Even as political slugfest is on over media reports that the Government waived off some clauses of anti-corruption penalties and sovereign guarantee in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal with France, top IAF officers said here on Tuesday the S-400 missile defence system deal worth over Rs 45,000 crore with Russia does not have a “sovereign guarantee” as the process of inter-Government agreements with countries like Russia and the US are already “streamlined.”
This assertion came at a time when a political controversy erupted over a media report about Indian government having made concessions by allegedly dropping some key clauses relating to anti-corruption penalties and sovereign guarantee in the controversy-hit Rafale deal. While opposition parties led by the Congress raised questions about such clauses having been dropped, the ruling BJP and the government rejected corruption allegations.
In a bid a clear the air on the issue while replying to a question here during a press interaction on the IAF’s fire power demonstration Vayu Shakti 2019 at Pokhran ranges later this week, Air Marshal V R Chaudhari, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, said, “There is no sovereign guarantee in the S-400 deal with Russia.”
IAF’s Vice Chief Air Marshal Anil Khosla said, “We have had a lot of acquisitions from Russians and Americans earlier. The process of the government-to-government agreement with Russia
and America are generally already streamlined, or should I say evolved. With other countries, it may not have evolved, as the government-to-government (agreement)... May have been the first or just initiated,” he said.
The Hindu newspaper had reported on Monday that the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal saw critical provisions relating to anti-corruption penalties, sovereign guarantees and making payments through an escrow account being dropped days before the signing of the inter-governmental agreement (IGA) in 2016.
The newspaper also said this was significant because the government also chose to do away with a sovereign or bank guarantee from France and settled for a letter of comfort, which is not legally binding, from the French Prime Minister.
The S-400 deal was inked by India with Russia in October last year to procure a batch of the missile systems. India went ahead to seal the deal despite sanction warnings from the US. Russia in January had said there will be no delays in delivery of the S-400 air defence systems to India and a payment mechanism for the deal is being worked out
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, during his India visit had said the missile systems will significantly enhance India’s air defence capability. The government had informed Lok Sabha earlier this year that it will start receiving the missile systems from Russia from October 2020 and the deliveries will be completed by April 2023.