In yet another major twist in Rafale controversy, former French President Francois Hollande has blamed Indian government for selecting Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as Dassault’s offset partner in multi-billion dollar deal for 36 Rafale fighters.
In an interview to a little known French website – www.mediapart.fr , former French President Francois Hollande has claimed that the French government had no choice and the name of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence was given to it by Indian government.
“We did not have a choice,” Hollande reportedly told the website.
Francois Hollande with Julie Gayet. (Photo Courtesy: parismatch.com)
This news report provided enough ammunition to opposition parties, particularly to the Congress that immediately blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘personally handing over’ the offset contracts to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence.
Reacting to the news reports, India’s Ministry of Defence said that it was verifying the content of the ‘said news report’ and it reiterated that ‘neither the Government of India nor the Government of France’ had any role in selection of business partners for commercial entities.
