Hollande remarks set off fresh Rafale crossfire | India News

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NEW DELHI: Introducing another twist in the unravelling Rafale saga, now a major political wedge issue, former French President François Hollande said it was the Indian government which proposed that Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence should be the “service provider” to Dassault Aviation in the Rs 59,000-crore deal for 36 Rafale fighters.

Hollande’s comments, in an interview to a Paris-based investigative news website called Mediapart on Friday, contradict the NDA government’s stand that it had nothing to do with the selection of offsets partners for Dassault after the deal was inked in September 2016.

The defence ministry said the French media report about Hollande’s statement that the “NDA government had insisted upon a particular firm as the offsets partner for Dassault” was being verified. “It’s reiterated that neither the Indian government nor the French government had any say in the commercial decision,” it said.

The report referring to fmr French president Mr. Hollande's statement that GOI insisted upon a particular firm as… https://t.co/q33w4vOaDt

— Defence Spokesperson (@SpokespersonMoD) 1537536228000

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that PM Narendra Modi “changed the deal behind closed doors”.

Thanks to François Hollande, we now know he personally delivered a deal worth billions of dollars to a bankrupt Anil Ambani. The PM has betrayed India. He has dishonoured the blood of our soldiers,” he added.

The PM personally negotiated & changed the #Rafale deal behind closed doors. Thanks to François Hollande, we now kn… https://t.co/P0lRflVz0l

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) 1537541602000

In the Mediapart article, the interviewer asked Hollande, “Who selected Reliance as a partner and why?” The former French president replied, “We didn’t have a word to say about that subject. The Indian government suggested this service provider, and Dassault negotiated with Ambani. We didn’t have a choice, we took the interlocutor (or partner) which was selected for us [translated from French].”

Hollande appeared to be defending himself over reports that Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment had entered into a deal to produce a film with his partner, actor Julie Gayet, saying the Indian group had no reason to do him a favour. The former French president is facing charges of crony capitalism at home.

It was during the Modi-Hollande summit in Paris in April 2015 that it was announced India would directly buy 36 Rafales in a flyaway condition after scrapping the deadlocked negotiations for 126 fighters, under which 108 jets were to be licensed manufactured by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). Ambani, incidentally, was present at the summit.


Congress and others have been attacking PM Narendra Modi for allegedly favouring Reliance Defence over HAL as the main offsets partner of Dassault Aviation in the Rafale deal, with Reliance Entertainment’s reported deal to produce the film with Gayet.


The MoD has repeatedly stressed Dassault Aviation is yet to inform it of the Indian offsets partners. “As per the contract, details of the Indian offset partners will be confirmed by Dassault Aviation either at the time of seeking offset credits or one year prior to discharge of offset obligations,” it had earlier said.


“Under the Defence Procurement Procedure, the vendor or original equipment manufacturer is free to select his Indian offset partners. Dassault has so far not submitted any proposal for offsets discharge,” it added. Dassault Aviation chairman Eric Trappier and Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani had in October 2016 announced the creation of a joint venture in India, which would be “a key player” in the execution of offsets obligations of Rs 30,000 crore.

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