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Nirmala Sitharaman hits back at Congress on Rafale deal, says it was UPA govt that didn't go with Hindustan Aeronautics

Nirmala Sitharaman hits back at Congress on Rafale deal, says it was UPA govt that didn't go with Hindustan Aeronautics

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Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back at the Congress on allegations that the NDA government was tarnishing the image of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in Rafale deal and said that it was the UPA government itself that dropped the HAL for the multi-crore combat jet agreement.

Addressing media in New Delhi, Sitharaman yet again defended the Modi government in the Rafale deal and said that, ‘deal didn't happen during the 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 government did that happen?’

Apart from the Rafale deal, Sitharaman also spoke about the S-400 missile deal and said that, ‘the negotiation with Russia on the S-400 have reached almost the final stage, we'll have to see it if it’s signed before the Russian President’s visit. But the negotiations are almost complete.’

Sitharaman’s clarification came after senior Congress leader and former defence minister AK Antony accused her 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. 

The former defence minister accused Sitharaman of trying to tarnish the image of public-sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) both nationally and internationally.

He also asked if the price of the Rafale fighter jets were cheaper than that negotiated by the UPA and why it did not buy 126 aircraft instead of 36 from the French manufacturer.

"The Congress party demands that the Modi government publish the price of the Congress-UPA's deal of 126 aircrafts and the price of its 36 Rafale deals, including per aircraft price of the same to clear the doubts of the people of India, let the Nation decide who is correct.

"Since, there is a growing perception that the Modi government's Rafale purchase deal has more skeletons in its closet, let there be Joint Parliamentary Probe (JPC) to bring the truth out in the open," he told reporters. 

(With PTI inputs)

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