Modi kept Rafale deal transparent: Sitharaman

Accusing the Congress of misleading the nation over the Rafale deal, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept the defence deal transparent.

"Defence procurements are complicated, complex and consuming. They can remain opaque and as a result of it, suspicious. The Prime Minister’s insistent of keeping everything transparent has changed things," she said at the Economist's India Summit.

"The allegations that the Congress party is making are baseless," she said. During her talk on 'Focusing on Defence: How the national government, states and territories can work together for the country’s benefit', she dwelled on India's defence relations with the United States and Russia.

"I am happy that the Americans are able to understand that India has to be strong. America renamed their Pacific Command as the Indo-Pacific command much before the 2+2 dialogue," she said.

"Russia has been an ally for India for over several decades and India has been procuring equipment from the US for a long time. India purchases equipment from multiple sources," the Defence Minister said on the S-400 air defence missile system.