AgustaWestland Graft Scandal Poised to Delay Conclusion of India-France Rafale Deal

[Vapnope]

With renewed scrutiny of defense deals awarded under India’s previous government, the India-France Rafale deal might be delayed again.

By Ankit Panda
May 10, 2016
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The pending $8.9 billion deal between India and France for the purchase of 36 Dassault Rafale multi-role fighters could be delayed due to a separate 2013 bribery scandal involving Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland. Speaking before India’s parliament last week, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said that the pending talks with the French government would come under renewed scrutiny, likely due to renewed attention in India on the AgustaWestland scandal given recent verdicts handed down in the case in Italy.

“The Ministry of Law and Justice has made certain observations [regarding the ongoing Rafale talks] and the same will be taken into account while finalizing the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), which is still under negotiation,” Parrikar told India’s parliament last week. As The Diplomat has reported recently, government-to-government talks between India and France over the Rafale have been stuck in protracted negotiations over offset clauses, which would require Dassault to invest at least 50 percent of the contract value of the deal within India, and, more critically in recent weeks, the per-unit price of the fighters.

The domestic politics of the AgustaWestland scandal are once again heating up, as well. India’s former government, headed by the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) alliance, oversaw both the AgustaWestland deal and the award of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender to Dassault, which was the precursor to the currently pending 36-jet deal. (In March 2015, India and France announced a government-to-government deal, scrapping the MMRCA process altogether.)

As Akhilesh Pillalamarri discussed in these pages recently, India’s Congress Party, now in opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, is under scrutiny in the AgustaWestland scandal. Parrikar, for his part, has thrust himself into the ongoing domestic debate. Speaking last week, he noted that “Many people who had some links with Agusta, I am not saying illegitimate links, but some links with Agusta procurement and supply, were given good positions.”

While stopping short of levying accusations, the minister’s remarks mesh with broader accusations that opposition leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress Party herself, may have been involved in the scandal. Moreover, recent reports citing Indian Defense Ministry sources note that the Modi government is probing the MMRCA process, probing for evidence of corruption in the award of the now-defunct tender to Dassault.

The deal between France and India for these 36 fighters was just weeks ago expected to be concluded in May 2016, after hard-fought negotiations over price, but the politicization of defense procurement may add more delays. Meanwhile, with 35 active fighter squadrons, the Indian Air Force (IAF) remains far short of its sanctioned squadron strength of 42. The 36 Rafale will help reduce the shortfall, but will stop far short of what’s necessary for the IAF to meet its requirements.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/05/agus...delay-conclusion-of-india-france-rafale-deal/

 

[$@rJen]

Total rubbish. ..... they're probing how the craft chosen in MMRCA .... MMRCA has been cancelled and now it's a G2G deal..... there's nothing going to affect this deal..... some journos suck a big time

 

[Didact]

Total rubbish. ..... they're probing how the craft chosen in MMRCA .... MMRCA has been cancelled and now it's a G2G deal..... there's nothing going to affect this deal..... some journos suck a big time

People who do not have even elementary understanding of the functioning of bureaucracy are the first to make sweeping statements on topics related to it. Sad, but that's how it is.

Any acquisition of new equipment requires a competitive trial to ascertain the performance of different equipments provided by various suppliers wrt the GSQR. The comparative trials are the foundation on which any deal is erected, any order is made. Even for the FMS deals signed between GOI and USG, a trial/evaluation report is necessary to prove that the equipment clears all necessary parameters. Without the trial/evaluation, the basis of the deal is null and void.The Law ministry, the high courts or even the Supreme Court can and will order the termination of the deal.

The Indo-French G2G regarding Rafale is contingent on the trials/evaluations of the MMRCA tender. The MMRCA tender stands cancelled, yes, but the government is relying on the integrity of the trial data as the basis forthis new deal. If it turns out that the trials were compromised, or that the method used to arrive at the L1 status for Rafale is compromised, or if there is evidence to suggest manipulation, the raison de taire for this G2G ceases to exit. If the GOI attempts to pursue this deal after that stage, it will be charged with corruption.

The IAF, or rather certain top brass have been unusually insistent on this specific deal. Now these are also the very same people who are being investigated on charges of complicity in AW deal (2 Air Chief Marshalls). Because the highest offices of the IAF hierarchy are in question, it would be prudent to make a detailed study of the trials. The GOI would not want to enter 2019 and suddenly find a scam bigger than Coalgate+2G combined.

The government is expending enormous political capital on this deal. It is important that they get this absolutely right. Why do you think AK Antony decided to pass over the decision of the MMRCA to NDA? Why did NDA scrap the MMRCA? If this deal sinks, it will take the government down with it