India proposed Reliance Defence as Dassault partner for Rafale deal, says former French President Francois Hollande
The Defence Ministry on Friday reiterated that neither the Government of India nor the French Government had any say in the commercial decision.
Former French President Francois Hollande has said that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for Dassault Aviation in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale jet fighter deal and France did not have a choice, a French media report said on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been maintaining that it did not have any role in the selection of the offset partner.
The Defence Ministry on Friday reiterated that neither the Government of India nor the French Government had any say in the commercial decision.
Hollande was President of France from May 2012 to May 2017 and it was during his tenure that the inter-governmental agreement for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets was signed between Indian and France. Reliance Defence was selected by the Dassault Aviation as its offset partner in India.
Hollande's remark is set to escalate the political slugfest over the controversial multi-billion dollar deal.
The opposition Congress has accused the government of "crony capitalism" and has even gone as far as to allege a scam. The Congress had earlier alleged that the Rafale deal was a saga of multi-crore "conflict of interest" and "quid pro quo".
Industrialist Anil Ambani has denied the Congress charge that the government had a role in his Reliance group being chosen as an offset supplier and has accused the party of making "false statements".
He has also written to Rahul Gandhi explaining the deal and slapped defamation notices on Congress leaders asking them not to make "false" statements.
"We did not have a say in this...the Indian government proposed this service group and Dassault negotiated with (Anil) Ambani group. We did not have a choice, we took the partner who was given to us," Francois Hollande told a French news portal. Hollande was President of France from May 2012 to May 2017 and it was during his tenure that the inter-governmental agreement for purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets was signed between Indian and France.
(Photo: PTI)
Reacting to Hollande's remark that is at variance with the stand taken by the Indian government, the defence ministry spokesman said on Friday, "The report referring to former French president Hollande's statement that government of India insisted upon a particular firm as offset partner for the Dassault Aviation in Rafale is being verified."
(Photo: Dassault Aviation)
The Defence Ministry reiterated that neither the Government of India nor French Government had any say in the commercial decision of Dassault Aviation and Reliance Defence. "It is reiterated that neither the government nor the French government had any say in the commercial decision," a ministry spokesperson said.
(Photo: Dassault Aviation)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked Narendra Modi government after Hollande's claims. "The PM personally negotiated and changed the Rafale deal behind closed doors. Thanks to François Hollande, we now know he personally delivered a deal worth billions of dollars to a bankrupt Anil Ambani. The PM has betrayed India. He has dishonoured the blood of our soldiers," Rahul Gandhi said.
(Photo: Dassault Aviation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after holding talks with then French President Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris. The opposition has been accusing the government of choosing Reliance Defence over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd to benefit the private firm though it did not have any experience in the aerospace sector.
(Photo: Dassault Aviation)
The opposition Congress has accused the government of "crony capitalism" and has even gone as far as to allege a scam. The Congress had earlier alleged that the Rafale deal was a saga of multi-crore "conflict of interest" and "quid pro quo". Anil Ambani has denied the Congress charge that the government had a role in his Reliance group being chosen as an offset supplier and has accused the party of making "false statements". His company has also slapped defamation notices against Congress leaders.
(Photo: Dassault Aviation)
On charges that the NDA government chose Reliance over Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that it was the UPA government that dropped the HAL for the multi-crore combat jet agreement.
(Photo: Dassault Aviation)
Senior Congress party leaders on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) demanding a report on the alleged 'irregularities' in the Rafale fighter jet deal.
(Photo: Reuters)