Smells like a scam: Rahul Gandhi attacks Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi, July 22 (IBNS): Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and accused her 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."
Our Defence Minister said she would, but now she won’t.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 22, 2018
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
Targetting PM Modi directly during his speech on the No Confidence Motion in Lok Sabha on Friday, Rahul said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lied about the facts of the Rafale deal and a secrecy clause under pressure of Prime Minister Narendra 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 Gandhi.
The Congress president said he came to know from French President Emmanuel Macron himself that there was no secret pact between India and France.
However, the French Embassy soon issued a statement denying what Rahul claimed in Parliament.
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 left Rahul Gandhi 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.
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