At a time opposition Congress and ruling BJP are engaged in a war of words over disengagement of Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have brought up the politically controversial Rafale fighter jet procurement issue at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence on Thursday.
Rahul is learnt to have asked Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat about the reasons for scaling down the proposal for purchase of Rafale jets from the initial 126 to 36.
He asked whether this will affect the Air Force’s plans to expand its air combat capability, given the fact that India is facing challenges from both Pakistan and China.