Congress' allegations on Rafale deal to 'disservice' to armed forces: Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Terming the Congress' allegations about Rafale fighter jet deal as "shameful", Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today these amounted to "disservice" to the armed forces, in first firm rebuttal of the charges levelled by the main opposition party.

Sitharaman said the cost of each aircraft along with weapon systems was much lower than what was negotiated by the UPA government. She alleged that the indecision of the previous UPA governments to procure the combat jets "potentially compromised" national security interests.

She said the inter-governmental agreement with France for "emergency" procurement was struck duly following a transparent procedure and after clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Security.
"These allegations are shameful...The deal was finalised following a transparent procedure," Sitharaman told a press conference.

Questioning the previous UPA governments' "inability" to finalise the deal even after 10 years of negotiations between 2004 and 2014, the defence minister wondered whether the Congress does not owe an explanation to the country over the delay in taking a decision when IAF badly needed the jets.

She said the present government addressed the "vacuum" in the national security structure created by the indecisiveness of the UPA dispensation by "immediately" going for procurement of 36 aircraft in a fly-away condition.

Referring to the delays, she said the UPA government can be accused of "error of ommission" as the Indian Air Force was in critical need of the fighter jets.

However, when asked repeatedly about comparative cost of each aircraft negotiated by the then UPA government and the rate at which the deal was sealed last year, Sitharaman said she was not running away from sharing the details and asked the officials to give the figures to the media.

India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one- and-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the proposal during a visit to Paris. The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September, 2019.

The Congress recently raised several questions about the deal including the rates, and accused the government of compromising national interest and security while promoting "crony capitalism" and causing a loss to the public exchequer.

"That was the grim situation when this government came to power in 2014 and, therefore, we had to move forward so that the air force is not left with unattended requirements for the sake of preparedness," she said.

"The bickerings about the deal are a disservice to the armed forces," she said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, after talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today, spoke about the deal as he expounded on the "strategic dimension" of the bilateral ties.

"I am well placed to know that our defence partnership is significant, as shown through the Rafale and Scorpene projects to mention only the most emblematic ones. But it is not limited to the acquisition of military assets, it is far broader than that, as exemplified in our cooperation in the Indian Ocean," she said.

Sitharaman said the defence procurement procedure allows a contract with a friendly government, and rubbished allegations that government was favouring any businessman through the deal.

On Congress' allegation that Dassault Aviation, the French manufacturer of Rafale, refused transfer of technology (ToT) to India, Sitharaman said it does not make economic sense to go for ToT for 36 aircraft as that would have resulted in escalation of cost.

Sitharaman said in 2012, Rafale was identified as the lowest bidder. However, when her attention was drawn to reports that even the then Defence Minister A K Antony was not convinced whether Rafale was indeed the lowest bidder, she said the the government went ahead with the deal considering the "emergency" situation.

The defence minister said the final agreement for 36 Rafale jets was signed in September, 2016, after five rounds of "lengthy" discussions between Indian and the French sides, and had the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security.

When asked about reports that several members of the high-level committee examining the bids dissented and noted that Rafale was not the lowest bidder (L 1), Sitharaman said, "I will go back to see what it is."

Separately, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the charges levelled by the Congress over the Rafale deal were "baseless".

"I am amazed over the patently baseless allegations being levelled by the Congress party on the whole Rafale deal," Prasad told reporters.

He said the deal was "properly revisited" at the government-to-government level and many additional facilities and opportunities had been added in terms of weapons, training of Indian pilots, and supply of spares.

Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal R Nambiar were also present at the briefing.