Rafale deal details classified: France after Rahul's attack

NEW DELHI: Contradicting Rahul Gandhi that France does not have any objection to New Delhi disclosing the pricing details of the Rafale fighter jets bought by the government in 2016, France on Friday said there was a 2008 security pact between the two countries to protect classified information.

"These provisions naturally apply to the inter-governmental agreement concluded on 23 September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapons," France said in a statement. The unusual statement was a response to Gandhi's allegation during the no-trust vote that hinted the government had cooked up excuses to hide the information. Gandhi had told parliament during the debate on the no-trust motion that he had asked visiting French President Emmanuel Macron if his government didn't want the pricing details to be out.

Gandhi has called the deal a scam and challenged the government to come clean on how much was paid for the aircraft. The Congress claims that the price of the fighter jets was higher than what was finalised by the United Progressive Alliance government which had negotiated a deal for 126 aircraft.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had initially agreed to give the details, later backtracked, pointing that the deal was "classified information" and protected from disclosure under a 2008 pact signed between the two

countries.