Minister says Rahul Gandhi’s allegations on the Rafale deal are absolutely wrong

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s allegations that she had lied to the country over the Rafale fighter deal were “absolutely wrong”.

In the Lok Sabha, Mr. Gandhi said French President Emmanuel Macron had conveyed to him that there was no problem in sharing the details of the deal.

“It was an agreement of secrecy. Protection of classified information. I am not privy to what the French President told Mr. Gandhi. But I am referring to two particular interviews that the French President had given to Indian TV channels. In the interviews, the French President had said that commercial details of the Rafale deal cannot be revealed,” she said.

In his speech, Mr. Gandhi said: “Everybody understands the relationship the Prime Minister has with certain people. Everybody understands the amount of money that goes into the marketing of the Prime Minister and everybody knows who have funded that. One of those people was given the Rafale contract ... The gentleman benefited to the tune of ₹45,000 crore.”

However, Ms. Sitharaman said the security agreement between India and France signed in 2008 by the then Defence Minister, A.K. Antony, did not allow the revealing of sensitive information.

In September 2016, India and France signed a €7.87 bn Inter-Governmental Agreement for 36 Rafale jets in fly-away condition.

Responding to Mr. Gandhi’s comments, the French government said in a statement that the provisions of the 2008 security agreement applied to the Rafale deal.

France Cites Pact

“We have taken note of the statements of Mr. Rahul Gandhi. There is a security agreement between France and India, signed in 2008, which commits the two states to protect the classified information provided by the partner, which could, in particular, impact the security and operational capabilities of the defence equipment,” the statement said.

However, the French Embassy declined to comment on Mr. Macron’s statement in an interview that France would not object if details of the agreement would be shared with the Opposition.

After France issued the statement, Mr. Gandhi stuck to his stand. “He [French President] said that before me. Anand Sharma and Dr. Manmohan Singh were also there,” he said.