• Pawan Khera

Our Honourable Prime Minister has most extravagant indulgences to his credit - Expensive cars, expensive clothes, expensive glasses, expensive mushrooms, expensive aircraft, but the Prime Minister’s extravagance are costing the country dearly.

Whatever happened in the ‘Rafale Deal’ is now being repeated in the purchase of ‘Predator Drones’. The drone that other countries buy at one-fourth the price, is being bought by us for $110 million i.e. 880 crores per drone. The price mentioned in the press reports is 3 billion dollars i.e. 25,000 crore rupees and we are buying 31 drones at this price. If you look at point number 16 of the joint statement of Prime Minister Modi and President Biden, you will find mention about these drones. When there is any mention in the joint statement of the heads of both the nations, then you can clearly understand as to how serious that matter would be. Do you want to know the price again? We are buying these drones at 4 times the cost. Other countries bought the same drones from the same company at 1/4th the cost. The price, at which UK, Spain, Taiwan and Italy bought it for, is in print. It is also mentioned how Australia made an expensive deal and then cancelled the deal? There is a mention of every country that made or cancelled this deal.

Now let’s come to its process. The Prime Minister had chest-thumped by saying that only ‘One (Pompous Modi Ji) is enough’ (to overpower others), and in this case, that is really turning out to be true. There was neither a meeting of the CCS, nor a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, without which no necessary process related to strategic engagement could take place, but Modiji single-handedly overpowered them all and fulfilled yet another extravagant indulgence of his.

Your friends run away from India with Her money, something that is not new to us - the whole country has been witnessing this for the last 9 years. Now, you are yourself draining India of its money to foreign lands. I wonder if you have taken even this task onto yourself! Respected Prime Minister, we know what is going on in India, but you are not aware and you keep asking Nadda ji about it. You don’t even know what is happening in defense deals, for how much the whole world is buying these drones and then, if we say something, you feel bad about it. Your people ask us - how did you say this for the Prime Minister? But it is quite obvious that if you will take all the decisions, then you will have to be accountable and answerable. You don’t even address a press conference and if we do so then your IT cell makes a complete mess.

Now the third point - your ‘Make in India’. Where did ‘Make in India’ go? You allocated Rs. 1,786 crores to DRDO, your government allocated Rs. 1,786 crores for research and development of drones named ‘Rustom’ and ‘Ghatak’. Your government allocated only Rs. 1,786 crores for a premier institute of our country and you went to America and gave Rs. 25,000 crores for similar drones. Now, either the allocation of Rs. 1,786 crores is wrong or it is wrong to give Rs. 25,000 crores to America. Both cannot be correct and what is the specialty of these American drones of? In terms of technology, India is buying these drones at four times more cost and you should consider the contrast yourself after investing Rs. 1,786 crores in DRDO for ‘Make in India’ drones, ‘Rustom’ and ‘Ghatak’.

Was ‘Make in India’ just a slogan? Regarding the technology of this Predator drone, a question was asked in the Lok Sabha whether there would be transfer of technology? Then, it was clearly told by the government that there will be no transfer of technology. This means that even after paying such a huge price, you could not even get the technology of this drone. Then why are you spending Rs. 25,000 crores? Is a ‘Pegasus’ being given for free with each Drone? Are there any Electoral Bonds requirements with a drone? We are asking this question because the country has to pay Rs. 25,000 crores. What is the secret of this drone deal? The name of the company from which these drones are being purchased is General Atomics and we and you all know with whom and how close are the relations of its CEO within Prime Minister Modi’s government. Who is that so-important ‘Dronacharya’ who is directing this picture? You all know the name of that friend. He has had many important meetings with a very special person in India and today I am giving the status of ‘Dronacharya’ to that special person.

There are some questions that need to be answered for the country. Why didn’t the CCS meet to clear the drone deal? Why was the meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Security not held? Why is India paying more for drones than other countries? Why was there such a hurry to strike a deal when the Air Force had objections to the skyrocketing prices of these drones? Our Air Force had asked for 18 drones, so why are we giving them 31? Something smells fishy here!

The third question is why did we agree on 8-9 percent technology transfer? What is the relationship between the current rulers of the General Atomics CEO and a very influential person in this country? This is the fourth question. There must be full transparency in this drone deal, otherwise it will be the second biggest scam after ‘Rafale Scam’ because of Indian Prime Minister Modi. Let our country not get caught in another big scam as Modi government is known for putting national interests at risk. There is every indication that it is taking the form of a big scam.

Based on press conference dated June 28, 2023