NEW DELHI: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not have the approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security when he said India would procure 36 Rafale fighter jets during his visit to France in April, 2015. In an interview with CNN-News18, Sitharaman said what the PM had made was only an expression of interest to negotiate a deal for the Rafale jets and this did not require an approval by the CCS.
Claiming that CCS clearance was not required at the expression of interest stage, she said the approval is needed only when you want an agreement signed through. “After 16 hard months of negotiation, a draft is taken to the cabinet, the CCS approves it and after that approval you go ahead to sign the deal, which happened with the French in September 2016. The negotiations over the 16 months included those on price, quantity, any add on. We followed the process thoroughly,” she said.
The CCS had cleared the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale deal in August, 2016, nearly 16 months after the announcement of its procurement was made by PM Modi. Sitharaman’s statement came even as the decision making process for the deal came under the scanner. It has asked the Centre to provide details of the process in a sealed cover by October 29.