Hollande's comments on Rafale escalate row; Govt says no role in selection of Reliance

As former French president Francois Hollande's claim on the Rafale deal fuelled a massive political row, the government Saturday asserted it did not have any role in the selection of Reliance Defence as a partner for Dassault while France said it was in "no manner" involved in the choice of any Indian industrial associate for the contract.

Dassault Aviation said the decision to partner with Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) to fulfill offset obligations of the deal was its own.

Hollande, who was French president when the Rs 58,000 crore deal was announced, was quoted as saying by French publication 'Mediapart' that France was given "no choice" on selection of the Indian partner for Dassault and the Indian government proposed the name of Reliance to partner with the French aerospace giant.

AFP reported that Hollande told it on the sidelines of a meeting in Canada on Friday that France "did not choose Reliance in any way". When asked whether India had put pressure on Reliance and Dassault to work together, Hollande said he was unaware and "only Dassault can comment on this".

NDTV reported Saturday that Hollande's office said he stood by his comments.

Hollande's comments gave fresh ammo to the opposition, with Rahul Gandhi making one of his sharpest attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, alleging the remarks showed there was "clear-cut corruption" in the deal and he must clarify whether the former French president was "lying".

"Now, what the ex-president of France is saying is that the prime minister of India is a 'thief'. That is what this (Hollande's) statement is saying," Gandhi told a press conference while asking Modi to come clean.

Hitting back, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned as "shameful and irresponsible" Gandhi's remarks against Modi, saying no president of any party has ever used such language against a prime minister.

Prasad also rejected Hollande's claim on the Rafale deal, saying it does not know under what compulsion he said so.

The sensational comments quoted to Hollande gave a new twist to the controversy as the Indian government has been maintaining it was not officially aware whom the Dassault Aviation has selected as its Indian partner to fulfil offset obligations of the deal. The opposition has been alleging that government was favouring RDL.

The report quoted Hollande as saying, "It was the Indian government that proposed this service group, and Dassault who negotiated with Ambani. We had no choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us."
It also said the reported statement of Hollande needs to be seen in "its full context where the French media has raised issues of conflict of interest involving persons close to the former President."