NEW DELHI – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes in hot waters overthe Rafael fighter jet deal scandal.
He faced calls for his resignation over allegations of corruption in amilitary jet deal with France after former French president FrancoisHollande was quoted as saying New Delhi had influenced the choice of alocal partner.
Indian political parties have been gunning for Modi over the 2016 purchaseof 36 Rafale planes from Dassault Aviation estimated to be worth $8.7billion, saying he had overpaid for the planes and had not been transparent.
In recent months, the opposition has questioned the government on thechoice of billionaire Indian businessman Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence asDassault’s local partner instead of a state-run manufacturer with decadesof experience.
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On Friday, Hollande, who cleared the intergovernmental deal when he was inoffice, was quoted as saying New Delhi had put pressure on Dassault tochoose Reliance.
“We had no choice. We took the interlocutor that was given to us,” he wasreported as telling the French news service Mediapart, fuelling a politicalstorm in India.
