While attending the Aero India show in Bengaluru, DASSAULT CEO, Eric Trappier said that if India wants more RAFALE jet aircrafts, apart from the 36 then they would deliver it happily.He further said that the 36 RAFALE jet aircrafts will be delivered to India in the time period of next 2 years.
Eric Trappier also asserted that there is no scandal in the Rafale ‘deal’ ,as there has been wide spread controversy regarding the ‘transparency’ of the deal.
Congress is the main opposition party that previously alleged PM Narendra Modi of acting as the ‘middleman’ for Reliance Defence Chief, Anil Ambani and further raised the question about the 36 aircrafts being purchased in lieu of 126, as decided earlier during the UPA regime.
Congress top brass P. Chidambaram, in an interview told that when the price of 126 aircrafts is ‘amortised’ in 36, it itself increases the price of each aircraft by many folds.
Eric Trappier, however, on being enquired about any message that he has for Rahul Gandhi, said that he has no message for Rahul but he has message for the Indian and France partnership and their respective Air Forces.
Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier: There is no scandal with #Rafale, we had the request for 36 aircraft and we are going to deliver it. If Government of India wants more aircraft, we will be more than pleased to deliver. pic.twitter.com/Y3bdvHmTGF
— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2019
The RAFALE jet aircrafts that participated in the Aero India show are different from the ones that are going to be delivered to India in a period of 2 years.
Eric Trappier, further praising the ‘Make in India’ initiative said that they are more than proud to display the Falcon 2000 cockpit in their stand that they produced in Nagpur in 1year.
Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier at #AeroIndia2019 in Bengaluru: We are more than proud to show today in our stand what we have produced in Nagpur, the first Falcon 2000 cockpit manufactured under the 'Make in India' policy in one year. pic.twitter.com/HGYbxfhUZ4
— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2019
DASSAULT CEO added,”The first jet will be delivered this year in September and then one fighter jet will be given every month” on being asked about the controversy that surrounds the deal.
He further said that 100 is a good number if India wants to strengthen its defence ‘capability’ and wants to ‘buy’ more, assuring that they would be pleased to deliver more aircrafts to India.
Earlier, Ambassador of France to India, Alexandre Ziegler whilst rejecting the allegation of corruption in the RAFALE deal asserted that the Indian Air Force is going to get a ‘very good’ aircraft in the coming 6 months.
However, the deal remains in a mist of ‘controversy’ as per the report published by “The Hindu”. The report states that the PMO ran a parallel negotiation with France even after the indulgence of Defence Ministry in the deal. The Hindu in its report also asserted that the PMO, with its indulgence undermined India’s position on the negotiating table. The Hindu ‘cited’ a letter of the, then Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar’s reply to the MoD ‘dissent note’ on RAFALE deal.
ANI accesses the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s reply to MoD dissent note on #Rafale negotiations. "Defence Secretary (G Mohan) may resolve the matter in consultation with Principal Secretary to PM" pic.twitter.com/yXGQJNiDvB
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2019
The report by The Hindu provided serious ‘ammunition’ to the opposition in attacking the government. Mallikarjun Kharge was even seen carrying the ‘News report’ to the parliament during the session.
Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitaraman, however responded to the questions surrounding the report, saying that the newspaper was ‘incumbent’.
“It was incumbent on the newspaper, the Hindu to put the reply of then Raksha Mantri Shri Parrikar on record too in its story but they omitted it.”
Watch full statement by Raksha Mantri Smt. @nsitharaman in Lok Sabha today on a malicious news report published on the Rafale deal. pic.twitter.com/MwecghzTY7
— BJP (@BJP4India) February 8, 2019