Questioning if there was an “international corporate warfare” behind the allegations over the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said none should become a pawn in this battle. She also questioned if the procurement of these jets was being “sabotaged.”
“Is India’s strategic interest top on your agenda, or are you becoming a partner to some kind of a corporate rivalry…,” she asked the Opposition. “Therefore, by not procuring timely powerful equipment for the IAF, it is disservice to the country,” she said, speaking on India’s strategic interest in the context of the deal organised by the Foundation for Public Awareness and Policy.
Stating that this debate was critical for the country and she wanted every strand of it explained as much as it could be explained in public, Ms. Sitharaman said, “None of us should play party to any corporate warfare. We cannot become pawns in the hands of corporate giants’ warfare to constantly bully the government, to throw misinformation to the public, tell part-truth and part-story to the public.”
Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said all questions pertaining to the deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets had been answered in detail both in Parliament and outside.
She then questioned if the intention of the debate, which she referred to as “artificial storm”, was to sabotage the deal or cancel the procurement.
On Thursday, The Hindu , published an exhaustive story on the huge price escalation in the deal for 36 jets compared to the earlier agreement for 126 jets which was scrapped.
Ms. Sitharaman said in all debates on defence procurements, there is fine line between transparency and national security. Stating that the Congress has not bought any jet, or even concluded the negotiations, Ms. Sitharaman said that when someone is trying to [buy the jets] there are attempts to question by pushing the strategic interests of the country.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Ms. Sitharaman said defence procurements are cumbersome but in the past the rigour has been “tweaked” for somebody who has not gone through the system or “corners have been cut.” “For good or bad, this government choose not to have middlemen at all. Not just in Rafale but in all deals… We have not had any middlemen in the corridors of South Block,” she stated.
Ms. Sitharaman said the deal was necessitated as adversaries in the neighbourhood were acquiring 4th generation and possibly 5th generation aircraft while the IAF was flying with older aircraft.
