Cong raises questions on pricing of predator drone deal with US

The Congress on Wednesday demanded complete transparency in the multi-crore India-US drone deal, while alleging that the 31 MQ-9B Predator UAV drones were being procured for a higher price.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a press conference that national security was paramount and that several doubts were being raised on the predator drone deal. “The Modi government is known to jeopardise national interests and the people of India have witnessed the same in the Rafale deal, where the Modi government bought only 36 Rafale jets instead of 126. We also saw how HAL was denied transfer of technology. We also saw how several unilateral decisions were made, despite widespread objections from the Defence Acquisition Committee and the Armed Forces. The Rafale ‘scam’ is still under scrutiny in France,” Khera charged.

“We demand complete transparency in this Predator Drone deal. India needs answers to the crucial questions. Otherwise, we will be trapped in another ‘scam’ under the Modi government,” he said. Trashing reports on the price as well as the acquisition process, the Defence Ministry had said on Sunday that India is yet to finalise the cost and specific terms of purchase of 31 MQ-9B long endurance drones from the US and it will examine the “best price” offered by the manufacturer to other nations before concluding the procurement.

Khera said as the dust settles on all “manufactured glitter” on PM Narendra Modi’s much publicised visit to the USA, there is one defence deal which is now under the radar of several questions. So much so that the Defence Ministry had to release an official PIB clarification and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had to clarify, he claimed.