There is no scam in Rafale deal, says Defence Minister Sitharaman

On the Line of Control (LoC), the Army was able to check infiltration to a large extent and this was the reason for an increase in encounters and skirmishes on the border between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

On the LoC, it is more than clear that we are able to control infiltration and that is why you see more skirmishes and engagements. I am not saying that there are no slippages or there is zero infiltration. All I am saying is that we have been able to control infiltration to a large extent, the minister said.

The LoC has remained volatile since last year.

According to official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops were reported in 2017 as against 221 the year before. The minister was asked to comment on the situation along the LoC which has seen more than 25 Pakistani soldiers getting killed this year itself in different operations.

On Congress allegations against the Rafale combat aircraft deal and the opposition party's attempts to raise the issue in the upcoming budget session starting Monday, Sitharaman said, I welcome them to raise the issue. I will answer all their questions.

Asked about the possibility of the Rafale deal becoming one like the Bofors howitzer scandal like the 1980s, she said, There is no way it is going to be like that. There is no scam in the Rafale deal.

The Congress has been alleging that the Rafale deal has been done against the due procedures and rules have been bent for signing it.

Sitharaman also clarified that the government was very much in favour of the indigenous Tejas combat aircraft in meeting the single-engine fighter plane requirements of the Indian Air Force, even though there was a need for the public sector firm, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, to fasten the rate of production for the plane.

The minister stated that the government was looking at the options of outsourcing the production or assembly of the Tejas to help increase the rate of production of the indigenous plane.

Senior defence ministry sources also denied the existence of any document called the Subhash Bhamre report, which reportedly criticised the defence ministry under the Narendra Modi regime for not doing much to address the slow process of defence acquisitions.