NEW DELHI – India’s opposition Thursday called for a corruption probe intoa multi-billion-dollar fighter jet deal, raising pressure on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi as government lawyers threatened a leading newspaper withlegal action for revealing details.
New Delhi agreed in 2016 to purchase 36 Rafale jets from France but thedeal has been embroiled in misconduct allegations, which resurfaced in thewake of air battles last month with arch-rival Pakistan that raisedquestions about the capacity of the Indian Air Force.
India and Pakistan both struck each other’s territory during theskirmishes. Islamabad said it had shot down two Indian fighters, and NewDelhi — while confirming the loss of one of its planes — claimed it hadshot down a Pakistani jet.
Modi said this week that the result of the brief aerial clash with Pakistanwould have been “better” if India had Rafales while accusing the oppositionof hampering the deal he signed with Paris at an estimated cost of $9.4billion.
During a Supreme Court hearing late Wednesday, The Hindu newspaper — whichran a series of reports on the deal — was warned it faces charges underthe Official Secrets Act over defence ministry documents it cited in itscoverage.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said the files — which indicated thedefence ministry was angry because Modi’s office had carried out rivalnegotiations for the Rafales — had been “stolen”.
“The government claims that the documents were stolen. Doesn’t that meanthe documents are authentic?” said Rahul Gandhi, head of the oppositionCongress party which has led a longstanding onslaught against the deal.
He added: “The PM’s name clearly figures in the documents, saying the primeminister’s office is carrying out parallel negotiations. Let’s have aninquiry into that as well.”——————————
*‘No force on earth’*——————————
French company Dassault initially won a contract negotiated under aCongress-led government in 2012 to supply 126 jets to India, with 18 builtin France and the rest in India by state-owned Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL).
But during a visit to France in 2015, Modi scrapped the deal, replacing itwith an order for 36 jets — all to be built in France.
The new agreement, formally signed in 2016, named Reliance group, aconglomerate owned by billionaire Anil Ambani, as Dassault’s local partner.Ambani is reported to be close to the governing party and Reliance hadlittle experience in the aviation sector.
The government has strongly denied any misconduct in its renegotiation ofthe deal and accuses Congress of undermining national security to win votes.
The Hindu published details which indicated the price of the jets had risenbecause normal procedures were bypassed.
India’s attorney-general said an investigation is under way into thenewspaper, which has stated it will not reveal where its information camefrom.
The Hindu group chairman N. Ram said: “We did not steal the documents fromthe ministry of defence, we got them from confidential sources and no forceon earth can make me or us reveal the source.”
The Supreme Court is hearing a series of petitions seeking a review of aprevious ruling that declined a demand for investigation into the deal. Thenext hearing is on March 14.
The first Rafales for India are scheduled to be delivered in 2019. – APP/AFP