A Journalist Explains In One Thread Why The Government’s Explanations On Rafale Don’t Make Sense
The controversy began in February this year when Nirmala Sitharaman refused to reveal the cost per Rafale aircraft.
Journalist Sushant Singh explained on Saturday in a Twitter thread why the Narendra Modi government can’t hide the price details related to Rafale deal by simply making the excuse of a secret clause.
The Rafale ‘secrecy pact’ controversy. @ShubhajitRoy and I look at the details of how it transpired, since the deal was signed. I will recollect the same in a Thread here too. https://t.co/cMHkklQFvC
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
1. Rahul Gandhi’s original statement in the Lok Sabha on Rafale and secrecy pact with France pic.twitter.com/drdyjXctqX
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
2. Reply to Rahul Gandhi by Narendra Modi and Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha pic.twitter.com/5LUhXCUSsE
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
3. Rahul Gandhi’s response to media outside the house: “Let them deny if they want. He (Macron) said that before me. I was there, Anand Sharma and former prime minister Manmohan Singh were also there”
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
4. The Spokesperson of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs issued a response to a question about the 2008 security agreement between France and India. pic.twitter.com/zoGfD4FxRy
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
5. President Macron’s full response to a question by India Today that French spokesperson referred to. pic.twitter.com/WyzsLA1R8C
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
6. The controversy over secrecy pact first came to light on February 5, when Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha that the cost per Rafale aircraft being bought from France could not be shared since as it was “classified information” under the security agreement.
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
7. Defence Ministry issued a statement issued two days later: “In not revealing the item-wise details of the contract, the Govt is merely following in letter and spirit the confidentiality provisions of a bilateral India-France Agreement of 2008 signed by the previous Govt.”
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
8. The agreement was till January 2018, and the secrecy clause in the agreement stated this. The exact text pic.twitter.com/j69vpQox4K
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
9. Commercial agreement related to technical issues would be covered but unlikely to cover price details, because as per law, government is bound to provide the full information about the deal to Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Parliamentary Standing Committee and the CAG.
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
10. In November 2017, at a press conference in the defence ministry, Sitharaman, flanked by defence secretary and deputy chief of air staff, had stated that her ministry “had nothing to hide” and would share the full price details of the Rafale deal. That wasn’t shared.
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
11. In November 2016, Dr Subhash Bhamre, MoS for Defence, in a written response to a Lok Sabha question had stated that the “cost of each Rafale aircraft is around Rs 670 crore”. That raises questions about the applicability of secrecy pact to price details of Rafale deal.
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
12. Finally, when the Rafale deal was signed in 2016, all media reports had full and detailed breakdown of price details, item-wise as no “secrecy pact”, other than the usual integrity clause in IGA was referred to.
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018
13/13. These are the full facts of the case are as stated in the Indian Express article today. Placed in this thread for an easier understanding and assimilation. FINI.
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) July 21, 2018