Former French President François Hollande’s office has reiterated that the Indian government proposed Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence for the Rafale deal.
Hollande’s office spoke to news channel NDTV and said that it stands by the former president’s statement made on Friday.
Breaking: Hollande office tells @ndtv it stands by his statement on #rafale
— Suparna Singh (@Suparna_Singh) September 22, 2018
French media had earlier quoted Hollande 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).”
Also Read: Explosive: Former French President Hollande Says Modi Govt Proposed Ambani’s Name For Rafale Deal
The Narendra Modi government has made no comments on Hollande’s statement yet. Defence ministry spokesperson had tweeted on Friday that the reports on Hollande’s statements are being verified.
Hollande’s statement contradicts Modi government’s claim that Dassault alone selected Reliance and the government or defence ministry had no say in the decision.