Former finance minister P. Chidambaram lambasted the Narendra Modi government’s response to questions over the Rafale deal before reiterating that the French fighter aircraft’s purchase would be scanned in detail after a change of guard in Delhi.
“In any other country, a parliamentary committee would immediately be formed to look into such a matter. But in India, we have to beg the government: ‘Please let us look into the issue’,” Chidambaram said, referring to the twin aspects of “number of aircraft” and “pricing”, which he called the “suspicious pointers” surrounding the deal.
The senior Congress leader broached the Rafale issue during a discussion on the launch of his latest book, Undaunted – Saving the Idea of India, at a programme organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and The Telegraph.
