Def Min slams Oppn attack on Rafale deal

NEWDELHI: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday linked the Opposition’s criticism of the government over the Rafale fighter jet deal with possible corporate espionage, saying: “None of us should play party to an international corporate warfare”.

The defence minister also questioned whether the attack on the government over the purchase of the fighters was aimed to cancel the purchase. “If the intention is to sabotage even this procurement… that’s the icing on the cake as regards to disservice to this nation,” Sitharaman said.

The Opposition, especially the Congress, has accused the Modi government of corruption and wrongdoing in the purchase of 36 Rafale fighters from France.

Her comments on corporate rivalry was also in regards to questions about why a 20% discount offered by one of the contenders — Eurofighter Typhoon manufactured by EADS — for the purchase of 126 fighters being negotiated by the previous government was not accounted for when the current government decided to buy the 36 planes from France.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday dismissed a news of price escalation in the deal. He said SC had examined the prices and CAG is examining it. “The new article on Rafale is based on fudged arithmetic, ignore the escalation of the 2007 non-deal offer and compare it with the 2016 price and invent a scam,” he said.