IAF backtracks: Unwilling to confirm Rafale rejection

'All we are saying is the technical evaluation has been completed and any decision will be taken by the Ministry of Defense. People have made their own interpretations and assumptions. People have been reading too much into this.' : IAF officer

T he Indian Air Force (IAF) has backtracked on its rejection of Dassault’s Rafale as a contender for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).

Refusing to clarify further, an IAF officer told StratPost, “All we are saying is the technical evaluation has been completed and any decision will be taken by the Ministry of Defense.”

Referring to recent reports about the rejection, including by StratPost, he said, “People have made their own interpretations and assumptions. People have been reading too much into this.”

Last week, StratPost had asked an IAF officer whether Rafale was out of the running, to which he responded, “It’s confirmed.”

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Follow Saurabh Joshi on Twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/saurabhjoshi Saurabh is a journalist based in New Delhi, India who has worked in print, television as well as internet news media. Besides defense and strategy, his past assignments have included reporting from Kashmir, coverage of terror strikes as well as election coverage from all over India. He has a Bachelors degree in Journalism (Honors) as well as a law degree (LLB), both from the University of Delhi.

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