French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday neither confirmed nor rebutted his predecessor Francois Hollande’s purported claim that the Narendra Modi government had asked the French government or Dassault to partner with Anil Ambani’s company for the Rafale deal.

Macron gave a longish response that stressed the importance of the deal for him while insisting that he was not party to it. He perplexed many in India by referring, not once but twice, to “what Prime Minister Modi very clearly said a few days ago”. Modi is yet to utter a word on the Rafale deal since the controversy broke out a few months ago.

“I will be very clear. It was a government-to-government discussion and I just want to refer to what Prime Minister Modi very clearly said a few days ago. And, I don’t have any other comment. I was not in charge at that time and I know that we have very clear rules,” Macron said in response to NDTV’s question at a news conference in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.

“This is a government-to-government discussion and this contract is part of a broader framework, which is military and defence coalition between India and France. And this one is very important to me because this is a strategic coalition and not just an industrial relation. So that’s my point. And, I just want to refer to what PM Modi said on this situation,” Macron added.

What many in India picked on immediately was that Macron chose not to contradict Hollande, who is one of the current French President’s biggest critics.