Air Force declines to share details of Rafale deal

An Inter-Governmental Agreement was signed between the governments of India and France on September 23, 2016 for supply of the Rafale aircraft, initial consignment of weapons, longterm maintenance support through performance-based logistics, simulators with annual maintenance and associated equipment.

Replying to an RTI query, the Air Force said the details are held by it in fiduciary capacity.

The information sought is confidential in nature and public revelation of the same may lead to its subsequent availability to our adversaries, it said.

“Further, the information sought is also held in fiduciary capacity and no larger public interest is served by disclosure of such information. Hence, the same is denied,” the Air Force said in reply to the application filed by PTI.

The Defence Ministry was asked to provide copies of the agreement and price of the Rafale deal. The query was then forwarded to the Air Force for providing the reply.