Secret data about the capabilities of the Scorpene submarine, which DCNS has built for India, were leaked in August sparking fears about the security of plans for the Shortfin Barracuda which Australia is commissioning.
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Prime Minister Modi raised with French President Francois Hollande the leak of secret data on Scorpene submarines that India has bought but is now anxious its underwater fleet might have become vulnerable even before it was ready to enter service.
Australia has also tapped DCNS, inking a deal in April worth Aus$50 billion (US $38 billion, 34 billion euros) for the design and construction of its next generation of submarines.
On the second and final day of the summit in Hangzhou, PM Modi met Mr Erdogan and Mr Hollande in separate “pull-aside” meetings.
The Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) is building six Scorpene submarines with technology transfer from DCNS of France.
In his final bilateral meeting, PM Modi held talks with Argetine President Mauricio Macri. “We have not been informed in anyway of such a decision”, he said.
The deal for the Barracuda-class submarines is worth up to 40 billion United States dollars, with the first subs to come into service in approximately 2030.
“There’s a thorough investigation going on the French side to see how that happened – of course it’s a different submarine to the one that we are going to build in collaboration with the French – but it is absolutely critical to continue to maintain the highest level of security”, he said.
Additionally, on Sunday, DCNS likewise asked The Supreme Court of India to place boycott against “The Australian” from further publishing any the spilled data or archives about the “Scorpene submarine venture” of India.
Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said last week that the leak was “embarrassing” for the DCNS and the Indian navy but had “no bearing on the Australian government’s future submarine programme”.
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Reuters had earlier reported that Indian officials have pointed to a “non-disclosure of information” clause that was written into the 2005 contract at French insistence. The defence ministry also wrote to the submarine’s French makers, DCNS, asking for details about the extent of the leak and how the data ended up in the public domain.
