Ministry of External Affairs calls out viral fake letter about Rafale deal information leak

The fake letter claimed to be sent by S Jaishankar to the French ambassador about leaked information of the Rafale deals.

Updated on: Dec 11, 2025, 13:39:23 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday called out a letter doing the rounds on social media as fake. The letter claimed that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar wrote to the Embassy of France, warning that information about the Rafale delivery has been leaked.

The fake letter was posted by an X account named ‘Discourse Lab,' which claimed that Delhi is struggling to contain leaked information related to the Rafale deal. (X/Representational Image)

The official fact-checking account of the ministry posted on X that the letter being referred to in the post is fake. “Always stay alert against disinformation,” the post read.

The fake letter was posted by an X account named ‘Discourse Lab,' which claimed that Delhi is “struggling to contain the fallout of leaked communication” related to the Rafale deal.

The letter purported to be written by S Jaishankar said that certain communications regarding the Rafale naval aircraft timeline have emerged in public. Further, it said that this unintended disclosure has created unforeseen challenges.

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“We are confident that professionalism and discretion that have characterised our interactions will continue to guide our future communications,” the letter added.

The fake letter, signed by the external affairs minister, was dated November 26, 2025 and was addressed to Thierry Mathou, French ambassador to India.

In 2016, the Bhartiya Janta Party-led National Democratic Alliance government signed a ₹59,000 crore deal to procure 36 Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation. Several allegations have been made related to the deal, including that the rates of aircraft rates were inflated and charges of corruption.

Later, the controversy was ignited after a French journal claimed that Dassault Aviation paid €1 million to Sushen Gupta as a middleman for the deal.

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The government has defended the 2016 deal on counts including faster delivery of the fighter jets. Meanwhile, Dassault Aviation has clarified that the deal went through numerous checks and no violations were reported.

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