You did defence dealing, we deal in defence : Nirmala Sitharaman to Cong in LS

Replying to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s speech, Sitharaman said Congress believed in doing “defence dealings” while the Narendra Modi government was “dealing in defence” to maintain India’s security.

“Our neighbourhood is very volatile. It is, therefore, important that we do anything to keep peace. Timely procurement of getting arms and ammunitions is a must. China added 4,800 aircraft. It’s the fourth generation aircraft being added by China. Pakistan increased its aircraft numbers by more than double in the last 10 years. In 2002, India had 42 squadrons, and came further down,” she said.

The Defence Minister's reply came after the Congress accused the Centre of lying before the Supreme Court by citing a "non-existent" CAG report on Rafale deal and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reply to the debate in Lok Sabha on the issue.

Kharge had accused Modi of giving offset contract to his "favourite man" and reiterated the demand for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

"The Rafale deal is a Rs 1.30 lakh crore scam. Modi takes 'AA' along in his flight.... There should be a JPC probe since it is a very big scam. It has to be probed in the court of Parliament," Kharge had said.

When Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his speech in the House on Wednesday took the name of industrialist Anil Ambani, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told him that he cannot use his name as per Parliament rules. Gandhi then referred to Ambani as 'AA'.