ISLAMABAD: After being exposed by the French government for influencing 36 Rafale fighter planes deal, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has charged his cannons to fire obsolete anti-Pakistan rhetoric to mock fanatic Indians.
The Rafale scandal has been a burning question since the opposition blew the whistle of hefty corruption when Modi announced to purchase the French fighter jets on his visit to Paris. The opposition party ‘Congress’ has accused the government for choosing Reliance Defence over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to benefit the private firm though it did not have any experience in the aerospace sector.
The Congress also demanded the Modi government to elucidate the thrice increase in the prices of the jets which was a mere eyewash that erupted a huge corruption scandal narrating unprecedented plundering of public money.
Interestingly, prior to the Modi government, the deal to purchase the Rafale aircraft was also done during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government where its largest member party is the Indian National Congress.
According to the Congress, the cost of an aircraft at that time was Indian Rs 5900 million, while the deal was finalized by the Modi government three times the price.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi also boiled a hot war on the social media portal Twitter slamming PM Modi for betraying the country. Rahul said, “The Prime Minister spoke privately about Rafael Deal behind the closed door and made a change in it. He has betrayed the country and insulted our martyrs”.
The former French President Francois Hollande according to a French media report clarified: “The Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for Dassault Aviation in the Rafale jet fighter deal and France did not have a choice”.
According to reports in Indian media, the French government claimed to have no involvement in the choice of Indian industrial partners for the Rafale fighter jet deal, insisting that French companies have full freedom to select Indian firms for the contract.
Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale, had chosen Reliance Defence as its partner to fulfill offset obligations of the deal. The government has been maintaining it did not have any role in selection of the offset partner by Dassault.
In a statement, Dassault Aviation said it decided to partner with Reliance Defence in accordance with the policy of ‘Made in India’.
In the recent escalating crisis over the controversy, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has alleged that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Anil Ambani jointly carried out a multi-billion ‘surgical strike’ on the defense forces.”
The Indian Air Force (IAF) had termed that deal as oxygen for Indian Defence but allegations of corruption on PM Modi has raised many questions about the transparency of the deal.
After a plethora of allegations against Modi, the Indian Prime Minister opted for anti-Pakistan rhetoric to hoodwink his masses no matter that Indian opposition parties themselves exposed the real face of Modi’s BJP not before the Indian citizens but also the world democracies.
The PM Modi’s narrative against Pakistan was not well taken by Indians themselves as the mega corruption charges in an important defense project raises questions on his own commitment to safeguarding his motherland and the opposition called him ‘the plunderer instead of protector of national assets.’
Modi has now entered into a blind alley and retaliates through outmaneuvering repeated trivial narrative with greater lucidity to pacify the lurking public outrage. His people, the neighboring countries as well as world democracies have ample substance to understand as to why he denied dialogue with Pakistan.