While civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on Tuesday staunchly defended both the Jet-Etihad FDI deal and the nearly four-fold India-UAE bilateral entitlement hike on the grounds that it would bring in badly needed FDI into India from cash-rich Abu Dhabi and benefit Indian passengers, respectively, the Prime Minister’s Office formally made public the series of events that made it clear that the Prime Minister, along with other senior ministers, had given the “in-principle” approval that paved the way for India to agree to the India-UAE bilateral entitlement-hike in the number of weekly seats from 13,300 to nearly 50,000 over a period of three years.
However, the PM had directed that the matter pertaining to the bilaterals hike be brought to the Cabinet for approval. The PMO said there was no disagreement within the government on the matter and there was no question of the PM “washing his hands of” the bilateral aviation agreement. Mr Ajit Singh also dismissed speculation that he could quit the ministry if the Jet-Etihad deal and the aviation bilateral hike fell through. Both need final approval from the Cabinet.
The PMO revealed that the PM in April this year had asked the finance minister to hold a meeting with the external affairs, commerce and civil aviation ministers wherein these ministers decided that an additional entitlement of 40,000 seats per week be considered with the UAE. These ministers also met the PM on April 22 where the decision to give the in-principle approval was taken.