In a new twist to the controversy over alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal, the Congress on Monday pulled out a statement made by the Eric Trappier, chairman of Dassault Aviation, on March 25, 2015— just 17 days before the agreement was signed—that the offset contract with public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) would be finalised and signed very soon.
The Narendra Modi government is under attack for allegedly edging out HAL from the deal to benefit businessman Anil Ambani's company, with the Congress accusing the prime minister of crony capitalism at the cost of national security.
The Congress played back a video of Trappier's statement made at the Aero India event held in Bengaluru in March, 2015 to substantiate its allegation that the HAL was in talks with the French manufacturer for the offset contract as part of the deal to purchase Rafale fighters.
In the video, Trappier is heard saying, “After an outstanding amount of work and some discussion, you can imagine my great satisfaction to hear on one hand from the Indian Air Force chief of staff that he wants a combat proven aircraft which could be the Rafale... and on the other hand from HAL chairman that we are in agreement for the responsibilities sharing, considering as well our conformity with the RFP (request for proposal) in order to be in line with the rules of this competition. I strongly believe that contract finalisation and signature would come very soon.”
The Congress also showed a video of the then foreign secretary S. Jaishankar saying on April 8, 2015, that the Rafale deal was not expected to come up in the talks that Modi would have with the French leadership during his visit to Paris.
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“Just days later, the prime minister announces purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft off-the-shelf. And this happened while the tender of the previous UPA government had not yet been cancelled,” said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
He said the government has to explain what happened in the intervening period since the Dassault chairman's statement and the inking of the agreement, for the scenario to change so drastically with regard to the deal that Dassault opts for a company that is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, for the offset contract.
The Congress has also demanded freezing of all documents pertaining to the Rafale contract, and has also asked for the Rafale manufacturer to be pre-warned that if the investigation into the purchase of the aircraft finds irregularities, the deal could be cancelled.