Look at facts, not tweets: French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler on Rafale deal

Alexandre Ziegler is the Ambassador of France to India.

BENGALURU: Amid an ongoing row over the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Ambassador of France to India, Alexandre Ziegler on Wednesday that there was no 'scandal' associated with the defence deal.

"What scandal? Just look at the facts, not at the tweets, that's my only recommendation. There is no scandal at all," Ziegler said.

Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India on #RafaleDeal controversy: My very short answer to that is, just look at the facts and not at the tweets. pic.twitter.com/XFzNt8Vxf1

— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2018

The Frenchman said this in response to a question on whether the alleged Rafale scandal has made any dent in the partnership that France has with India.

Attempting to allay concerns over alleged wrong doings in the deal, the French envoy urged people to check facts before forming an opinion or commenting on the same.

Ziegler also highlighted the deep bond, 'cooperation' and 'trust' shared by the two countries.

He made these remarks on the sidelines of launch of French Tech Community in Bengaluru.

"...Look at the track record, look at the trust that has been built between our two countries in aeronautics. Look at their commitment for Make in India, which is impressive. Fifty per cent offset is very unique, look at the major procurement...," Ziegler.  

When asked to comment on allegations of HAL losing potential jobs because of the Rafale deal, Ziegler questioned whether the Bengaluru-based Indian defence manufacturer has said something  about losing jobs.

"Did they tell you that they have lost jobs?...I dont know what potential jobs are,'' he said while pointed out that there is a 50 percent offset clause in the Rafale contract, which is about four billion Euros or about Rs 30,000 crore that is going to be invested in Make in India.

"That's huge (amount) and there will be room for hundreds of companies, including HAL, which has had a very fruitful historical cooperation with French companies," he added.

The Ambassador further informed that all major French companies would be participating in Aero India, scheduled for February 20-24 in Bengaluru.

The remarks from the French Ambassador assume significance as Rahul Gandhi-led Congress has been attacking the Narendra Modi government of forcing Dassault Aviation to make Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence its offset partner for the Rs 58,000 crore deal to purchase 36 Rafale jets.

The main opposition party has alleged that the Modi government was helping the Anil Ambani group get a contract worth Rs 30,000 crore from the deal.

However, industrialist Anil Ambani has denied all charges made by the Congress party.

Dassault Aviation's investment in Reliance Airport Developers Limited has no link with the Rafale fighter jet deal, a statement from Anil Ambani said.

Anil Ambani also accused the Congress party of spreading "blatant lies" for political mileage.

It may be recalled that the Congress and several other political parties have been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into he Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi's party has tagged the Rafale deal as the country's biggest defence scam.