spokesperson again reiterated that neither the Government of India, nor the French Government had any
say in the commercial decision. When contacted by a TV channel for a response, the French Embassy in New Delhi responded: "No comment."
Incidentally, Hollande is also facing allegations of crony capitalism in his country. The Indian Express had reported that two days before he came to New Delhi as the Republic Day chief guest and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for delivering 36 Rafale aircraft, Anil Ambani's Reliance Entertainment entered into a deal to produce a film with Hollande's partner and actor Julie Gayet.