Referring to the row over the Rafale purchase deal, former Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said on Saturday that such controversies slow down defence acquisitions, affecting the armed forces’ capabilities.

Had Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman been flying a Rafale instead of a MiG-21 during the India-Pakistan stand-off after the Balakot strike, the outcome would have been different, he said.Speaking at the Techfest event organised by IIT-Bombay here, Dhanoa referred to the Rafale row, and said the Supreme Court gave a “fine judgment” on the issue.

At the same time, the former Air Chief Marshal added that people have the right to ask questions about the price of the aircraft as tax payers’ money is at stake.

“The fact is, because of creating a controversy out of it, the slowing down of defence modernisation later affects you,” said Dhanoa, who retired in September last year.

“Like the Prime Minister made a statement. People are saying it is a political but the fact is that the statement he made is correct.“If we had Rafale, the question would have been totally different,” he said.

Modi had said in March last year that the results would have been different if India had Rafale jets during the air strike on terror camps in Pakistan.