Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry says Modi trying to divert attention from scandal by targetting Pakistan. PHOTO: PID/FILE
The Panama Papers corruption investigation culminated in former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif's ouster and imprisonment.
"We think that Rafale is [the] Panama of Prime Minister Modi," Chaudhry said while speaking with the Indian news outlet.
"The way his friend Nawaz Sharif is ousted in [the] Panama [case]...I think the same thing is going on in India."
Chaudhry said Modi was "in serious trouble on [the] Rafale deal," and that he was trying to "divert the attention of the people of India" from the deal to external issues. "Apni jung khud lado (Fight your own battles)," he said.
"If the BJP and Modi fought their war inside India, we would have no problem. But the problem is that they are trying to shift their controversy ... they are trying to divert the attention by using the name of Pakistan,” he added.
Anti-Pakistan slogans sell in India before elections, says Fawad Chaudhry
“That is the...funniest part, and also I would say, frankly, it shows that for them, politics is more important than the people," the federal minister further added.
Last week, New Delhi called off a planned meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of ongoing 73rd United Nations General Assembly session in New York.
"I'm a political analyst also, and I have a right to comment [on] or analyse things from my own perspective," Chaudhry said.
Rafale scandal
The Rafale deal is an Indo-French agreement for the procurement of 36 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) jet fighters built by the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation.
Earlier on September 21, the French media house Mediapart published a piece quoting Francois Hollande -- the man who was France's president when the deal was signed -- as saying the Indian government proposed Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence as a partner for the offset clause of the agreement.
"We didn't have a choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us," Hollande said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi wasted little time in accusing Modi of betraying India, and of dishonouring "the blood of our soldiers".
The article originally appeared on India Today
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