NDA bought customised war machines for IAF: Pon Radhakrishnan
The Rafale deal, which has become the bone of contention between the BJP and Congress, was finalised on September 23, 2016.
Chennai: With the Centre coming under fire from the Congress on the Rafale deal, Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan, justified the agreement for 36 Rafale fighter jets valued at Euro 7.87 billion or about Rs 59,000 crore, and asserted that the NDA did not buy “flying tins” but bought “customised war machines for stronger IAF.”
Lashing out at the Congress president Rahul Gandhi for targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on the defence deal between India and France, which also included a 50 per cent offset obligation, the largest-ever offset contract in the history of India, Mr Radhakrishnan said, “NDA didn’t buy flying tins. Government bought customised war machines for stronger IAF. But Pappu won’t understand.”
Apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi who during the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led government at the Centre, recently, said “you may call me Pappu,” followed by hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and impishly wink at his party colleagues, Mr. Radhakrishnan took to twitter to ‘fire a series of missiles’ at the Congress leader. His tweets were trending in the #IndiaSupportsRafaleDeal.
The Rafale deal, which has become the bone of contention between the BJP and Congress, was finalised on September 23, 2016. Rahul had also accused the defence minister of having “lied under pressure from the PM.”
In a series of tweets, Mr. Radhakrishnan asked, “Why govt should interfere btwn two pvt companies? Unlike corrupt congress, NDA follows FDI in def policy. It doesn’t need approval of Union cabinet. No question of pvt party in govt deal. #IndiaSupportsRafaleDeal.”
Mr. Radhakrishnan also said that the DPP allows to contact friendly government regarding the purchase of equipment. “IGA was issued & Proper CCS approval was taken. Agreement was signed in Sept 2016 by defence ministers of France & India.” The Rafale jet price is lower than what Congress negotiated because NDA government ensured that “we also get weapons along with jets. Operational readiness was also important while procurement….Even IAF Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa supports govt over Rafale bt @INCIndia even refuses to listen to him.”
The Rafale, as configured for India, is more advanced than what the French Air Force operates and is pretty much the gold standard for an aircraft of its size and class, the Minister said.