New Delhi: Congress has questioned the government’s silence following the French order to probe ‘corruption and favoritism’ in the Rafale deal. Pawan Khera, spokesperson for the Congress, said that in a situation where there cannot be middlemen or corruption in an inter-governmental defence deal, if the beneficiary of any corrupt practices ordered an investigation, why has a country that lost money failed to do the same?
According to him, Narendra Modi’s government talks a lot about security, but it undermines the country’s security interests when it comes to supporting its crony capitalist friends. Khera asked at a press conference: ‘After more than 24 hours of France’s decision to investigate corruption, influence peddling, money laundering, and favouritism, everybody in India and every concerned citizen has one question. Why is India still silent?’
The Rafale deal was an inter-government agreement between India and France, meaning both governments were involved. ‘Now that the French Public Prosecution Service (PNF) has begun a probe into the corruption allegations against the previous French president, including the Indian government, why has no investigation been launched into the role he played? India’s government and ministers are insulting their people by keeping quiet about this entire scandal. What is the reason for the silence of the Minister of Defence on accountability and scrutiny? The Indian National Congress demands that a fair Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) be constituted immediately and that it investigate every aspect of the Rafale deal.’ Indians deserve to know the truth,’ Khera said. He added that every government has always prioritized and taken pride in the country’s national security policy.
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While the Modi government makes ‘loud song-and-dance’ about national security, he claimed, it ‘does everything in its power to undermine India’s security interests’ in order to fill the coffers of its corporate friends. Specifically, he asked why the person who caused a loss to the Indian exchequer was not being investigated. According to Khera, the loss is to India and not to France. ‘France has not been cheated or robbed, rather each and every Indian taxpayer has been taken advantage of,’ he said.
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