The Ambani connection

Former French President Francois Hollande tossed a stun grenade into an ongoing controversy over India's 2016 purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft. On September 21, Hollande told French news portal Mediapart that the Indian government had proposed the name of the Anil Ambani group as an industrial partner. His statements contradicted what the Narendra Modi government has maintained since the controversy broke last November.

Hollande's statement seemed to fly in the face of the government's assertions that it had nothing to do with Anil Ambani's presence in the deal. "I've not put his name or anyone in the Inter Governmental Agreement nor can I tell a commercial firm to enter into an agreement," defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told the media just three days earlier, reiterating the line the government's taken since the Congress seized upon Rafale as an issue in November 2017.

The deal now has serious potential for embarrassing both governments. Asked about Hollande's statement on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron spoke of the 'clear rules' in 'a government-to-government discussion' and of the contract becoming part of a broader military and defence coalition framework between the two countries. Yet, his predecessor's statement will echo on in what promises to be an unending episodic controversy until the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. With the opposition Congress firing away at the government, alleging corruption, nepotism, crony capitalism and price inflation and demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for a probe, the Rafale controversy has become a political hot potato. Like most political polemic, there are several misperceptions involved but few facts.

AT WHAT PRICE WERE THE RAFALE JETS BOUGHT?

By now, the utility and lethality of the Dassault Rafale are beyond question. The Indian Air Force itself gave the Rafale's capabilities a thumbs up in an unusual public endorsement.

On September 13, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa defended the purchase of only two squadrons of the aircraft as opposed to the seven squadrons the IAF had projected in 2005, citing past precedent of emergency purchases of Mirage 2000s and MiG-23s. A week later, Air Force Deputy Chief Raghunath Nambiar flew a Rafale at a French air base to show that the IAF was on board and in the front seat when it came to the purchase. The Cost Negotiation Committee (CNC), which actually worked