Rafale deal: Omar Abdullah seeks explanation from BJP on MoD note

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Friday said he would like to see how those aligned with the BJP would explain reports that the Defence Ministry had protested over the mechanism being adopted by the PMO for the Rafale deal. He had tagged a document, purportedly of the Defence Ministry, which was published as part of a news report by The Hindu.

According to the article, the ministry had raised strong objections to "parallel negotiations" conducted by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) with the French side. "I'd like to see how this one is explained by the talking heads aligned to the BJP. @PMOIndia 'weakened the negotiating position of the Ministry of Defence & the Indian Negotiating Team' as per this note in a MOD file that went up the Defence Minister," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister claimed. The National Conference was an ally of NDA when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister but shifted to UPA-II in 2009.

(With inputs from agencies.)