Rafale deal: Modi Govt compromising national security, says AK Antony

Senior Congress leader and former defence minister AK Antony on Tuesday accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of suppressing facts on the Rafale deal and asked why the government was shying away from setting up a joint parliamentary committee to probe it.

He also accused the government of being "guilty" of "gravely compromising" national security in the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Addressing a press conference, Antony said the authorised squadron strength of fighter aircrafts for the Indian Air Force is 42 squadrons. “It has now come down to 31. In 2000, the IAF told the then NDA-1 government that they require at least 126 Fighter aircraft for defence preparedness. Currently, the IAF needs more than that, but instead of catering to its requirements, the Narendra Modi Government has seriously jeopardised the country’s security and combat preparedness by ordering only 36 Rafale aircrafts,” alleged Antony.

The former defence minister said that during the UPA government, the IAF had for the first time demanded that the ‘Life Cycle Cost’ be a part of the contract. During the negotiations, there were some disputes about the method of calculation of ‘Life Cycle Cost’ and some issues were resolved by public-sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Congress-led UPA Government was trying to resolve these issues and finalise the contract, in India’s interests, emphasised Antony.

“Even as the government at the Centre changed in May 2014, the negotiations were still going on and were almost at the final stages. Instead of trying to resolve these teething issues, the Prime Minister went to Paris and announced the purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts under the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on April 10, 2015. PM Modi made this announcement while negotiations with HAL were in the final stages,” pointed out Antony.

He rejected as "completely false" the charges of Sitharaman that an unprecedented intervention by him in 2013 put the "final nail in the coffin" when the cost negotiation committee was giving final touches to the deal.

The former defence minister accused Sitharaman of trying to tarnish the image HAL both nationally and internationally.

Antony also asked if the price of the Rafale fighter jets were cheaper than that negotiated by the UPA, and why did the Modi Government not buy 126 aircraft instead of 36 from the French manufacturer.

"The Congress party demands that the Modi government publish the price of the Congress-UPA's deal of 126 aircrafts and the price of its 36 Rafale deals, including per aircraft price of the same to clear the doubts of the people of India, let the Nation decide who is correct.

"Since, there is a growing perception that the Modi government's Rafale purchase deal has more skeletons in its closet, let there be a Joint Parliamentary Probe (JPC) to bring the truth out in the open," he told reporters.

According to the Defence Procurement Procedure, Defence Acquisition Council is the only authorised body to clear the tender. Headed by the Defence Minister, the council consists of the Army Chief, Air Force Chief, Navy Chief, Defence Secretary, Secretary of Defence Finance, DRDO Chief, Coast Guard Chief and Secretary of Defence Production.

When Modi made the announcement in 2015, the DAC's approved proposal for acquiring 126 Rafale jets was still alive. We would like to know when the DAC cleared the proposal for 126 aircraft, and who authorised Modi to reduce the number to 36," the senior Congress leader asked.

“If Congress-UPA deal of 126 Rafale aircrafts was not cancelled by the Modi government, then Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) would have acquired ‘Transfer of Technology’ which was a key component of the RFP issued by the UPA. There is no ‘Transfer of Technology’ in Modi government’s Rafale deal, which should mean that the price of the aircraft must be substantially cheaper than the UPA deal, if it is without ‘Transfer of Technology,” explained Antony.