The defence ministry, however, has said that the report is "being verified" and reiterated that "neither GoI nor French Govt had any say in the commercial decision".
The defence ministry, however, has said that the report is "being verified" and reiterated that "neither GoI nor French Govt had any say in the commercial decision".
New Delhi: The Indian government is the one that suggested Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as a service provider for the Rafale deal, former French president Francois Hollande has said in remarks made to Mediapart, a Paris-based investigative news website.
If Hollande’s statements are correct, it would sharply contradict the line taken by the Modi government over the 36-aircraft contract.
In the face of opposition criticism over the selection of Anil Ambani’s company, senior Modi government ministers have maintained that the process of choosing Reliance Defence as an offset partner for the Rafale deal was a purely commercial decision that was driven by Dassault Aviation.
Responding to the Hollande bombshell, the Indian Ministry of Defence put out a statement on Friday evening saying that the Mediapart report was “being verified” and that “it is reiterated that neither GoI nor French Govt had any say in the commercial decision”.
Mediapart, which published its story on Friday on the Rafale controversy, asked Hollande about the arrangement between Dassault Aviation and Reliance.
Hollande was the French president when the intergovernmental agreement between France and India for 36 aircraft was announced by Modi in April 2015. The Wire accessed and translated the French article and is publishing the relevant parts below.
The interviewer asks Hollande: “How and by whom was the latter [Reliance] selected? (Comment et par qui ce dernier a-t-il été sélectionné?)”
The former president replies: “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 picked the interlocutor (/contact person) which was selected for us. This is why, moreover, this group had no interest in granting me any special privileges. I couldn’t be further away from imagining that there was any link whatsoever with a movie by Julie Gayet.” [Emphasis added by The Wire].
The French version is:
Nous n’avions pas notre mot à dire à ce sujet. C’est le gouvernement indien qui a proposé ce groupe de service, et Dassault qui a négocié avec Ambani. Nous n’avons pas eu le choix, nous avons pris l’interlocuteur qui nous a été donné. C’est pourquoi, par ailleurs, ce groupe n’avait pas à me faire quelque grâce de quoi que ce soit. Je ne pouvais même pas imaginer qu’il y avait un quelconque lien avec un film de Julie Gayet .
One persistent strain of criticism in the Rafale controversy over the last few months has been the inclusion of Reliance Defence - which at the time of its selection as an offset partner was a fledgling company, having been incorporated just a little before the defence contract was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2015. Opposition parties like the Congress in particular have used this point to raise allegations of crony capitalism.
The decision to go with a smaller purchase and the selection of Anil Ambani’s Reliance, presumably by Dassault Aviation, has also sparked criticism because its inclusion came with the dropping of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as a co-production partner for a larger 126-jet deal.
The Modi government has staunchly maintained that it had nothing to do with Dassault Aviation choosing Reliance. A month ago, finance minister Arun Jaitley specifically laid this out, noting that under the offset policy, any original equipment manufacturer can “select any number of Indian partners”.
“This has nothing to do with the Government of India and, therefore, any private industry having benefitted from the Government of India is a complete lie. Can Shri Gandhi and his Party deny this?” Jaitley said.
For her part, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has maintained that she doesn’t officially know who Dassault Aviation’s offset partner is. “I have not got to know who is Dassault’s offset partner… It is a commercial decision. There are laid down procedure to check the process of fulfilment of offset obligations. Neither I can accept, nor I can suggest, nor I can reject anybody from going with anybody,” she said last week.
Hollande’s new remarks, therefore, cast a shadow of doubt on this line of defence.
The Wire has asked Reliance Defence, Dassault Aviation and the French embassy in New Delhi for their comments and this story will be updated if and when a response is received.