It is time the Prime Minister spoke on Rafale and cleared the air

The govt's rebuttals on Rafale deal lack conviction

The controversy over how the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP-led) government has gone about purchasing 36 Rafale fighters for the air force, and over the selection of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence group for discharging offsets related to this deal, has taken on a new dimension. Former French president Francois Hollande has claimed that the Indian government ordered that Dassault, which builds the Rafale in France, should enter into offset partnerships with Reliance Defence, and that Paris had no choice in the matter. Mr Hollande’s allegation that Mr Ambani was New Delhi’s nominee directly contradicts what Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Finance