Defence minister Sitharaman issues 5-point rebuttal of Rafale accusations

In April 2011, the IAF ruled out four fighters, leaving only the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale in the fray

Underlining the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) unease at the Congress Party’s allegations of wrongdoing by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the Rs 58,000-crore purchase last year of 36 Rafale fighters from French company, Dassault, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (pictured) led a counterattack on Friday.

Flanked by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and Indian Air Force (IAF) procurement chief, Air Vice Marshal Rathunath Nambiar, Sitharaman lashed out at the Congress on five counts.

First, she stated, the previous BJP government had, as early as 2000, “recognised the need to strengthen the IAF,” leading to procurement being initiated for 126 medium