‘Give me 20 minutes’: Rahul Gandhi dares PM to one-on-one debate on Rafale
New Delhi, Jan 02: Hours after he opened a debate on the Rafale deal in parliament, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to renew the opposition’s demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the purchase of the 36 aircrafts.
Gandhi also challenged PM Modi to a debate on the Rafale row, one-on-one.
“Give me 20 minutes,” he said at a Press conference, the request directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who the Congress president has more than once today, alleged that he was hiding from the uncomfortable questions that he had posed.
The Congress president also brushed aside strong denials from Panaji and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley about the audio tape that the party has released today. The Congress said the audio tape is a conversation between Goa minister Vishwajit Rane and another person. In this, Gandhi claimed, the Goa health minister is heard saying that during a Goa cabinet meeting last week Parrikar stated he had an entire file and all documents relating to the Rafale deal lying in his bedroom.
Vishwajit Rane has denied that he has had this conversation and along with Parrikar, called the tapes doctored.
Asked, Gandhi shot back: “What else do you expect... but a denial”.
At his evening Press conference, Rahul Gandhi repeated the party’s charge about the audio tape and claimed “Parrikar is threatening the Prime Minister of India. He is threatening to blackmail the Prime Minister of India because he has the files on Rafale deal.”
“Goa minister says that the chief minister said in a cabinet meeting that he has complete information about Rafale. He, in a way, threatened to blackmail the Prime Minister of India,” said Rahul Gandhi adding, “The question is what information is there in the bedroom of Parrikar and what is its impact on Narendra Modi.”
“There might be other tape of this nature. This is not the only one,” he added.
He also responded to barbs from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the debate in parliament; the finance minister had taken a dig at the Congress president for what he described as, his “kindergarten math”.
“In his speech, Arun Jaitley asked where the figure of Rs 1,600 crore comes from. Where does the Congress get this number? Jaitley himself said Rafale deal was of Rs 58,000 crore. If you divide Rs 58,000 by 36, the number of Rafale fighter jets to be bought, it comes at Rs 1,600 crore. So you gave us this number.”
“Mr Jaitley, you gave the figure of Rs 526 crore. Bid happened and the lowest bid went to Rafale. Figure of Rs 526 crore comes from that bid only,” Rahul Gandhi said adding, “Now it is clear that price inflated from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,600 crore.”
Rahul Gandhi alleged that “Narendra Modi changed the procedure, the air force objected to it. Sill he inflated the price to Rs 1,600 crore…Truth can’t be masked.”
Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
