Sushma Swaraj: All issues raised by Congress on Rafale elucidated by Supreme Court

New Delhi, Jan 3 Asserting that each issue raised by the Congress on Rafale dealhas been elucidated by the Supreme Court, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said in Rajya Sabha that there is no discussion in the issue, with the exception of in minds of the opposition party leaders.

Unsatisfied by the minister's answer amid the Question Hour, the Congress members including previous leader Manmohan Singh arranged a walkout.

Congress leader Anand Sharma in his strengthening inquiry demanded that the government make open the minutes of the gathering of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and previous French President Francois Hollande held a year ago on the Rafale deal in a bid to settle the debate once for all.

To this, Swaraj stated, "Anandji, there is no debate. Debate is there in your brain. All the disputable issues that you (Congress) raised, the Supreme Court has cleared up on every one of them. Kindly don't use the word discussion once more." She stated, "The entire nation knows there is no controversy. The Supreme Court has cleared each issue. On the off chance that despite everything you think there is a contention, nobody can answer."

To a query raised by Shiv Sena member Sanjay Raut if there was any discussion on the Rafale deal during the recent visit of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to India, Swaraj stated, "There was no discussion on the matter." "On that day, the Supreme Court verdict (on Rafale bargain) was articulated. He (French Minister) was exceptionally cheerful. He communicated happiness and felt there was no need to have a discussion," she said.

On the Indo-French fund for building up the content for co-production of movies, the Minister said the French delegation had visited Mumbai and had a discourse with agents of Bollywood other than meeting the state chief minister.

To another query on the Jaitapur Nuclear Power project, Swaraj said that an assention was signed on March 22, 2016, to set up a plant. France's EDF and India's NPCL are investigating it. "Six EPR units are to be set with every unit having a limit of 1650 megawatt. When it is prepared, it will be the world's biggest nuclear plant," she said.

The task was inspected in March a year ago when the rate of intensity per unit and setting up of a reference plant were also discussed. "We will continue subsequent to seeing the model plant. We have decided about the dates," she included.