Here is an explainer and a timeline relating to India's purchase of 36 combat jets.
One hopes the new Lok Sabha will mark a break from a dismal tradition -- lack of interest in defence and security policies, argues Colonel Anil A Athale.
The list of aircraft planned to be inducted by the Air Force include 36 Rafales, 114 Multirole Fighter Aircraft, 100 Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and over 200 variants of the Light Combat Aircraft. "In the next 15 years, 83 LCAs are our primary focus, after that LCA Mark 2 will come in we are looking at close to 100 of those, that makes it near 200 of LCA class," Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria told ANI in an interview.
"These observations from three members were given to me as the INT chairman. This was not a dissent note," he said.
In its report tabled in Parliament, the national auditor said the Dassault Aviation and the MBDA proposed in September 2015 to discharge 30 per cent of their offset obligations by offering high technology to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), but the two firms are yet to do it.
A three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph said that it was not their job to go into the issue of pricing of the fighter planes.
The Rafale will surely be flying in Indian skies next year. But the way the BJP government has botched this will cast a shadow on defence acquisitions in the years to come.
If Modi was really keen on Katchatheevu, he could have reclaimed that island during his 10 years in office, he said.
Rafale deal will bring relief to IAF: Parrikar
Why did Modi bypass the Cabinet before he committed India to the Rafale deal?
The Centre also overruled financial advisers' recommendations for making payments through an escrow account, an important safeguard in the absence of a sovereign or bank guarantee, The Hindu has reported.
In his PIL, Sharma alleged discrepancies in the fighter jet deal with France and sought stay on it.
'It is hard to justify $225 million a plane for an increasingly obsolete mission.' The purchase of the 36 Rafales has changed little for the IAF.
Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said that no country in the world is facing the kind of grave threat that India is confronted with.
Directly accusing Modi of corruption in the deal for the French fighter planes, he said the prime minister had favoured his businessman "friend" Anil Ambani by getting him the "contract".
Congress has repeatedly alleged a "scam" in the purchase of Rafale fighter jets claiming the cost per aircraft in 2012 was agreed at Rs 526.10 crore while the one signed by the Modi government costs 7.5 billion (Rs 1,670.70 crore per aircraft).
A day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally took delivery of the first of the 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets, Dassault Aviation, the French company that manufactures the jets, has released the first airborne photographs of the second aircraft with the tail number RB-002.
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
The IAF said the details are held by it in fiduciary
Macron, who assumed the presidency in May 2017, emphasised that this is a government-to-government discussion and "this contract is part of a broader framework which is military and defence" coalition between India and France.
Defence Ministry says the report is being verified, maintaining that neither Indian nor French government had any say in the decision.
The Centre had submitted that privilege documents were procured by petitioners in an illegal way and used to support their review petitions against the December 14, 2018 judgment of the apex court dismissing all pleas challenging procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.
'Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests'
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will pronounce the verdict.
A 269-member Indian tri-services contingent is participating in the parade. Three Rafale fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will also join the flypast on the occasion along with French jets.
Saab believes co-developing Tejas Mark II would end need for Rafale. Ajai Shukla reports
'So far there is no clear money trail nor an indisputable smoking gun.' 'But that doesn't mean there aren't disturbing questions and a strange resistance by the government to reveal the price, which only adds suspicion to concern,' observes Karan Thapar.
"It is reiterated that the petitioners are using documents with the intention to present a selective and incomplete picture of internal secret deliberations on a matter relating to national security and defence," the defence ministry said.
NSA Doval, defence top brass brief Union ministers on the deal to help them counter Opposition charges.
Dhanoa is a on a four-day visit to France to ramp up cooperation between the air forces of the two countries in a range of areas.
On Thursday, October 5, 2023, Indian Air Force aircraft rehearsed over the Sangam in Prayagraj in preparation for the 91st foundation day, October 8.
He also cautioned against politicisation of defence purchases, suggesting that this had earlier led to the delay in the army acquiring the Bofors gun.
'It is not clear how the NDA government -- including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, backed by senior IAF officials -- claimed that the 36 Rafale contract with Dassault in 2016 cost the IAF 20% less than Dassault's 126 Rafale offer,' notes Ajai Shukla in the first of a three-part series.
'There is no secrecy clause to the price (of the aircraft).' 'There can be secrecy on the capability of the nuclear payload of aircraft and things like that, but the price is hardly a secret.'
There is a vital difference between Bofors and Rafale, explains Shekhar Gupta.
"What I said was if we had Rafale at the time (of aerial dogfight), then none of our fighter jets would have gone down and none of theirs saved," he added.
Sitharaman criticised the news report for raising issues 'selectively' and ignoring the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar's reply.
She said then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had replied to the letter asking the official to remain 'calm' as everything was 'alright'.
He now claims that his submission before the SC was that petitioners in the application used "photocopies of the original" papers, deemed secret by the government.
The disagreement over liability further complicates any early conclusion of the Rafale contract.
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