New Delhi: Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier on Tuesday reiterated his statement that his company had chosen its offset partner in the Rafale deal – Reliance Defence – without any external pressure. In an interview to ANI, Trappier also claimed that the price in the contract for 36 aircraft was brought down by 9% after government-to-government negotiations.
“Price of 36 was exactly the same when you compare with 18 flyaway. 36 is the double of 18. So as far as I was concerned, it should have been double the price. But because it was government to government, there was negotiation, I had to decrease price by 9%,” Trappier said.
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“We chose (Anil) Ambani by ourselves. We are also looking at other partners. We already have 30 partners other than Reliance,” Trappier told ANI.
Trappier also responded to Rahul Gandhi’s press conference, in which he had referred to The Wire‘s reportage on ties between Dassault and Reliance and said that the “Dassault CEO is lying”. “I don’t lie. The truth I declared before and the statements I made are true. I don’t have a reputation of lying. In my position as CEO, you don’t lie,” Trappier said on Tuesday.
Congress response
The Congress responded to Trappier’s comments by saying that “dictated interviews” and “manufactured lies” cannot suppress the Rafale scam.
The nation needs a “fair investigation” and not “doctored explanations” on the fighter jet deal, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
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“Fixed match between BJP government and Dassault and PR Stunts of PM Modi and Eric Trappier can’t hide the blatant corruption,” he alleged.
French aerospace major Dassault Aviation has partnered with Reliance Defence Ltd for delivering 36 Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force.