Brief Outline: The Congress President Rahul Gandhi in statement during the no-trust vote that France does not have any objection to New Delhi disclosing the pricing details of the Rafale fighter jets bought by the government in 2016.

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During the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, Congress chief attacked the Modi government and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the Rafale deal and alleged that she had spoken "untruth" when she claimed that the Indian government could not reveal details of the deal due to a confidentiality clause in the agreement with France.

He claimed that the French president has personally told him that there was no secret pact between Indian and French governments.

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AS per news agency ANI, France in a statement said, "These provisions naturally apply to the IGA concluded on 23 September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapon."

 They said that “We have noted the statement of Mr Rahul Gandhi before the Indian Parliament. France and India concluded in 2008 a Security agreement, which legally binds the two States to protect the classified information provided by the partner:France statement that could impact security and operational capabilities of the defence equipment of India or France. These provisions naturally apply to the IGA concluded on 23 September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapons: France statement”

that could impact security and operational capabilities of the defence equipment of India or France. These provisions naturally apply to the IGA concluded on 23 September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapons: France statement 2/2 https://t.co/vhHhAi9fMi

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

Soon after Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed in the Parliament that there is no secrecy pact with France that stops the Centre from revealing the details about the Rafale jet deal, France contradicted his statement and said that there is an agreement that binds the two countries to protect the classified information provided by the partner.

Reacting to France’s statement, Rahul Gandhi said: “Let them deny it if they want. He (French President) said that before me. I was there. Anand Sharma and Dr Manmohan Singh were also there.

Sitharaman termed Gandhi’s claims as "absolutely wrong" and said the initial agreement was signed when the UPA was in power in 2008. She also quoted that French President as saying in the interviews while replying to specific questions about the Rafale deal: "You have these commercial agreements and obviously you have competitors and we cannot reveal the details".