Rafale deal row: Congress demands breakup of fighter jets' prices

Countering Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's citation of "secrecy" of the deal, Congress leader Anand Sharma said the secrecy is not binding on the commercial aspects.

Sharma also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to explain how the price of the deal increased from Rs. 526 cr, which was fixed under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, to Rs. 1670 cr.

The Congress leader termed the deal as a "scam".

Hitting out at Modi, Sharma said: "The PM is equally responsible....He misled the house (Lok Sabha) and the country."

Accusing the Congress of playing politics over the Rafale deal, BJP spokesperson Desh Ratan Nigam told a news channel that international relations should not be made a victim of petty politics.

Targeting PM Modi directly during his speech on the No Confidence Motion in Lok Sabha on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said Sitharaman had lied about the facts of the Rafale deal and a secrecy clause under pressure of Modi.

"Nirmala Sitharaman lied to the country over the Rafale deal under Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she said she could not reveal the details of the deal owing to a secret pact with France. There is no such pact," said Rahul.

The Congress president said he came to know from French President Emmanuel Macron himself that there was no secret pact between India and France. Issuing a statement, the French Embassy, however, promptly denied what Rahul Gandhi claimed in the parliament.

Countering the Congress president, Sitharaman had said a secrecy deal with France was signed in 2008 under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime when the Defence Minister was AK Antony.

Amid pandemonium, she further said Macron told an Indian media outlet in an interview that the commercial details of the Rafale jets deal can't be revealed.

The French Embassy in New Delhi issued a statement to cite an India Today interview of their President and affirmed that the deal was sensitive and hence the details cannot be revealed.

The statement by the French Embassy put Congress in a spot and apparently left Rahul egg-faced.

It said: "We have noted the statement of Mr Rahul Gandhi before the Indian Parliament. France and India concluded in 2008 a Security agreement, which legally binds the two States to protect the classified information provided by the partner, that could impact security and operational capabilities of the defence equipment of India or France."

"These provisions naturally apply to the IGA concluded on 23 September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapons. As the President of the French Republic indicated publicly in an interview given to India Today on 9th March 2018, « In India and in France, when a deal is very sensitive, we can’t reveal all details," the statement by French Embassy in New Delhi read.

Not shifting from his position for a bit, Rahul tweeted on Sunday to accuse Sitharaman of 'flip-flop' on her stand on the Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

Gandhi tweeted: "Our Defence Minister said she would, but now she won’t. She flip flops between “it’s-not-a-secret” & “it’s-a-BIG-secret”. The PM squirms when asked about the price of RAFALE and refuses to look me in the eye. Sure smells like a scam. #RAFALEscam."