Meanwhile, former French President Francois Hollande reaffirmed his statement on Saturday that the Modi government picked Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence for the Rafale deal.

Hollande stands by his statement, his office told NDTV.

In a shocking development on the Rafale deal fiasco, Hollande on Friday, 21 September, had told a French news website, Mediapart, that his government was not given a choice in selecting a local partner for Dassault Aviation, the French aeronautics company responsible for manufacturing the jets for India.

However, Dassault Aviation countered Hollande’s claim, saying that it was the company’s “choice” to work with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group.