Former French President François Hollande on Friday, told Mediapart that the French government did not have a choice but to choose Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence Ltd. for the Rafale deal, since the Indian government had proposed the company.
President Hollande was quoted saying, “We did not have a say in this. The Indian government proposed this service group, and Dassault negotiated with Ambani. We did not have a choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us (translated).”
This statement completely contradicts Modi government’s claim that Dassault alone selected Reliance and the government or defence ministry had no say in the decision.
“The Ministry of Defense played no role in the selection of Indian partners by the seller,” the Indian government had said earlier.
At first, the Modi government claimed that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was incapable of manufacturing Rafale fighter jets. Later, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that HAL was dropped off the negotiations by the UPA government.
Now, after President Hollande’s statement, it is quite evident that the Modi government altered the entire Rafale deal only to favour Ambani’s Reliance.
(The original report is behind a paywall and NewsCentral24x7 has obtained a copy of the full article.)
UPDATE: The Defence Ministry Of India Responded To President Hollande’s Statement
The official Twitter handle of Defence Ministry Spokesperson of India was quick to respond that the report referring to Former President Hollande’s statement is being verified.
The ministry reiterated that the government of India had no say in Reliance’s selection for the Rafale deal.
The report referring to fmr French president Mr. Hollande's statement that GOI insisted upon a particular firm as offset partner for the Dassault Aviation in Rafale is being verified.
It is reiterated that neither GoI nor French Govt had any say in the commercial decision.— Ministry of Defence, Government of India (@SpokespersonMoD) September 21, 2018