Rafale deal: Sitharaman asks whether opposition is being used as pawns in corporate rivalry

Accusing the opposition of spreading misinformation in the Rafale deal, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Saturday wondered whether these parties were becoming pawns in corporate rivalry and whether the procurement of 36 fighter jets was being "sabotaged".

During her address at an event here, Sitharaman said ever since the Modi government assumed office, there has been a conscious effort to keep middlemen at bay from the corridors of the Defence Ministry.

"I want every strand of this debate to be explained, as much as it can be, without any of us playing into the hands of international corporate warfare. None of us should play party to any corporate warfare.

"We cannot become pawns in the hands of the corporate giants to constantly bully the government, to constantly throw misinformation at the public, to misinform the public," she said.

Her attack on the opposition parties comes a day after a newspaper report claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to buy 36 Rafale jets, instead of 126 as negotiated by the previous UPA government, was taken while bypassing mandated procedures, pushing the price of each aircraft by 41.42 per cent.

The Congress has launched a fresh salvo at the government on the Rafale deal citing this report.

Sitharaman was addressing a seminar on 'India's Strategic Interest in Context of the Rafale Deal'. She accused the opposition of doing a "disservice" to the nation by misinforming the public on the fighter jet deal.

"You (opposition) are misinforming the public and doing disservice to the country if you are becoming pawns in corporate rivalry. Is India's interest at the top of your agenda or are you becoming a partner to some kind of corporate rivalry," she asked.

"Is your intention to sabotage this procurement? If the intention is to stop the purchase, (then) that's disservice to the nation," she said.

Responding to a question that before the announcement in 2015 to procure 36 jets in an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) was made, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier had stated negotiations for the procurement of 126 jet were on and then suddenly the deal was called off, Sitharaman said, "Dassault (Aviation) chief said negotiations were on. That's all true. Such things go on in a bureaucratic process."