India has felt the absence of Rafale, the result would have been different, says Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India has felt the absence of Rafale fighter jets. He said if previous governments had purchased the Rafale jet the result would have been different. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was referring to the mid-air duel between Indian and Pakistani fighter jets in  which an Indian fighter jet crashed into Pakistan territory and the pilot was captured by the Pakistani rangers.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there is a lot of talk in the country these days that India is missing Rafale fighter jets.

"In dino bahut charcha chal rahi hai aur ek swar uth raha hai ki desh main Rafale ki kami khal rahi hai. Aaj Hindustan ek swar main keh raha hai ki aaj agar hamare paas Rafale hota toh shayad parinam kuch aur hota (Today there is talk that India is missing the Rafale jets. The entire nation is saying that if India had Rafale jets today, the outcome of the recent incidents would have been something different)," he said.

Attacking the Opposition on the Rafale deal issue, PM Modi said he would like to make it very clear that in the past, the country "suffered" due to vested interest over the Rafale jets. PM Modi said if a deal could not happen,defence modernisation could not happen.

"And at present, we continue to suffer due to the politicisation of the Rafale deal. The vested interests and politicisation has caused great harm to the nation's interest," PM Modi said.

Slamming the opposition for opposing every act of the government, PM said they are welcome to criticise his government's policies and find faults in its working. "But I request you not to oppose matters related to the nation's security," he said.

"Aap dhyan rakhiye ki Modi virodh ki jidh main aap Masood Azhar aur Haifz Saeed jaise aatankiyon ko sahara na dain (In your stubborn desire to oppose Modi, see that you don't end up strengthening terrorists like Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed)," PM Modi said.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has constantly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged discrepancies in the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets. Gandhi had raised several questions about the process, pricing and alleged patronage in procuring 36 Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar