MS Gill praises Modi govt on Rafale deal

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 12

Hitting out at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Defence Minister AK Antony for allegedly doing nothing to enhance the strategic capability of the Army during their 10-year rule, Rajya Sabha Member and former Union Minister MS Gill today said the incumbent Union Government had done well by placing an order to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets for the country.

Speaking to The Tribune on the phone today, Gill, who belongs to a family of Army men, said the Indian Air Force was at a disadvantage compared to other big armies because it had no high-tech fleet of fighter jets.

“This was our operational necessity, which will be fulfilled with the arrival of the ready-to-flyaway jets from France,” he said. Nothing substantial was done to improve IAF’s operational power during the 10-year rule of the previous government, he said.

Gill is the second Congress MP to appreciate the Modi government’s decision to procure 36 Rafale jets.

Earlier, Deputy Leader of Congress parliamentary party Capt Amarinder Singh had not only defended the Rafale deal, but also appreciated it on the plea that it would add to the striking power of the IAF.

Gill said “It was sad to see that not much effort was made to provide upgraded equipment and ammunition to the Army, the Air Force and the Navy during the 10-years of the previous government.”

MS Gill, who also served as the Agriculture Secretary and Development Commissioner in Punjab, said Punjab and other states should follow the Kejriwal pattern while giving compensation to farmers hit by natural calamities.