Rafale deal: Dassault denies French media report of ‘mandatory to pick Reliance Defence as partner' 

Dassault Aviation on Thursday declined the report by French publication 'Mediapart' that said the makers of Rafale jets considered picking Reliance Defence as the offset partner in India “imperative and mandatory” to bag the contract.

The Mediapart in its report had said that a document obtained by it shows that Dassault considered this (Dassault-Reliance) alliance as a ‘counterpart’, ‘imperative and mandatory’, to get the Rafale deal.

However, the company denied the reports and clarified by saying that it was not given an option other than Anil Ambani's Reliance Defense as an offset partner. The company said it was necessary to have an offset partner in the Raphael deal, but choosing Reliance company as a partner was not mandatory for them. Dassault was free to choose any company,  the company said in a press release.