At a time when the Narendra Modi government is trying its best to spin more stories to save face on the controversial Rafale deal, new information coming out of France, some of which is already there in the public domain, raises some questions.
The “Rafale judgment” of the Supreme Court of India, in para 19 says, “The stalemate resulted in the process of RFP withdrawal being initiated in March 2015.” The apex court was referring to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for 126 MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft), in which Dassault was selected, and with whom negotiation was being carried out till announcement on Rafale made by Prime Minister Modi on April 10, 2015. The line regarding stalemate seems to have been quoted from an unsigned and undated ‘note’ submitted by the Government of India. In the note, which has been placed in public domain, the Modi government told the court in para 18: “As the contract negotiations reached a stalemate and RFP compliance could not be ensured, the process for RFP withdrawal was initiated in March 2015 and RFP for 126 MMRCA was finally withdrawn in June 2015.”
In this submission, the latter part is true because the 2016-17 report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence states ”The RFP for procurement of 126 MMRCA was formally withdrawn on 24th June 2015”. The Rajya Sabha was informed of the same by former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar towards July-end 2015. The government’s statement that “the process for RFP withdrawal was initiated in March 2015”, therefore, seems untrue, and an afterthought to cover-up Modi’s unilateral decision to announce the deal with France for 36 Rafale aircraft in flyaway condition.
On June 10, 2015, there was a meeting of The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces held in the French Senate. The minutes of the meeting mention Senator Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was the Chairman of the Committee, as saying: “As for India, the decision to purchase 36 Rafale was made during the visit of the Prime Minister of India. The technical discussions to conclude the agreement are taking place in best possible conditions.” The sentence “the decision to purchase 36 Rafale was made during the visit of the Prime Minister of India” is very important because it suggests that the French side was not aware of such a discussion before that. And clearly points at the unilateral decision taken by PM Modi.
Minutes of the meeting of the same Committee held on October 1, 2013 mention: ”For India, the RAFALE is part of an Indian aircraft fleet that already has its own equipment list, which requires aircraft adaptations. For Qatar, on the other hand, it is very close to that of France, which gives more flexibility for production management.” This point clarifies that the so-called “India-specific enhancements” were nothing new added by the Indian Air Force for this particular deal, as many people try to argue, but were a stated requirement in the 2007 RFP.
On June 24, 2015, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier was in the French Senate, answering questions by senators on a discussion related to “Military programmes and other provisions related to defence (of France) from the year 2015 to 2019”. Senator Raffarin, who held different positions in the Senate, such as Deputy Speaker, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and the Armed Forces, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Economic Affairs, asked Trappier “Mr President, it is a pleasure to see you again, the day after the success of the Paris Air Show. This is very important for all of us. The commission was very attentive to your activity. The major Rafale sales contracts of 24 each to Egypt and Qatar, as well as the materialisation of 36 aircraft deal with India, confirm the competitiveness of this product. You may also tell us about the progress of the dialogue with India.”
In his detailed reply, Trappier said: “Negotiations are going on with India. The current contract is to deliver 36 produced in France against the 18 initial aircraft under the MMRCA contract. With regard to the additional 90 aircraft to arrive at the 126, as envisaged initially, nothing is certain today. But, in order to meet the requests of the Indian authorities’ "Make in India", it would be better to manufacture these future orders locally there.”
The above statement clarifies two things. a) As the Modi government told the Supreme Court, they did not initiate the process to withdraw the RFP for 126 aircraft in March 2015. If they had, as the CEO of Dassault Aviation, Trappier would have been aware of that decision because India was negotiating with Dassault, not the French government for 126 Rafale under the RFP. b) Trappier’s statement gives the impression that he was expecting India to place the order for 90 more Rafale to reach the six squadron they needed, as envisaged in the MMRCA RFP, and was not aware of the cancellation of the same till June 24, 2015. This suggests that the Modi government misled the Supreme Court and probably this was one of the reasons for the submission of an “unsigned and undated” note.
23/01/19 Ravi Nair/News Click
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The “Rafale judgment” of the Supreme Court of India, in para 19 says, “The stalemate resulted in the process of RFP withdrawal being initiated in March 2015.” The apex court was referring to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for 126 MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft), in which Dassault was selected, and with whom negotiation was being carried out till announcement on Rafale made by Prime Minister Modi on April 10, 2015. The line regarding stalemate seems to have been quoted from an unsigned and undated ‘note’ submitted by the Government of India. In the note, which has been placed in public domain, the Modi government told the court in para 18: “As the contract negotiations reached a stalemate and RFP compliance could not be ensured, the process for RFP withdrawal was initiated in March 2015 and RFP for 126 MMRCA was finally withdrawn in June 2015.”
In this submission, the latter part is true because the 2016-17 report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence states ”The RFP for procurement of 126 MMRCA was formally withdrawn on 24th June 2015”. The Rajya Sabha was informed of the same by former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar towards July-end 2015. The government’s statement that “the process for RFP withdrawal was initiated in March 2015”, therefore, seems untrue, and an afterthought to cover-up Modi’s unilateral decision to announce the deal with France for 36 Rafale aircraft in flyaway condition.
On June 10, 2015, there was a meeting of The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces held in the French Senate. The minutes of the meeting mention Senator Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was the Chairman of the Committee, as saying: “As for India, the decision to purchase 36 Rafale was made during the visit of the Prime Minister of India. The technical discussions to conclude the agreement are taking place in best possible conditions.” The sentence “the decision to purchase 36 Rafale was made during the visit of the Prime Minister of India” is very important because it suggests that the French side was not aware of such a discussion before that. And clearly points at the unilateral decision taken by PM Modi.
Minutes of the meeting of the same Committee held on October 1, 2013 mention: ”For India, the RAFALE is part of an Indian aircraft fleet that already has its own equipment list, which requires aircraft adaptations. For Qatar, on the other hand, it is very close to that of France, which gives more flexibility for production management.” This point clarifies that the so-called “India-specific enhancements” were nothing new added by the Indian Air Force for this particular deal, as many people try to argue, but were a stated requirement in the 2007 RFP.
On June 24, 2015, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier was in the French Senate, answering questions by senators on a discussion related to “Military programmes and other provisions related to defence (of France) from the year 2015 to 2019”. Senator Raffarin, who held different positions in the Senate, such as Deputy Speaker, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and the Armed Forces, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Economic Affairs, asked Trappier “Mr President, it is a pleasure to see you again, the day after the success of the Paris Air Show. This is very important for all of us. The commission was very attentive to your activity. The major Rafale sales contracts of 24 each to Egypt and Qatar, as well as the materialisation of 36 aircraft deal with India, confirm the competitiveness of this product. You may also tell us about the progress of the dialogue with India.”
In his detailed reply, Trappier said: “Negotiations are going on with India. The current contract is to deliver 36 produced in France against the 18 initial aircraft under the MMRCA contract. With regard to the additional 90 aircraft to arrive at the 126, as envisaged initially, nothing is certain today. But, in order to meet the requests of the Indian authorities’ "Make in India", it would be better to manufacture these future orders locally there.”
The above statement clarifies two things. a) As the Modi government told the Supreme Court, they did not initiate the process to withdraw the RFP for 126 aircraft in March 2015. If they had, as the CEO of Dassault Aviation, Trappier would have been aware of that decision because India was negotiating with Dassault, not the French government for 126 Rafale under the RFP. b) Trappier’s statement gives the impression that he was expecting India to place the order for 90 more Rafale to reach the six squadron they needed, as envisaged in the MMRCA RFP, and was not aware of the cancellation of the same till June 24, 2015. This suggests that the Modi government misled the Supreme Court and probably this was one of the reasons for the submission of an “unsigned and undated” note.
23/01/19 Ravi Nair/News Click
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