Indian Air Force chief backs Modi govt. on Rafale aircraft procurement
New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa has said that the procurement of the Rafale aircraft from France would strengthen the defence preparedness of India by augmenting the fleet of fighter aircraft, thus backing the Modi government on the deal which has been made a political issue by the opposition Congress.
“By providing the Rafale and S-400 [Russian S-400 air defence missile system], the government is strengthening the Indian Air Force to counter the shortfalls of our depleting numbers. The high-tech fighters like Rafale are needed because medium-tech fighters like Tejas alone cannot do,” Dhanoa said at a seminar on 'IAF's force structure, 2035', as quoted by News18 and Economic Times.
He was quoted saying that "no country is facing the kind of grave threat that India is confronted with."
"Our neighbours are not sitting idle. China is modernising its air force significantly. Intentions of our adversaries can change overnight. We need to match force level of our adversaries,” he said.
"We do not have the numbers, against a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons, we are down to 31. Even when we do have 42 squadrons, we will be below the combined numbers of two of our regional adversaries."
Rahul Gandhi has been attacking the Narendra Modi government over the deal and alleged that the same had caused a loss of Rs 41,000 crore to the exchequer as compared to the price negotiated by the Congress-led UPA government.
Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, whose company has been linked by Congress in the deal, has written to Congress President Rahul Gandhi over allegations regarding the Rafale fighter jet deal and said his party has been 'misinformed, misdirected and misled by malicious vested interests and corporate rivals.'
In his letter to Rahul, Anil expressed deep "anguish over continued personal attacks" by Rahul on him and termed all allegations as “baseless, ill-informed and unfortunate.”
Anil clarified to Rahul that Rafale fighter jets are not being manufactured by Reliance or the Dassault Reliance Joint Venture.
"All 36 planes are to be 100% manufactured in France, and exported from France to India," he clarified.
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