External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj: There is No Dispute in Rafael Case, Except in The Mind of Opposition Leaders.

She said, "The whole country knows that there is no dispute. The Supreme Court has approved every issue.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj speaks in the Lok Sabha in New Delhi on Monday. PTI Photo / TV GRAB (PTI12_14_2015_000064A)
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj speaks in the Lok Sabha in New Delhi on Monday. PTI Photo / TV GRAB (PTI12_14_2015_000064A)

Asserting that every issue raised by the Congress on Rafale deal has been clarified by the Supreme Court, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said in Rajya Sabha that there is no controversy in the matter, except in minds of the opposition party leaders.

Unsatisfied by the minister's reply during the Question Hour, the Congress members including former prime minister Manmohan Singh staged a walkout.

Congress leader Anand Sharma in his supplementary query demanded that the government make public the minutes of the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former French President Francois Hollande held last year on the Rafale deal in a bid to settle the controversy once for all.

To this, Swaraj said, "Anandji, there is no controversy. Controversy is there in your mind. All the controversial issues that you (Congress) raised, the Supreme Court has clarified on each of them. Please don't use the word controversy again."

She said, "The whole country knows there is no controversy. The Supreme Court has cleared each issue. If you still think there is a controversy, then no one can reply."

To a query raised by Shiv Sena member Sanjay Raut if there was any discussion on the Rafale deal during the recent visit of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to India, Swaraj said, "There was no discussion on the matter."

"On that day, the Supreme Court verdict (on Rafale deal) was pronounced. He (French Minister) was very happy. He expressed joy and felt there was no need to have a discussion,"

On the Indo-French fund for developing a script for co-production of films, the Minister said the French delegation had visited Mumbai and had the discussion with representatives of Bollywood besides meeting the state chief minister.

To another query on the Jaitapur Nuclear Power project, Swaraj said that an agreement was signed on March 22, 2016, to set up a plant. France's EDF and India's NPCL are looking into it.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in her statement that there was no discussion on Rafael during the talks with the Foreign Minister of France during his visit to India on December 15. It also said that the Foreign Minister of France expressed happiness over the Supreme Court decision on Rafael Deal. On this, Sanjay Singh of Aam Aadmi Party said, "Both these things are contradictory if Rafael is not discussed then how did he express happiness.

On this, TMC Sukhendu Shekhar Roy Sushma Swaraj asked if the Foreign Minister of France was so happy that the Supreme Court did not order an inquiry against the Indian company? On this, Sushma said that this was not the subject of our discussion. For one topic they did not feel that a dispute ended. They were happy because the court decision came on the same day.

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