Air force deputy chief backs jet deal

The deputy chief air marshal of India’s Air Force, R. Nambiar, yesterday said the deal to acquire 36 Rafale aircraft by the Modi government was ‘much better’ than the one negotiated earlier for 126 planes, contending that ‘people are misinformed’ about the issue.

The remarks come against the backdrop of mounting criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government by the Congress, with the opposition party on Monday urging the Central Vigilance Commissioner to register a first information report (FIR) and seize documents pertaining to the Rafale deal.

Asked about the row over the offset partners chosen by Dassault Aviation, he said: ‘I believe people are misinformed. There is nothing like Rs300 billion [Dh15 billion] to any one party. Dassault alone has offsets to the tune of over Rs65 billion. Nothing more than that.

‘We have evaluated all the aircraft available to us in the past,’ Nambiar, who recently flew the Rafale in France, told the media here.

‘All in all, it was a very good deal, much better than what was obtained in 2008,’ the deputy chief air marshal said.

Asked about a French media report that there was a push by the Indian government to include Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence in the deal, Nambiar said: ‘The commercial negotiations were headed by the deputy chief of Air Staff and he was responsible for completing the negotiations.’