Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman begins a three-day visit to France on Thursday during which both sides are expected to deliberate on further boosting their already close defence and security ties. Ms. Sitharaman’s visit comes in the backdrop of a huge controversy over the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation. Officials sources said Ms. Sitharaman will hold wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries and also deliberate on major regional and global issues of mutual interests. MS. Sitharaman will also take stock of progress in the supply of 36 Rafale jets by Dassault to the Indian Air Force under a ₹58,000 crore deal. There was indication that she may even visit the facility where the jets are being manufactured, the sources said. In their talks, Ms. Sitharaman and Ms. Parly are expected to deliberate on joint production of military platforms and weapons by the two countries. Earlier this year, France was pitching for starting negotiations for procurement of another batch of 36 Rafale jets by India. However, New Delhi was not keen on pursuing it. In April, the Indian Air Force started the process to acquire a fleet of 114 fighter jets and Dassault Aviation has emerged as one of the key contenders for the contract. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after talks with the then French President Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris.<doc-sep>Nirmala Sitharaman held talks with French counterpart Florence Parly on Thursday (PTI File Photo) Highlights Nirmala Sitharaman took stock of progress, spoke to Dassault officials She arrived in Paris on a 3-day visit over procurement of 36 Rafale jets Her France visit comes amid political backlash over the Rafale deal Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited a production facility of French aerospace major Dassault Aviation near Paris where the Rafale jets to be supplied to India are being manufactured, official sources said. They said during her visit to the plant in Argenteuil, Ms Sitharaman spoke to officials of the Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale, and took stock of progress in production of the fighter jets whose delivery to India will begin in September next year. Ms Sitharaman arrived in Paris Thursday on a three-day visit in the midst of a massive controversy over the procurement of 36 Rafale jets under a Rs 58,000 crore government-to-government deal between India and France. Last evening, Ms Sitharaman held wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen the strategic and defence cooperation between the two countries. The talks were held under the framework of the annual Indo-French defence ministerial dialogue which was agreed to during the summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in March. Official sources said the two defence ministers held a one-on-one meeting followed by delegation-level talks, covering a range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interests. They said both the sides deliberated on co-production of military platforms and weapons by the two countries besides expanding cooperation between their armed forces, particularly in the maritime domain. It was not immediately known whether the Rafale deal figured in the talks. Ms Sitharaman's visit to France came in the backdrop of a fierce political backlash between the ruling BJP and Congress over the procurement of the jets. In a report Wednesday, French publication Mediapart said Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale, had to choose Ambani's firm Reliance Defence as its offsets partner in India as a trade-off for getting the deal. When asked about the allegations, Ms Sitharaman said that offset obligations for the deal are mandatory but not the names of the companies. In a statement, Dassault Aviation said it has "freely chosen to make a partnership with Reliance Group, as it rejected the report by French publication Mediapart". The latest report followed former French president Francois Hollande's comments last month that France was given "no choice" on selection of the Indian partner for Dassault and the Indian government proposed the name of the Indian company. Mr Hollande was the French president when the Rafale deal was sealed. The Congress has been alleging massive irregularities in the deal, saying the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government when it was negotiating the deal. The Congress has also been targeting the government over selection of Reliance Defence as an offset partner for Dassault. The government has vehemently rejected the allegations and asserted that it did not have any role in the selection of Reliance Defence.<doc-sep>Nirmala Sitharaman Paris/New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited the Rafale manufacturing facility at the outskirts of Paris, France to take stock of the progress in the production of the 36 fighter jets for jets. Her visit comes amid the ongoing controversy regarding the Rafale deal. On Thursday, Sitharaman also held wife-ranging talks with her French counterpart, Florence Patrly, where they discussed ways to strengthen strategic and defence cooperation between the two countries, reports said. A political storm erupted in India following a French news portal Mediapart’s report that company official had, during a meeting in 2017, said that a deal with Reliance Defence was mandatory to signing a contract for the manufacture of the fighter aircrafts. On Thursday, countering the reports in the French media, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier asserted that the choice of offset partners belonged to the company even as signing an offset contract was a condition imposed by Indian law ((Defence Procurement Procedure) and that the realisation of offset was an obligation. Issuing a clarification to the report by French investigative journal Mediapart, the French aircraft manufacturer had clarified that Reliance Defence was "freely chosen" as an offset partner. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday launched a blistering attack at Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his allegations against the government regarding the Rafale deal. While addressing a press conference in New Delhi regarding the issue, Union Minister Piyush Goyal called Gandhi a "serial liar", stating that repeating a lie "100 times" will not make it a truth. He said, "Congress lied in Parliament too where Rahul Gandhi said he personally met French President and asked him about the secrecy of Rafale deal. It only shows the hollowness of knowledge that he does not know that secrecy pact was done in 2008 by then PM Manmohan Singh."<doc-sep>Congress President Rahul Gandhi Congress president Rahul Gandhi raised questions on Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's France visit, alleging that work has begun to justify the prime minister's decision to buy Rafale fighter aircraft. He took to Twitter to say while the Supreme Court has asked for the details of the Rafale decision-making process, the decision to buy the fighter aircraft was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gandhi alleged that processes to justify Modi's decision are being invented. "The Supreme Court has asked for the RAFALE decision making process. It's quite simple really... "The PM decided. The processes to justify his decision are yet to be invented. But work has begun. "Ps. In this connection, Raksha Mantri is leaving for France tonight," he said. Defence Minister Sitharaman leaves for France tonight on a three-day visit, which comes in the backdrop of a big controversy over the purchase of 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation. Officials sources said Sitharaman will hold wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries and deliberate on regional and global issues of mutual interests. Sitharaman will also hold with Parly the first edition of defence dialogue, they said. The sources said besides exploring ways to boost bilateral defence cooperation, Sitharaman will take stock of progress in the supply of 36 Rafale jets by Dassault to the Indian Air Force under a Rs 58,000-crore deal. Prime Minister Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after talks with then French President Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris. The final deal was sealed on September 23, 2016.<doc-sep>
PARIS: In the midst of a massive controversy over the Rafale deal, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday held wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic and defence cooperation between the two countries.The talks were held under the framework of the annual Indo-French defence ministerial dialogue which was agreed to during the summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in March.Official sources said the two defence ministers held a one-on-one meeting followed by delegation level talks, covering a range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interests.They said both sides deliberated on co-production of military platforms and weapons by the two countries besides expanding cooperation between their armed forces, particularly in the maritime domain.It was not immediately known whether the Rafale deal figured in the talks or not.Sitharaman's visit to France came in the backdrop of a huge controversy over the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation.In a report Wednesday, French publication Mediapart said Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale, had to choose Ambani's firm Reliance Defence as its offsets partner in India as a trade-off for getting the deal.When asked about the allegations, Sitharaman said that offset obligations for the deal are mandatory but not the names of the companies.The latest report followed former French President Francois Hollande's comments last month that France was given "no choice" on selection of the Indian partner for Dassault and the Indian government proposed the name of the Indian company. Hollande was French president when the Rafale deal was sealed.Officials said Sitharaman will visit a Rafale manufacturing facility near Paris on Friday to take stock of progress in their production.Earlier this year, France was pitching for starting negotiations for procurement of another batch of 36 Rafale jets by India. However, New Delhi was not keen on pursuing it.In April, the Indian Air Force started the process to acquire a fleet of 114 fighter jets and Dassault Aviation has emerged as one of the key contenders for the contract.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after talks with the then French President Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris. The final deal was sealed on September 23, 2016.The Congress has been alleging massive irregularities in the deal, saying the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government when it was negotiating the deal.The Congress has also been targeting the government over selection of Reliance Defence as an offset partner for Dassault.The government has vehemently rejected the allegations and asserted that it did not have any role in the selection of Reliance Defence.