 "Internal Dassault document reveals Rafale offset deal was a 'trade-off', 'imperative and obligatory', claims Shashi Tharoor, citing French media reports")
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Wednesday cited a French media report to allege that Dassault Aviation entered into an agreement with Reliance Defence as it was presented as a “trade-off” which was “imperative and obligatory” to “clinch the Rafale deal”. Sharing a report by French investigative website Mediapart, Tharoor wrote on Twitter:
Explosive revelation in French media: an internal Dassault document says the Reliance offset deal was a “trade-off”, “imperative and obligatory” to clinch the #Rafale deal. @INCIndia https://t.co/2xiMmgwL9K
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 10, 2018
According to NDTV, Mediapart—which claimed to have accessed a document on the matter—reported that Dassault considered this alliance as a “counterpart” to enter the Indian market. Tharoor’s tweet came even as the Congress continued targeting the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal. The Congress accused the Centre Wednesday of “manipulating” the process of Rafale fighter jet agreement by “punishing” bureaucrats who raised objections to the deal and rewarding “obliging officials”. Ahead of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to France, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, too, stepped up his attack and questioned the visit.
The Supreme Court has asked for the #RAFALE decision making process. It’s quite simple really...
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 10, 2018
The PM decided.
The processes to justify his decision are yet to be invented. But work has begun.
Ps. In this connection, Raksha Mantri is leaving for France tonight. https://t.co/FJJzlBulb0
Defence Minister Sitharaman is scheduled to leave for France on Wednesday on a three-day visit, which comes amid the backdrop of controversy over the purchase of 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation. The Opposition, led by the Congress, has been accusing the government of benefiting Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence Limited from the Rafale deal. The government and Reliance Defence have dismissed all the allegations as false. With inputs from PTI
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