By: Radhakrishna N S
Dassault Aviation said it picked India’s Reliance Defence as a partner for a big military combat deal on its own, countering a French online media report that said the Indian government insisted on the firm as a condition of the contract. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s purchase of 36 Rafale planes in a deal estimated to be worth $8.7 billion has become a political controversy and on Thursday (11) his rivals seized on the revelations by Mediapart as further evidence of wrongdoing. The deal has faced scrutiny both on the price and the decision to choose billionaire Anil Ambani’s Reliance as a local partner with no aeronautical expertise instead of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics which has a long history of making planes.…
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