Macron says he wasn't in charge when Rafael deal was made; defers to Modi
United Nations, Sep 26 : French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he was not in charge when the Rafael deal was made and that he would defer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter which he said was "very importanta to him.
"I was not in charge at that time but I know that we have very clear rules and this is a government-to-government discussion," he said at a news conference here on Tuesday.
"I just want to refer to what Prime Minister Modi very clearly has said a few days ago and I (don't) have any other comment," he said.
He was replying to a question if France had been asked to use the Reliance group as the Indian partner for the Rafael deal made when Francois Hollande was the President.
As a part of the offset component of the deal to buy 36 Rafael costing about 7.87 billion Euros (or Rs 58,000 crore), the manufacturer Dassault was required to outsource to India about Rs 30,000 crore of business.
The Congress and the opposition have accused the government of inflating the cost of the jets and steering the business to a private company,
"This contract is part of a broader framework which is a military and defence relationship between India and France. And this one is very important to me because this is a strategic coalition and not just an industrial relation," he added.
"I would be very clear that it was a government-to-government discussion," he emphasised.
Macron took office last year in May while Modi announced the deal during a visit to France in 2015 and it was finalised the following year.
The controversy began when Hollande told a French publication that India had proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for the deal.
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Sculptor Ram Sutar, designer of Statue of Unity, passes away
New Delhi (PTI): Noted sculptor Ram Sutar, known for designing the world's tallest statue — Statue of Unity — in Gujarat, passed away late on Wednesday night at his Noida residence, his son said.
He was 100 and ailing with age-related illnesses.
"It is with profound grief that we inform you of the passing of my father Shri Ram Vanji Sutar on 17th December midnight at our residence," his son Anil Sutar said in a note shared with the press on Thursday.
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Born in a humble family in Gondur village under the Dhule district of present-day Maharashtra on February 19, 1925, Sutar is known to have been drawn to sculpting from his childhood.
A gold medallist from JJ School of Art and Architecture, Mumbai, Sutar, has to his credit a long list of achievements.
The iconic statues of Mahatma Gandhi seated in a meditating pose and of Chhatrapati Shivaji riding a horse on the Parliament premises rank among his finest creations.
The Statue of Unity honours Sardar Patel, country's first deputy prime minister and home minister.
Sutar was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.
Recently, Sutar was conferred with the Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar, the state's highest award.
