After a war of words broke out between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress over the report published in The Hindu claiming that the Prime Minister’s Office was conducting “parallel negotiations” in the Rafale deal, author of the article, N Ram, said it was now time to investigate the role of then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in the Rs 59,000 crore deal.
What The Hindu Report Claimed
The report in The Hindu states that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had objected to these negotiations which purportedly “weakened” India’s negotiating position in the Rafale deal.
The note, dated 24 November 2015, was undersigned by the then Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, and Deputy Secretary SK Sharma, and was also brought to the attention of the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The Defence Ministry note read: “We may advise PMO that any Officers who are not part of Indian Negotiating Team may refrain from having parallel parlays [parleys] with the officers of French Government.”
Later in the day, current Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the report of being “incomplete and motivated” since it did not include a handwritten note by Parrikar.
What Did Manohar Parrikar’s Note Say?
Parrikar's handwritten remarks at the bottom of the MoD note said "it appears that PMO and French President's Office are monitoring the progress of the issue which was an outcome of the summit meeting (between Modi and French President Francois Hollande in April 2015)". Para 5, which referred to"parallel discussions" by the PMO, "appears to be an over-reaction", the minister wrote, adding Defence Secretary may resolve the matter in consultation with Principal Secretary to PM.
Parrikar Delayed Response to MoD Report on Rafale: N Ram
Speaking to BloombergQuint, N Ram said, “The date of the Defence Ministers note shows that considerable time was lapsed after senior officials had raised concerns regarding the PMO’s parallel negotiations in the deal.”
He added that Parrikar, in his “playing it safe” note, had failed to disclose his position on the concerns being raised and the word ‘monitoring’ used in his note was merely a “cover-up”.
Earlier, N Ram had spoken to The Quint about the significance of the revelations, and how it proves that the Modi government actively misled the Supreme Court in the Rafale case. You can read the full story here.
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