Were Indian negotiators for the Rafale deal misled by the Cabinet Committee on Security? Was the Indian government instead misled by the French government? And how is it that two major objections to the deal were ‘resolved’ on a basis that never came to pass?

These are some of the questions we have to ask ourselves in light of the admission by Attorney General KK Venugopal to the Supreme Court that France has not provided a sovereign guarantee for the deal, just a letter of comfort. Because the answers to these questions could call into question the key approvals granted to the deal by the Indian Negotiating Team (INT) in July 2016 and by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in August 2016.

The Quint has accessed a Defence Ministry document that addresses the “Note of Concerns” prepared by three members of the INT during their deliberations, which lasted from August 2015 to July 2016. The three members, Rajeev Verma, AR Sule and MP Singh, had raised ten objections to the commercial aspects of the deal.