MUMBAI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday threatened that he will approach a court if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi went ahead with the deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation SA of France.
Modi, who is on a two-day visit to France, on Friday announced that Indian government will purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation.
“If the Prime Minister…decides to go ahead with the deal, then I will have no option but to approach the court in a PIL (public interest litigation) to get it set aside,” Swamy said in a statement.
“Rafale is a less fuel-efficient aircraft and lacking in essential performance characteristics because of which no country in the world has agreed to buy these aircraft. Some countries have cancelled contracts after signing an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Dassault…after carrying out a trial of the plane,” Swamy said giving an example of Switzerland.
He urged the prime minister not to finalize the Rafael deal.
India had selected Rafale for the deal in 2012, but the final contract is yet to be signed. While 18 jets are to be bought off the shelf, 108 are supposed to be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The main issue concerns the pricing, which is basically the production cost in India, and Dassault’s reluctance to stand guarantee for the 108 fighters to be built by state-run HAL.
Dassault Aviation has delivered more than 8,000 military and civil aircraft delivered to 90 countries over the past 60 years, according to its website.
With 60% of India’s defence requirements met through imports, local defence production is the heart of Make In India programme, Modi had said in February.
“We have the reputation of the largest importer of defence equipment…We too need to increase our defence preparedness. We need to modernize our defence forces,” Modi had said.
He said that a strong Indian defence industry will make India more secure. It will have room for the public sector, private sector and foreign firms.
