Review of The Rafale Deal: Flying Lies?

ntil recently, India, like other Western-capitalist countries, lacked a robust domestic ‘military-industrial complex’ (MIC). It could be defined [1] as the presence of a defence procurement mechanism which involves a transactional nexus between private group(s) that benefit from the funds generated by the state. It involves a host of actors, namely, top defence officers and procurement officials, ministers as authorizers, and private business entities as recipients of contracts. Among MICs, chief ethos are: a revolving door i.e., a continuous flow and exchange of top personnel between the core groups of the transactional nexus; a preparedness ethos i.e., constant preparedness for war even during peacetime; and last but not least, the presence of defence pressure groups incorporated for constant and relentless lobbying.