india

Updated: Jan 05, 2019 13:39 IST

Long after the debate on Rafale controversy in Parliament, Congress put out a series of tweets to rebut the defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying lies, theatrics and spins cannot be substitutes to truth.

Questioning Sitharaman’s statements that there was no deal between Rafale fighter jet maker Dassault and India’s state-owned aircraft maker HAL when the deal was signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that even the foreign secretary knew of the negotiations, which the defence minister must know.

In a tweet, he showed a picture of Dassault’s tweet which mentioned the workshare agreement on production of Rafale with HAL, as confirmed by its CEO.

He cited a press conference session given by the then foreign secretary 48 hours before Modi signed the deal with France on 10th April, 2015. The foreign secretary had confirmed that discussions were going on between the French company, ministry of defence and HAL, Surjewala said and asked why Modi “backstabbed” HAL.

Defence Minister must know that even Modi Govt’s Foreign Secretary knew about the ongoing negotiations with Dassault Aviation & HAL.



48 hours before Modi ji signed the deal in France on 10th April, 2015; his Foreign Secretary confirmed same.



Then why did he backstab PSU, HAL? pic.twitter.com/1kcoIGMnfy — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 4, 2019

RM Nirmala Sitharaman ji like a good disciple learnt the ‘Art of Spin Doctoring’ from JaitLIE ji.



Request For Proposal-2007 confirms that Congress-UPA Govt was buying a FULLY LOADED AIRCRAFT with Avionics,Weapons & India Specific Enhancements,same as Modiji



Then Why Pay More? pic.twitter.com/2aYMMcBn9o — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 4, 2019

In another tweet with images, Surjewala said that the Rafale deal Modi signed with the French government was for aircraft and associated systems and weapons that had the same configuration as was required by the Air Force during the UPA’s rule in 2007, and he asked why the price was raised.